Culture clash as woman berates ‘frivolous’ cosplayers

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China’s delegation may have been triumphant at the World Cosplay Summit (WCS) in Japan last week, but it seems not everyone in the country is as enthusiastic about the increasingly popular hobby of fancy dress and role play.

Screenshot of the video posted on Weibo

In an incident filmed by a witness who posted the footage online, the woman distanced herself from the two girls and told them they were “frivolous”. One of the two girls replied politely that she was a 20-year-old student interested in cosplay.

Before the cosplayers got off the train, the woman insisted that cosplay had corrupted her granddaughter, who dropped out of her studies.

Screenshot of the video posted on Weibo

The video has received more than 14 million clicks since being posted on Sina Weibo on Friday. It highlights an ideological clash between older and younger Chinese generations, particularly when it comes to subcultures like cosplay.

Opinions differ as to who was in the right in the incident.

Screenshot via Weibo

“I don’t think the auntie was wrong. You can do your cosplay at comicons but do not take your show public. Think about your parents!” said netizen @Xiaohuangdi23-KING.

Screenshot via Weibo

“This is just a cultural divide. I don’t think the auntie was that bad. My grandpa would probably tell me his disagreements in private but not this loud in public,” said @Shiqixiaofan.

Screenshot via Weibo

“It’s not about age. My grandparents are in their seventies and they hold traditional notions. But they would praise me in character costumes and encourage me to have fun. They would cook for my cosplayer friends. They knew nothing about cosplay but they know respect,” wrote @Miaomiaohu0.

Cosplay is short for costume play. Participants wear costumes and accessories to role-play a specific character. This craze for fancy dress has really taken off since the 1990s thanks to a thriving ACG (anime, comics and games) culture centered in Japan and Asia.

Last Sunday, the Chinese team won the top prize at the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, Japan.

Pablo Picasso poses as Popeye in 1957. / Photo taken by André Villers

The concept of cosplay actually started evolving long ago. Artist Pablo Picasso was famously pictured “cosplaying” Popeye in 1957.