With the precision of a ballerina preparing for the stage, a woman ties her corset, pulls on petticoats and starts applying elaborate makeup. Her friend wraps herself in elastic bandages and dons a short, fluorescent wig. They are costume players, or cosplayers -- diehard fans of anime and Japanese culture, readying themselves for Ukraine’s largest anime festival, the Otobe in Kyiv.
Japanese culture came to Ukraine in the 1990s when such animated cartoons as “Sailormoon” or “Pokemon” hit the television screens. Children would act out the series during classroom breaks and exchange tapes and disks. Movies came along by famous Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, author of such masterpieces as the 1997 “Princess Mononoke” and 2001 “Spirited Away.”
Slowly, anime fans began to gather to talk about their passion, in online forums and real life, and set up small festivals, dressing up as their favorite characters.
The beginnings were quite rudimentary. “We were happy with any small crumb of anime that we could get. The first fan meeting was certainly not so big as it is now. We were kids. I loved the reaction of people, when they recognized characters that I portrayed and wanted to take a picture with me,” said one of Otobe’s organizers, Alexiel, who, like most costume players, seeks to remain behind the mask and refuge of a pseudonym. It precisely this feeling of holiday, of escaping a gray reality, that drives them, the costume players say.
The number of anime fans in Ukraine can no longer be counted. One can find numerous websites, stores, meetings and festivals dedicated to Japanese animation. The Otobe festival brings together fans not just from all over Ukraine, but from Russia and Belarus as well. Organized at the House of Culture of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the festival was attended by some 400 people, from little children to 30-year-olds, said Alexiel.
The years of learning to sew, cut and put on makeup – in addition to practicing other relevant skills, from acrobatics and martial arts to photography and filming – produce a fantastic effect. In fact, it’s hard to believe the costumes are made by dedicated individuals, sometimes at the cost of huge amounts of money and time, not professional companies.
Prices depend on the complexity of the work and cost of the material. Sometimes it’s just a Japanese school uniform, but other costumes include huge wings or armor, and a variety of wands, swords, bows or animal horns. All of these are either handmade from plastic, plaster, wood or metal, or ordered online. All in all, costs can go from several hundred hryvnias to thousands of dollars.
A dominance of female costume players is one reason why male anime characters are often played by women. But Japanese culture, which sees femininity as an attractive feature in men, and the pleasure of impersonation also play a role. Some girls even become so obsessed they start speaking about themselves in the male gender in real life.
“It’s like stage play. Working through some internal entity, because anime is rich with vivid images of men, women, children and fantasy creatures of Japanese folklore,” a said a costume player who goes by the name of Rin.
During the existence of the movement in Ukraine, some practitioners have become quite well known. One of them is Bellatrix Aiden, who has an impressive collection of photos online, has featured in several Asian magazines and has fan sites devoted to her.
“All I did is upload photos online on social networks or websites dedicated to costume play. Later some journalists contacted me and asked for photos for magazines, or my friends threw me a link to ads which were looking for beautiful photos,” said Aiden. A programmer by profession, she said sewing and other similar activities where quite foreign to her, but she persisted nonetheless.
“This so-called popularity is a product of will,” she said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Daria Zadorozhnaya can be reached at [email protected].
To find out more about anime:
The Otobe Festival of Japanese Culture and Animation was held on Oct. 12-14 in Zhovten movie theatre and the House of Culture of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. For details, visit the event’s site http://anime-festival.com.ua/2012/
Costume player and co-organizer of the Otobe Festival can be reached at: [email protected] or 093-302-9242.
If you want to learn more about costume players, go to these websites: http://cosplay.in.ua/; http://www.shkaff.net/stati/1009-kosplej-v-kieve.html; and http://vk.com/club6041968.
Costume player Belatrix Aiden can be reached at [email protected] or http://bellatrixaiden.deviantart.com/?rnrd=16625.
Photo sites of Pugoffka, costume player photographer: http://photosite.ua/Pugoffka; http://pugoffka.kiev.ua/.
Anime online magazine http://www.anime-line.kiev.ua/.
Upcoming anime-related events: Halloween party on Nov. 10 in the Bingo club http://bingo.ua/.
ComArt FEST: The Kyiv International Festival is Nov. 10-25 in ArtPrichal http://comart.com.ua/.
