The Worth of Cosplay – All You Need to Know About Cosplayers!

Cosplay didn’t receive much recognition until a few years back when it was only adopted by a few people. However, with time, cosplay has gained increased attention. In the contemporary era, cosplay has become a whole industry consisting of creative and ambitious artists. The trend of cosplay began in the late 1970s, from a group of students in Japan and the US. This was the period when manga and anime were brought to public attention through television. 

[publishpress_authors_box layout='ppma_boxes_188121']

“Cosplay” refers to the act of dressing up as a certain concept or character. People who dress up for cosplay regularly come to be known as “cosplayers”. In another words, cosplay = costume + play.

So How Did Cosplay Come into Existence?

The introduction of manga and anime inspired the audience to come up with new ideas concerning the plot script, vibrant characters, and silly acting. New makeup and costume designs were thought of, which have been commercialized today and are sold by companies. These costumes include wigs, paints, crafting items, and a wide range of colored contact lenses. This allows the cosplayers to relive the moments played by their favorite characters.

While cosplaying has become an art form or just a fun hobby for some of us, over time it has developed and taken the role of a career and industry. It has gained immense importance and become valued over the years. Collaborations takes place between event managers and renowned film and television studios to conduct cosplay shows in large halls and centers on a pre-determined date, to increase their fan-base. Eventually, this led to a new era of cosplaying being born. Soon, cosplaying had become a worthy professional career. But what makes cosplaying so valuable? We will explore it in this article.

SOUGHT BY COMPANIES AND BUSINESSES:

Cosplayers have attracted companies globally and this has attached value to cosplayers. While it may seem like they are a group of people with plenty of time on their hands for acting, the truth is more than just this. Cosplayers are degree-holders in fashion and/or social media marketing, which enables them to build networks and create meaningful and beneficial connections with recruiting companies and studios that regularly advertise on social media sites such as YouTube or Instagram.

 HAVE A BETTER CHANCE TO GAIN PUBLIC ATTENTION AND INTEREST:

A cosplayer would promote a specific anime, game, or a movie. This increases his/her likelihood of becoming a sponsor in any official event or an opening of a movie to raise public awareness and gain its interest. Cosplayers with a large social media following tend to become opinion-builders and influencers. The downside of being a cosplayer is that while these people hold the utmost significance for an online marketer, cosplayers find it very difficult to earn a living from their profession as they deem it to be “just a hobby”.

COSPLAYERS BRING VALUE-ADDITION TO A BUSINESS:

While it is interesting to note that cosplayers are attracted to several companies and business owners, compensation should be duly provided to these professionals just like other professionals. This is because they provide their services to businesses and work for these businesses to make them appear more valuable. They may dress up as a famous character or entirely recreate their original personalities. However, the truth about compensation is that they shy away from asking for a payment, as they do not want their audience/public to be burdened. They want to ensure that their fans are not being forced to pay for their performance.

THEY PROMOTE AND IMPROVE ANY EVENT LIKE NO ONE ELSE:

Despite this, cosplayers bring tremendous benefits to a convention, the most important benefit of that being able to do promotions and improve an event like no other. They spend a lot of money on wigs, fabrics, and other relevant costume items. Hence, they become an important resource as they exert a lot of effort and put in a lot of hard work to please their audience.

This usually requires them to travel for prolonged hours, moderate costume competitions, at times even wear a costume for more than 12 hours – but in the end, it’s all worth it, for them as well as the company they are working for. This might even continue for 2-4 days in a row, plastering smiles on their faces, calmly talking to people without losing control over their energy and charisma, and keeping the party light. Cosplayers have to dress up in the most uncomfortable clothes, but that doesn’t matter for them as they really love the work they do.

THEY ARE VERY INTERESTING PEOPLE:

Cosplayers are interesting in the way they carry out various activities. They may hold musical shows, do question and answer sessions with their audience, or some other innovative activities with their audience that keep everyone engaged and simulated during the event. The attendees enjoy to their fullest in the convention centre, and gain an experience-of-a-lifetime. It is also a wonderful thought for these attendees to meet a public figure they were initially following on social media, in their real lives.

Hence, with the help of a convention centre, it is made easy and possible for these die-hard fans to meet their favorite characters and enjoy with them, just as they had wished.

COSPLAYERS ARE AMBITIOUS AND CARING INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE FULL OF CREATIVE IDEAS:

Yes, that’s true! Cosplayers are very ambitious people when it comes to their work. They receive love, respect and support from their audience for this very reason. Being a cosplay guest requires a lot of hard work, but it also opens up new opportunities for these people who get to meet their “virtual” friends – friends they had only known through the Internet previously. It also provides both the parties (cosplayers and attendees) to explore an entirely different culture and country. 

