The Hidden Secret Of Anime Cosplay | Refinery29 - video Dailymotion

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In this episode, we explore the truth about the world of anime cosplay. We speak with Black cosplayers who have faced discrimination within the community. Watch this video to hear their stories.   This video was originally published by Vice and is being repurposed by Refinery29.  ABOUT REFINERY29  Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/  RELATED CONTENT Why Black Millennials Are Dressing Like Comic Superheros  https://youtube.com/watch?v=XVB012nngAo Why Disney World Bans Adults From Dressing Up https://youtube.com/watch?v=gyZlAfuJE-k The Dark Side Of Harajuku Style You Haven't Seen Yet https://youtube.com/watch?v=1Wsk3Oa_3F8  SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29 Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29 Follow Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/ Follow Somos on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29somos/ Follow Unbothered on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29unbothered/

Transcript

00:01Anime isn't seen as something that's a Black thing.

00:05People have this idea of what an anime fan is.

00:09If it doesn't fit that stereotype, then they don't want to hear it.

00:13They were like, oh, letting Black people watch anime was a mistake.

00:17White people are no more Japanese than I am Japanese,

00:20but you don't see that criticism lobbied against white cosplayers.

00:24Because of the lack of representation,

00:26it makes you feel, as a Black person,

00:28even more of an outsider in the outsider community.

00:30And so we're like, where do we belong?

00:32Prior to this, it was seen as like this group only,

00:35but now it's like I'm proud that I like it

00:37and I can be a part of this community.

00:46From Mangoritas to anime lovers, the otakus and the cosplayers,

00:50every Black anime fan has had a moment when they realized

00:53that the animation style is more than a cartoon.

00:56To be an anime fan is something special,

00:59but to be a Black anime fan is something almost magical.

01:02Because the few times you do see yourself in anime

01:05or see anime used in Black culture is a moment not many can relate to.

01:10For a lot of Black fans growing up,

01:12acceptance was also something rare outside and within our own communities.

01:16And most of us often needed to hide or silence our love for the medium.

01:20Being into anime and games, but also being Black at the same time,

01:25it was seen as more so a white and Asian thing.

01:28So if you were Black and into those things,

01:31you felt ostracized.

01:33And there wasn't such a big community as there is now.

01:36Back in the day as a kid, I was like the only girl watching Dragon Ball.

01:39Right.

01:40Now I feel like it's more open to like use anime references.

01:44It's just cooler now to be a nerd.

01:47Sailor Moon definitely just like shaped who I am for real.

01:50I really identify with, you know, Usagi or Serena.

01:54And she's just this kind of like quirky, disorganized, chaotic mess,

01:57but she's, you know, a leader at the end of the day.

01:59She a bad bitch and that's like who I wanted to be.

02:02You know, like just someone who is at first afraid,

02:06but like finds, you know, the power in themselves

02:09to just take on the world and save the world, you know,

02:11and do her things.

02:12I feel like in high school, I really felt like I didn't really fit in,

02:15like in a certain like clique or group.

02:18And watching Naruto really helped me with that

02:21because I watched him not fit in with anyone.

02:24Like he was just really by himself.

02:26I definitely think that it comes from having certain characteristics,

02:32and interests stapled to your Blackness

02:36to the point where if you stray, even in the slightest,

02:40it's automatically invalid just because you're Black.

02:45Cosplayers are fans who dress up as their favorite anime characters.

02:49Representation, freedom of expression, embodying the characters.

02:53Sadly, throughout the years, Black cosplayers have been met

02:56with an array of racist comments from non-Black fandom online

02:59that tell them that they're not allowed to dress as fair-skinned characters,

03:03throwing comments towards them.

03:06However, while dealing with racist and problematic anime fans in large,

03:10many have decided to create safe spaces themselves.

03:14Years ago, like cosplay was way more about looking exactly like the character.

03:18Like if I know I'm cosplaying a character that's like super blonde

03:20or like super white or something, I would definitely be very conscious of like

03:24everything that I'm doing and make sure it's like top quality.

