Tuesday 12 February 2013

Cosplay or Roleplay?

There's a whole lot of definitions for 'cosplay' for each individual. But what I find amusing is how people argue about a certain costume not being categorized as cosplay but rather roleplay. Apparently, it is their 'duty' to point what is 'real' cosplay and what is not, not that it really matters for starters since this is just a fun hobby. Then again, wanna-be-cosplayers tend to be quite irritating.
Nevertheless, I suppose I'll enlighten you guys with my understanding of what is cosplay and what is roleplay.

Cosplay- A term used for those who dress-up as a certain character and imitate their behaviour. Long story short, as long as you are playing a character, that it considered cosplay. Though some people will probably argue on this since this term is used mostly for characters from mangas/games/anime/animated movies.

Roleplay- A term used for those who dress-up without aiming to act as a certain character of any kind. But this term was commonly used for characters from games. To keep it simple, no character-> that is roleplay.

Side note: There is also another form that goes under cosplay or perhaps an entirely new category which is OC which stands for 'Own Character'. Basically, you made it up however some argue that wearing a wig of a certain character and mashing it up with some random clothes while intending to still stay as that character is OC. Though I find it easier to think OC as dressing up as a character you made up.

To show you examples of what I've pointed out, I'll show you what is cosplay and what is roleplay.

1. Maid
a) This is roleplay since she's just wearing a maid outfit. I know most of you thought of maid costumes as cosplay, however, it is not. Remember, she's not playing any specific character.
b) on the contrary, the picture below shows a girl cosplaying as Ayuzawa Misaki from Kaichou wa Maid-sama.

2. Cats
a) Yup. It's roleplay. Just because this girl put on some cat ears, a tail and some paws does not make it a cosplay.
b) However, this one shows a cosplayer cosplaying Ritsuka Soubi from Loveless. (ps. it's a guy character. pss. it's from a BL manga/anime so yeah...)

3. Nurses
a) Obviously this is roleplay. I don't understand why people keep thinking that just because you wear a nurse uniform means that it's cosplay, cuz you're not playing a certain character 030.
b) Of course, you guys know Miku right? Well, this cosplayer is cosplaying Miku, nurse version. Yup it exists. Well, usually characters have several versions and as for vocaloid, the list is endless.

4. Zombies: This one is a bit tough to decide but as long as they're in an anime and they have this specific look, I suppose you can count it as cosplay. But that's what I think.
a) Yup, you guessed it. Roleplay~
b) Zombies from Highschool of The Dead (yes, it's an anime. Watch it if you want)

I guess you guys see my point now so yeah, this question of whether it's cosplay or roleplay can be a bit tough and some people are sort of ridiculously sensitive about this but I think it doesn't really matter that much when you do it. Because you're not doing this for people's recognition, it's supposed to be for fun.

However, I do feel pissed off that somehow cosplay is related to porn when it's not, since they just roleplay. Kinda disturbing to look when you go google it. =3=

If you guys see it differently, then please do share your opinion. I'm pretty much open to what you guys think, plus there might be other people out there who think the same ^w^


Ps. Happy Chinese New year guys! Get lots of ang pows ah~

(Disclaimer: I own none of the above photographs. They belong to their respective photographers and/or cosplayers)

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