Hello everyone.

For my Level 3 BTEC Media Course, I am working on a documentary about cosplay and I was wondering, if it's not too much trouble, if you could answer these three questions for my project?

Do you think cosplay is becoming less of a social abnormality?

How do you think cosplay will progress in the future?

What advice would you give to people who are interested in beginning to cosplay?

Thank you very much.

Lucy xx

Do you think cosplay is becoming less of a social abnormality?

With more and more people becoming interested with it and the large amount of resources then I think it is becoming less abnormal but there's still going to be a lot of people who will find it strange.


How do you think cosplay will progress in the future?

More people will take part friends, family members of current cosplayers may take an interest and get involved. However, as it is getting more popular we may see more of the darker side (elitism, people who bash cosplayers for things like height/weight/race etc. Though hopefully it will continue as it is with the good outweighing the bad.


What advice would you give to people who are interested in beginning to cosplay?


Go for it. It's a lot of fun, don't worry about what people may say - you cosplay for yourself and not for them so if you like a character then show your love for him/her/it. Height, race, gender, weight doesn't matter to most and no matter how it seems - people don't tend to mind if you buy cosplays instead of making them, as long as you tell the truth and don't try to claim credit.

Anything for a fellow student

Do you think cosplay is becoming less of a social abnormality?
It's seen as more acceptable at Cons and Expo's yeah. But outside of that, no it's seen as weird if you're just going to do a shoot or general meet.

How do you think cosplay will progress in the future?
Costumes are going to get more technical, people are probably going to end up buying pre-made costumes more and less people will make them.

What advice would you give to people who are interested in beginning to cosplay?
Have fun, it's really rare you can pull out a perfect cosplay the first couple of times, the whole point of doing this is to enjoy yourself.

Do you think cosplay is becoming less of a social abnormality?

In certain circumstances, yes - but that's because there are more socially acceptable people cosplaying. For example, there are beautiful model-esque cosplayers exhibiting excellent cosplays not just geek stereotypes (i.e. fat a princess Laiya). Companies are using cosplayers more and more for advertising. I very much think however that it's still a "time and place" type of activity. It's still considered eccentric, a bit of a peculiarity.

How do you think cosplay will progress in the future?

I think cosplays will become more competitive and elite. The average person has increasing access to tutorials and materials which are essential for the more technical cosplays. There will still be run of the mill cosplays or store bought ones, but I think it's developing into a real craft as opposed to something you do on weekends.

What advice would you give to people who are interested in beginning to cosplay?

Firstly, give it a go, start simple and develop the skill you need to become a better cosplayer. Whether that's learning new skills or posing better.
Secondly, the world is a cruel place - especially the internet. There's every chance that if you don't fit the mold you'll be mocked for it.

Thank you all for your responses! They've been very helpful!

Do you think cosplay is becoming less of a social abnormality?

It's definitely become more common, however you still get made fun of by your school mates at school. Although I think it is definitely more socially acceptable in the media.

How do you think cosplay will progress in the future?

I think it'll get more popular (like a baby boom) but not quite big enough because of the recession we are in currently. However, once we leave this recession; I think you'll get a gigantic increase in cosplayers. ^^

What advice would you give to people who are interested in beginning to cosplay?

Slow down, take your time. Think before you do it and practise. Don't be afraid to ask questions and check into tutorials on the internet. Challenge yourself but don't go too hard. And make sure to pay close attention to people's cosplays to get an idea on how to do a particular thing.

Do you think cosplay is becoming less of a social abnormality?

No. I think it will always be "weird" to the general population, but hopefully with time it will go from "burn the freaks!" to "they may be weird, but they're not hurting anyone, so more power to them". Punks and goths still get beaten up for looking different, we still have a way to go yet.

How do you think cosplay will progress in the future?

I hope we'll all share our knowledge, get lots of newbies join in, and find a nice balance between the trail-blazers and the just-for-fun cosplayers.

I fear we'll get a two-tier hobby as the pretty models get all the attention, get sponsored and have amazing costumes; and everyone else gets marginalised and/or moves on to other things.

What advice would you give to people who are interested in beginning to cosplay?

Read all the tutorials you can, watch all the advice videos you can, then have a go for yourself. Don't be disheartened by your first attempts, and learn from your mistakes. Anyone that is rude about your first attempts isn't worth listening to

And always buy a good wig.

Do you think cosplay is becoming less of a social abnormality?
This is difficult. I think it is definatly becoming more popular and the culture is growing but for the norms I think it's still as unusual as it always has been.

How do you think cosplay will progress in the future? I think it will continue to grow but there will only ever be a limited size/niche of people whom it will appeal to

What advice would you give to people who are interested in beginning to cosplay? Give it a go. You never know till you try. If your concerned with your sewing ability try to pick costumes that are mainly self assembled or need minimal alteration but there is a lot of enjoyment to be had from working on the cosplays yourself instead of just buying them online

Thank you everyone for your replies!