...

[wombat_socho]

I wonder how long it'll take this to start showing up at anime conventions around here?

Via Chizumatic, appropriately enough on 6/6/06.

Comments

[qob.livejournal.com]

hmmm this bothers me on a few levels. But I've seen people working on it locally.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's something I don't understand about this. What is it that's so damn creepy about this? What makes this different from other whole-body costumes or people wearing heavy makeup (Noh actors or women in traditional Japanese makeup?) that makes people go "Eeeeuuuwwww"?

[qob.livejournal.com]

I think it's
too close to hentai for some tastes

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

There's some allusions to that in the Wikipedia article, but I really don't see it. Maybe in some respects I am still an innocent.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

What struck me was how "wrong" it looked, like how the characters in Polar Express looked "wrongly real" & creepy to some people.

[willow-one.livejournal.com]

I guess you missed the one I was wearing two years ago, huh?

I was doing it for the shock value, but I had to stop because even now (two years later) weird fetish people keep AIMing me about it and hitting on me. (Or flooding me with requests for pictures even though I'm clearly away at the time.)

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

*nods* You know I never go to cosplay. If you weren't wearing it in the hall, then my chances of seeing it are pretty much zero.

That having been said, I don't think it's any more weird than some of the other full-body costumes people wear. They must have forgotten to install that particular routine in the software or something.

[kawaii-shoujo.livejournal.com]

Eww! That's just. . . Well, I can't think of a word right now.

I don't know, could be fun...

[minionofamiee.livejournal.com]

First H thing I think of is those random hook-ups at cons can be so much more fun actually screwing the character, instead of just the cosplayer.

but you are right, it makes people able to get even closer to the actual character. Although, it does make the possiblities of crossplaying even more high, because of the lack of embarassment caused by the anomomity (sp?) of the person... *shudders at the thought*

Re: I don't know, could be fun...

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

First H thing I think of is those random hook-ups at cons can be so much more fun actually screwing the character, instead of just the cosplayer.

I think that's going to have to wait for some quantum jumps in VR and teledildonics technology.

It's a good question as to what effect this would have on crossplaying. Is it as much of a shock to people if they can't tell you're a guy crossplaying as a gal or vice versa?

Re: I don't know, could be fun...

[minionofamiee.livejournal.com]

I know if that Salior scout at AD '05 had that mask on, I may not still be having nightmares about it... Though I'd probably be thinking "Damn, that's one hairy woman."

[acdragonmaster.livejournal.com]

Eh, I've seen a few costumes here and there that are at least close to that sort of kigurumi, if not actually so.

The reason though why it gets a weird rep is because people associate it with the real otaku who have some sort of fetish for the characters and the kigurumi is just taking it to another level. (like, a step beyond fullsize body pillows and just generic crossplay, sort of thing)

Some cosplayers do that sort of thing just for the sake of cosplaying, but probably because of making the masks and such more prefer just to stick with the fabric and wigs.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

It does seem like an awful lot of work and/or expense.

[acdragonmaster.livejournal.com]

Yeah. And most the full-body costumes you see at cons right now are for non-human characters that basically *require* having a mask and stuff. Like the big Ryo-Ohki I've seen around a few cons, for example. Where on the other hand, making a mask and all that for a character who's human to begin with is kinda a lot of work.

That, and I think there's also another fundamental difference- kigurumi like that is basically trying to look like a completely animated character, where regular cosplay is often trying to recreate that character in real life.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

That, and I think there's also another fundamental difference- kigurumi like that is basically trying to look like a completely animated character, where regular cosplay is often trying to recreate that character in real life.

Maybe that's the essential point right there. With regular cosplay, sure, you're done up as an anime character, but your friends can still tell it's you in the Rose Bride/Major Armstrong/whatever getup. You don't have that with kigurumi.

[acdragonmaster.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. That and with regular cosplay, at least for someone like me, half the point is trying to recreate the costume to the point where it no longer looks like a costume, so to speak, but rather a real outfit someone could really wear. Kigurumi instead focuses on making it still look like it's animated. So in the latter case, it's like trying to be a toon stepped into the real world, while in the former it's trying to figure out what it'd actually look like if it were real and not a toon.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

So in the latter case, it's like trying to be a toon stepped into the real world, while in the former it's trying to figure out what it'd actually look like if it were real and not a toon.

There's an odd parallel here to the way anthropomorphic animals are depicted in anime as opposed to the way they're done here in the States. Catgirls, for example, are usually shown as humans with cat ears, tails, and occasionally whiskers, but Merle from Escaflowne is the only one I've ever seen that actually has fur. Now, take Tom (of Tom & Jerry) or Sylvester or (even older) Felix the Cat. These are all cats that happen to act like people, not people that look kind of like cats. I could go on and on with examples, but I'm sure you get the point.

[acdragonmaster.livejournal.com]

Well, actually in Escaflowne, Merle, along with the other catgirls and various animal-like characters, are technically "beastmen", basically a race that's something of a hybrid between human and animal. As opposed to, like you said, Tom or Sylvester, who are supposed to be cats, not some other halfbreed.