It's no secret that Japan takes its cosplay seriously. They have cosplay courses at certain universities, cosplay 'friend' services, cosplayers greeting tourists at airports, and cosplay street parties. A quick look at those links will show you that the Japanese spend alot of time and money trying to look EXACTLY like their favorite game or anime characters.

But what about Westerners? Well, there's a stereotype that Westerners simply can't cosplay... or can't cosplay as well as the Japanese, anyway. But is that true? Is Japanese cosplay really better than Western cosplay? Kotaku takes a look...

There is a stereotype - an unfair stereotype - that Westerners cannot cosplay.

"A Japanese friend of mine told me very casually, in a totally matter-of-fact kind of way, that the difference between Japanese and American cosplay is as clear as moeru and naeru," says Patrick Galbraith, author of The Otaku Encycolpedia, University of Tokyo PhD candidate and cosplaying Akihabara tour guide. "Moeru" means "to bud", while "naeru"is an antonym and means "to wilt"."

The connection in the minds of Westerners between cosplay and Japanese popular culture is natural and makes sense. What does not make sense is the notion that cosplay is exclusively Japanese or that Japanese cosplayers are intrinsically better at cosplaying than their Western counterparts. It's not that one is better than the other, they're just different.

Miss Razz via kotaku.com »