03:27Because cosplay isn't about like the color of the character

03:30or how the character looks.

03:31It's literally the character.

03:32Like the personality and how you look in the photo

03:35and just capturing that feeling of the person.

03:37Even to this day, there's still some characters.

03:39I'm just like, ah.

03:40Right.

03:41Like, ah, I don't know if I'm ready for those comments

03:44because they're gonna come.

03:45Did Lilo and Stitch's older sister?

03:48Oh, that's so cute.

03:49Yeah, and I got a lot of flack for that.

03:51And then after that, I got really scared to do anybody

03:55really of any other descent.

03:58At one point, I contemplated deleting my Twitter

04:02because I posted a kakigiri cosplay

04:05and I spent literal hours and I was so proud of it.

04:09Like two minutes after I posted it, n-word this.

04:12They were like, oh, letting black people watch anime was a mistake.

04:16They called me a because I had my nose pierced.

04:19I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and it went on for days.

04:23They'll call it, like, accuracy checks, essentially,

04:25where they'll say, like, you don't look like this character,

04:27but it all really does just boil down to racism.

04:30Especially with the vast majority of anime characters

04:33who are Japanese.

04:34White people are no more Japanese than, you know, I am Japanese.

04:39But you don't see that criticism

04:40lobbying against, you know, white cosplayers by and large.

04:45You just really don't.

04:46And then there's the flip side of a lot of white cosplayers

04:49doing things like blackface and then them saying,

04:52oh, well, you guys cosplay white characters,

04:54so why can't I?

04:55We don't lighten our skin to cosplay these characters.

04:58We can't lighten our skin to cosplay these characters.

05:01I hate when they pull that.

05:02They'd be like, oh, but that person isn't black.

05:04Mexico isn't black.

05:06She isn't white either.

05:07Or when I cosplay Togo with this,

05:09they'd be like, her hair isn't like that.

05:11I'm like, did I ask?

05:12Specifically for black women, it's like,

05:14oh, they don't know what they're talking about.

05:15Like, I don't believe that you're interested in this.

05:17Right.

05:17And it became a level of, like,

05:19trying to prove yourself as opposed to acceptance.

05:23Cosplay is, like, it's an art form.

05:25You know, they are artists and, like,

05:27artists can reimagine or do things any type of way.

05:29But also just because I don't necessarily look exactly like this character

05:34doesn't mean this character couldn't exist in a different form.

05:37We take a character and kind of add our culture to it, too.

05:41Yeah, yeah.

05:41So it's, like, cross-cultural here.

05:43Right.

05:43You know?

05:43So you see the Afropuffs and the Marley hair and Marley braids

05:47infused with the Japanese culture.

05:49And I think it just makes it even cooler.

05:51I try to encourage more, like,

05:54black girls and people of color to cosplay,

05:57like, outside of their color, if you get what I'm saying.

06:00Cos, like, every time I would say,

06:02hey, who should I cosplay?

06:03They always give me garnet or...

06:06Yup.

06:07Or clone.

06:08Yes!

06:11You understand.

06:13Yes.

06:13So I'm just like,

06:14can you give me other things?

06:16And they're like, no, you should stick with the black characters.

06:20I'm like, no, I won't do that.

06:21So I tried to go outside of my box

06:25just to, like, push people and be like,

06:28hey, I'm doing this.

06:30You can't stop me.

06:32The people who are against, like,

06:35different race,

06:36like, dressing in costumes,

06:38it's like, you're going against the characters

06:41that have inspired us to even make this happen in the first place.

06:44Because it's like, Naruto, he fights for equality.

06:47He fights for peace.

06:49He fights for humanity.

06:50People with those type of beliefs

06:52and bringing that type of negativity,

06:54those people don't understand the characters to begin with.

06:57There should be more representation in anime

07:00for, you know, people of color

07:02because it's not like we don't watch it.

07:04We're there. Right.

07:05We're definitely tuned in and we're watching.

07:07So it's like, why not Addison?

07:09Need more characters, not side characters.

07:11Main characters.

07:13Specifically, there's also not many even darker skinned characters.

