With the Singaporean cosplay community growing, 19-year-old Akane who studies in a polytechnic, gives us a look into the world of manga, anime, and video game characters, where avid fans dress up as one.
“What got me into cosplaying is because I like two-dimensional characters,” she said in an interview with TISG. “I find their character design very interesting, and there’s a lot of things present in anime that I cannot see in real life.
As for the cost of her outfits, she said she pays around S$100 for her costume including her wig, aside from the S$100 to s$150 she pays for her makeup.
When asked about what her parents think of cosplaying, Akane shared how they have had somewhat of a change of heart. “My parents used to disapprove because they find it very weird,” she explained. “They also think that some outfits are really revealing and that it might attract unnecessary attention. But for now they have come to accept it.
While Akane shared that two of her favorite aspects of cosplay are meeting new people and the thrill of sharing a passion, she also talked about some negative experiences she has had, such as harassment, being cat-called, and being the recipient of unsolicited indecent photos on social media. “For online harassment, I usually just ignore or block them, but as for the real life one I did confront the person to stop, and eventually he stopped,” she said. She also added that she doesn’t like being stared at in a way that makes her feel judged by people, explaining, “I do not like to get stared at in public places, and I find it very uncomfortable.”
She has high hopes for the world of cosplay, though, saying that the growing anime and gaming communities can be attributed to the fact that there are new characters being created as supporters are developing a new appreciation for the character designs.
“I definitely think that there are more people getting into cosplay because as anime and gaming communities become bigger,” she said. “There are more characters to explore and maybe they appreciate the game design as well, maybe they appreciate the character design and they find it rather intriguing, and interesting to be like them–just like me. Hence, more people will want to join and play together. ”
Among her list of cosplay events that she has attended, are Sakura Matsuri 2019, Anime Festival Asia (AFA) 2019, AFA 2022.