THEY POSSESS THE RIGHT SKILLS, CAN REACH YOUR DESIRED TARGET MARKET, AND PERSUADE THEM TO BUY YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE BY PROVIDING THE NECESSARY INFORMATION REGARDING IT:

Cosplayers should be valued in the sense that they have all the pre-requisite skills which are necessary to market a company’s product or service as well as the sought-after ability to reach the main target market through their words and actions. Moreover, they also possess the convincing power to convince their audience to buy the company’s product or service. Therefore, companies should invest in these people as they tend to be an asset for these companies and are a useful resource when it comes to effective marketing and publicity of their offerings.

COSPLAYERS VALUE PRIVACY OVER EVERYTHING ELSE:

Cosplayers are very particular people when it comes to their own privacy. After all, who doesn’t value privacy these days? They tend to upload limited information about themselves on their social media accounts. They do not enjoy having stalkers in their social media accounts and are very clear and blunt if someone falls in love with them. This is a reflection of their no-nonsense attitude and shows the type of rare people they are.

THEY HAVE A LOT OF FANS, EVEN THOSE THEY ARE NOT AWARE OF:

It is true that cosplayers have a large fan-following. This goes to show about the kind of treasured people that they are. There is definitely something unique in them which gives them a large fan-base and increases their value or worth. Only a talented person has a lot of fans, for he/she is doing something the public likes.

THEY KEEP THE COSPLAYING AS REAL AS A POSSIBLE:

Even though cosplayers tend to dress up in costumes to imitate famous characters such as Wonder Woman, Fiora (League of Legends) or Symmetra, they tend to keep their cosplaying as real as possible. They know each and every detail of their costume and makeup will be noticed by the public, hence their costume and every other detail is as accurate and close-to-real as it could get. As a result, the public reveres them for putting so much effort in trying to look like their favorite characters and give them the value they rightly deserve.

Cosplayers only become famous when they dress up with consistency. This is also the reason why their followers take their opinions on social media and follow the tutorials and techniques given by cosplayers. They know their favorite cosplayers always give the right advice regarding dressing up as they never let their fans down especially when it comes to achieving the right and optimum look.

THE JOB OF A COSPLAYER IS STRESSFUL AND COMPETITIVE:

It may not seem like it, but a cosplayer’s job is one of the most difficult jobs to do, which brings a lot of stress and amongst cosplayers. The demanding nature of the public implies that a cosplayer should wear just the right wig, the right costume and carry the right tools to fulfill the position of a cosplayer/original character. This makes the mere job of dressing up very exhausting for the cosplayer but if the look is on point then the rewards are in abundance.

Moreover, the job is also very competitive in nature considering there are hundreds and thousands of cosplayers competing with you and there might be people out there having a much more accurate and better look than you. This need to look on-point can also cause a lot of anxiety, but it also makes the cosplayer more competitive, considering the direct competition with his/her counterparts.

COSPLAY IS ABOUT ENJOYING BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS, AND HAVING FUN:

There are very few professions that offer both enjoyment and doing work; cosplay is one of those professions. It is all about enjoying with your friends after a hectic work or study routine, and to put it simply: just have fun. This makes the profession unique – a rare combination of work and play – hence it also makes it more exciting and valuable. Cosplay is a profession which provides an admirable work-life balance thereby making it a notable and prestigious profession.

AND WHILE THERE ARE FANS, THERE WOULD BE HATERS TOO!

Of course, it goes without saying, that while a successful cosplayer has a large fan-following, he/she would also have a lot of haters too. But to be honest, this only makes the job more interesting. After all, you only have haters if you are doing something right. Same is the case with cosplayers; they are prospective and blooming professionals who have haters because they hold worth. There may be people hating them and disliking them purely out of envy, jealousy or even spite.

THEY DESERVE AN APPEARANCE FEE:

Lastly, not to mention, while the cosplayers put strenuous efforts in dressing up and coming out for an appearance in the public, they should also be rewarded with an appearance fee. There may be times when an event calls for a tough appearance. It is at times like these that organizations must invest in their cosplayers equally to provide them with just reparation for their services and time. Most importantly, these cosplayers have to bear substantial expenses only to make a public appearance. These expenses may include food, travel and accommodation expenses.

This, along with judging and other related duties call for an appearance fee. Hence, as mentioned earlier, cosplayers must be fairly compensated as per their need.