Cosplay to express, not to impress.

I was cosplaying to promote our booth during our college mini-olympics when a dear friend came and said that she is not cosplaying anymore for that day for fear that people will judge her. Tears fell from her eyes and I was comforting her. Looking at her, I remember when I was ashamed to go to the seamstress and have my costume made for fear of being laughed at.

What gave me confidence in cosplaying my favourite characters? I read. I read forum posts on how to cosplay well; I read journal entries on costumes, wigs and even poses and how to act in-character. I ask my friends and parents for opinions on my cosplay to improve it. And, as much as possible, I ignore those people who laugh at my hobby.

Why do people laugh at cosplayers? Yes we dress up as our anime characters and walk around town. Yes, we spend our money to buy wigs and to pay tailors to make our costumes. Yes we watch anime and read manga to act out the characters we cosplay perfectly. BUT WHY DO SOME PEOPLE LOOK DOWN ON COSPLAYERS?

We don’t hurt anybody when we cosplay. We don’t cause wars in the world well except for people who takes the competition SERIOUSLY enough to create an all-out war to other cosplayers who I think – are not real cosplayers or they just cosplay to compete and get the prize money instead of having fun.

Why can’t people appreciate our effort in bringing our favourite characters to life? We cosplayers dress-up to express what is inside us. We show our true self by acting out the characters we portray.

To those people doing this anywhere in the world, READ THIS QUOTE:

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"

If you want to comment on a cosplay, do it CONSTRUCTIVELY. Say it in a way that next time, that certain cosplayer will improve his/her portrayal of a character. NOT to discourage him/her from cosplaying.

To those cosplayers who receives harsh comments from people… IGNORE IT! If they are telling you that you are a bad cosplayer, don’t listen to their opinions. Listen to whom you trust. IMPROVE your portrayal of other characters so that next time, those who throw hurtful comments to you will just watch you with awe, for you nailed that character well.


I LOVE COSPLAYING. I do not ask everybody to love it. Just RESPECT us and our hobby as cosplayers.