Anime is an ever-changing field of entertainment, complete with characters relating to the audience's lives or providing humorous, fanciful environments for them to enjoy. According to Aihara Hiroyuki, president of the Character Research Institute and author of "Japan: Kingdom of Characters," Japanese people embrace these fictional worlds because of their "tranquil" nature. The attitude and setting of anime is constant, which reassures hardworking people and provides an escape for them. Expressionless and faceless characters conform to their audience's feelings at that exact moment, which motivates them to seek happiness.

[Hello] Kitty shares my sorrow when I feel sad but she also shares my joy when I feel happy - from Japan: Kingdom of Characters

Saturday, December 3, 2016

'Cos I Love Anime: The Cosplayer Discourse Community


It can literally change someone's life; it's very positive for young teenagers to get into cosplay if they do it with their friends or with supervision from their parents - it can really foster their social skills -Yaya Han, famous cosplayer, model and costume designer 


   In order to discuss my issue with how women in anime are represented, I decided to speak with with cosplayers in the Reddit community. People who construct outfits, weaponry and props enjoy bringing Japanese cartoons to life as accurately as possible, despite certain characters appearing sexualized. Unfortunately, harassment occurs when convention participants do not appreciate or respect their fellow attendees. Fantasy often supersedes reality in these instances, when cosplayers are believed to assume the behavior of the character they are dressed as. Women who pursue a flirtatious attitude may willingly attract disrespect towards them, which is a theme discussed in many websites I researched. To provide balanced facts, it is obvious that male characters in anime are commonly sexualized, however, my topic pertains to the representation of women. 


  Below, I provided background in my question to people belonging to the cosplay community on Reddit. I outlined organizations like "Geeks for CONSent" who combat harassment at conventions, as well as Mandy Caruso, a famous cosplayer's, personal experience with this issue. I provided examples rooted in evidence to support how female anime characters are bluntly sexualized. I decided to pose a simple question to cosplayers in an attempt to attract their attention. I was satisfied to read their responses, as they provided their own analysis, experiences and communication with each other about my topic. 

The link to this subreddit outlines the constructive responses that I received: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/cosplayers/comments/5fsa2l/what_can_we_do_to_reduce_harassment_at_conventions/





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