¡°Cosplay¡± becomes major trend for teens

Hey, it¡¯s the zombie hunter of Toshio!

Over there, it¡¯s Yejimong!

It¡¯s 4 pm on Saturday at Kangnam station on Seoul¡¯s no.2 subway line. 130 or so people in costumes, looking like they just popped out of a comic book or computer game, are heading somewhere. Adults on the subway ask, "Who are they?" but the costumed individuals pay no attention.

The place these people flocked to was the ¡°Cosplay Contest¡± organized by an internet company, Character Rep, held at COEX mall in Samsung-dong. As the characters emerged, teen fans who had been waiting for the costumed individuals frantically took pictures.

Sakura from Sakura, Taekongmang of Bongshinyeonui, Yejimong of X-Clamp and other popular characters were there. Most flashes were focused on these three characters.

Park (16) and Choi (17), dressed up as Sakura and Sakura's friend Tomoyo, remarked that despite having met each other for the first time today, they became friends quickly as they both enjoyed the same comic. Both posed for teen fans together. After a photo session at Millennium Square, the contest was held indoors, with 9 awards, including the 'photogenic prize,' handed out.

Most of the participants made the costumes themselves by gathering cloth and accessories at Namdaemun and Tongdaemun. Hence, when the costumes are closely inspected, one can notice uneven stitching and parts where clothespins were used to keep them intact.

Lee Mi-Jin from Suwon revealed, "To make Yejimong's hair, I put wires on my head and rolled newspapers around them. Then thread was put on top and it was dyed white." She added, "It took a week to make the clothes and hair and I used 100,000 won to buy the necessary materials."

As the Cosplay has become a culture in itself, shops specializing in Cosplay costumes have surfaced near Hongik University and Tongdaemun. Although there are no official regulations, as the participants are usually young, sensitive body parts are not exposed and revealing attire such as kimonos is not worn.

The first time Cosplay became an official event was in September 1997 and until this time various comic hobby groups staged Cosplay activities. The ACA had held the Cosplay show as an extra event during a cartoon festival held in Keopyung Freya in Seoul. At that time, only 20 people participated in the Cosplay event, but the current event attracts more than 1,000 participants. Currently, there are around 40,000 ¡°Cosplay maniacs.¡± The Cosplay event is now included in many occasions where the target audience is teens.

The main reason for Cosplay¡¯s popularity is that anyone can become a hero or heroine. ACA chairman Yoo Jae Hwang explained, "Movies and other cultural genres are generally made by someone else, but in Cosplay, the individual becomes the one deciding who he or she wants to be."

- What is Cosplay?

¡±Cosplay¡± is an abbreviation of ¡°costume play.¡± It is the act of dressing up as comic, game or animation characters and mimicking their actions. Cosplay is a leading trend for the current generation, which is enthusiastic about comic and game characters.

Kang Sue-Jean sjkang@donga.com