> I had to google "cosplay market size" to confirm, but the paper's assertion that it's a billion-dollar industry does appear to be correct (!)
It's a thing, I'm taking remote classes now and some seemingly 20 somethings are taking the time to dress up more and more in cosplay attire for them.
I'm all for it as I grew up in the 90s, alongside various Japanese sub-cultures that involved anime/manga, but I admit it is kind of hard to see a lolita with a goth background at 8am lecture for linear algebra or something.
I'd prefer to see it in person, as seeing a cosplay girl online is become blase to me, and would prefer to see if they could pull look off in the summer heat or winter snow.
I frequented a night club before this pandemic where it was typical that dressing for the occasion meant cosplaying to some degree, which meant Halloween was always over-the-top.
Capitalizing on this market is pretty interesting, so many DIYers (some even on hack-a-day inspiration streaks) have become the default for difficult to make things like armour, weapons and helmets. I'm not sure how grass-roots it is anymore, but when I cared to look there were lots of social media posts on sites like Deviant art about their current projects and signups for pre-buys/groupbuys. I'm not sure the West has caught up to Japan's boutique clothing stores that cater to a specific genre of anime quote yet, but I can see there being an incentive now that it is or exceeds being a billion dollar Industry.
If you're interested, this is pretty much the main-plot to a J-movie from the early 2000s called Kamikaze Girls [1], funny movie.
It's a thing, I'm taking remote classes now and some seemingly 20 somethings are taking the time to dress up more and more in cosplay attire for them.
I'm all for it as I grew up in the 90s, alongside various Japanese sub-cultures that involved anime/manga, but I admit it is kind of hard to see a lolita with a goth background at 8am lecture for linear algebra or something.
I'd prefer to see it in person, as seeing a cosplay girl online is become blase to me, and would prefer to see if they could pull look off in the summer heat or winter snow.
I frequented a night club before this pandemic where it was typical that dressing for the occasion meant cosplaying to some degree, which meant Halloween was always over-the-top.
Capitalizing on this market is pretty interesting, so many DIYers (some even on hack-a-day inspiration streaks) have become the default for difficult to make things like armour, weapons and helmets. I'm not sure how grass-roots it is anymore, but when I cared to look there were lots of social media posts on sites like Deviant art about their current projects and signups for pre-buys/groupbuys. I'm not sure the West has caught up to Japan's boutique clothing stores that cater to a specific genre of anime quote yet, but I can see there being an incentive now that it is or exceeds being a billion dollar Industry.
If you're interested, this is pretty much the main-plot to a J-movie from the early 2000s called Kamikaze Girls [1], funny movie.
1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhTLkz7DRIQ