Japan Documentaries 2018 Episode 15/15: The Cosplayer – News

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On the occasion of the crowdfunding for the Japan documentary 2022, we made the 15 episodes of the Japan documentary 2018 freely available in 1080p. This final episode accompanies a cosplayer and streamer at TGS.

Since 2018, the Japan documentaries 2018 were only available to crowdfunders and buyers. We are now releasing the 1080p versions free for everyone (however, the making of is subject to a fee). If you like them, join the crowdfunding for the Japan documentary 2022 – and get all 2022 episodes for the special price of €10 (only until the start of travel!).

If you want, you can also Buy 2018 documentaries in 4K, including numerous extras. The extra-long Making Of (Episode 16) and a number of extras are then also included.

Cosplaying has a long tradition in Japan, even if the term is only around 35 years old. The hobby of dressing up like a fictional character from a movie or another template was by no means born in Japan – fan conventions for SF and fantasy films have existed in the USA for a long time, for example. But like many cultural (or food) imports, the Japanese don’t just copy the template, they modify it and make it their own until it ends up becoming something special, in this case an entire pop culture movement.

Cosplay including crossplay (girl miming man, boy miming woman) goes hand-in-hand with maid cafes, moe and kawaii culture, the ubiquity of mascots (virtually every prefecture, city, institution has one), the mainstream popularity of manga -Comics and anime cartoons. Cosplay even affects everyday fashion: most men still walk the streets in business clothes and most women in pastel colors or office suits. But you also see men with clothes that are extremely eye-catching in terms of color and style, or women who do their shopping disguised as Lolita or schoolgirls.

At TGS 2018, Jörg made an appointment with a streamer and cosplayer just to hear from her and see how this cosplaying works from her perspective. Why do you do something like that, and how does a day at the trade fair go? Because the amateur cosplayers don’t get a stand or a stage, they have to show themselves and their costumes on their own. And they pull through, even when it’s windy and raining…

fun fact: It wasn’t easy to find a cosplayer who was willing to be filmed for a documentary video and also be willing to be filmed doing the costumes/make-up. The research was also difficult because Japanese cosplayers cavort on Japanese platforms and write in Japanese. Finally, planner Keimy found a young woman who lived in Canada for two years and speaks very good English. Not only was she willing to be filmed cosplaying, but also doing makeup. But where? I didn’t want to set up my equipment in a public women’s toilet, at the fair there is a ban on photography and filming in the changing rooms specially designed for cosplayers, and just for a short time somewhere outdoors or in a café is also not possible. Only my hotel room remained.

That also seemed okay for the cosplayer, but somehow the e-mail traffic was a bit slow and a Skype conversation never came about, which was important to me: Firstly, to check her English and to get an impression of the person get, secondly, to create trust on my part. Finally, I wanted a young woman to change in my hotel room—how was that about not going with strangers? But as I said, Skype just didn’t want to work, the lady was too busy, today in Osaka, tomorrow at work. Finally, I agreed with her that we would meet in the hotel foyer to conduct the interview and only then go to the hotel room.

I was very excited at 8am to see if the cosplayer would even show up and what kind of guy she would be. A polite young woman then appeared punctually to the minute, who could articulate herself well and also didn’t appear as if she was either knocking out people in strange hotel rooms or suddenly calling for help for no reason. Still, I left the door ajar and, just to be on the safe side (and announced), kept the camera rolling the entire time I was in the room. When I actually got changed, I left the room. At the end I asked her if she hadn’t had any qualms about just walking into a stranger’s room. “No, I knew from the emails that I could trust you.” As the father of two teenage daughters, I couldn’t resist a warning speech. Then we went to the fair, where the cosplayer had fun and I had my shooting opportunities. Everything went well!