07:17Like, most of the black characters in these shows

07:19don't pass the paper bag test.

07:21What really, like, grinds my gears personally

07:24is when they do give us a dark skinned character

07:27and they do the absolute most.

07:30Give her huge lips and a huge nose and a huge butt

07:32and make her talk like this and make her eat chicken.

07:34There's, like, no in between.

07:35And it's like...

07:36Sister crone.

07:37Sister crone.

07:38I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to say it.

07:39I thought about it. I didn't want to say it.

07:41I didn't want to say it.

07:41No, you can say it. Oh, my gosh.

07:43These writers and directors and mangaka,

07:46like, they know that black people watch their series.

07:49They know that we're fans.

07:50They see the cosplay. They see the content.

07:52Like, so it is important to, like,

07:54want to show your reader that, like,

07:56hey, I see you seeing me.

07:58Although there has been a lot of pushback for anime lovers,

08:01there also have been many progressive strides.

08:04Anime has emerged as an important reference point

08:07for a new generation of musicians, creatives,

08:10and even has entered the streetwear space.

08:12This is an actual mattress.

08:13So this is our, like, warehouse,

08:16actual fantasy factory

08:17where we get all our shipping

08:18and everything done every day.

08:19We went behind the scenes of streetwear brand

08:22Hypeland Worldwide with the founder, Jordan Bentley,

08:25to discuss his inspiration behind the brand.

08:28Then we have some of our most popular stuff.

08:30So we have, like, the Hunter Hunter puffer jacket

08:31for all our anime heads, the multicolor puffer.

08:34Now that goes, then we got, like,

08:35a Naruto puffer jacket and stuff

08:36kind of coming out soon.

08:37So you can really see we use this area

08:39just to kind of showcase a lot of the samples

08:41and things that are coming out for the rest of the year.

08:43I remember one morning I woke up,

08:45I was, like, sleeping at my mom's house,

08:47and I, like, had a thought.

08:48I was, like, man, it'd be so cool

08:49if I did, like, a collaboration with, like, Dragon Ball Z.

08:51And I told my mom, and she's immediately, like,

08:53no, don't, like, make bootleg stuff.

08:55Like, don't do any of this.

08:56She's, like, let's go, like, the legal route.

08:58I got, like, a random opportunity from Viz.

09:00Viz Media owns, like, you know, Shona Jump.

09:02Ended up meeting them,

09:03and then they gave me Bleach as, like, a collaboration.

09:05And that was our, like, first introduction

09:06to, like, the anime space directly.

09:09I was, like, why not use my, like, streetwear knowledge

09:11and experience and just, like, my love for clothes in general

09:14and, like, bring that to the anime space and bring, like,

09:16you know, anime fans something nicer than, you know,

09:19the T-shirt with Naruto just in the front.

09:20From there, new ideas just kind of kept popping up.

09:23We ended up making rugs, tables,

09:24like, all these just different integrations

09:26that kind of mix with my life.

09:27People who liked anime weren't necessarily, like,

09:29accepted as, like, this cool thing until recently.

09:31You know, it's cool that Lil Uzi likes anime

09:34or, like, Young Thug wants anime stuff.

09:36For people who've been liking anime since, you know,

09:38elementary school, it's never that same connotation.

09:40So for me, it was, like, you know,

09:42how can I, you know, embrace my love for anime

09:45but not be so loud in the fact that I might be teased?

09:48Or how can I be, like, confident about this

09:50and create stuff that almost gives that

09:52if-you-know-you-know kind of feeling,

09:54regardless of your race and ethnicity, where you're from

09:56or whatever, that there is this, like, unifying interest

09:59within anime and that people can kind of connect

10:01amongst each other based on their interests,

10:03regardless of, like, you know, skin color,

10:05whether you're, like, male, female, whatever.

10:07That's my goal with, like, the clothes.

10:09It's like, how can I connect people and kind of create, like,

10:11some type of dialogue or conversation?

10:13We add black culture into everything to make it spicy.

10:17You know? In the anime community,

10:19there's music videos now and hip-hop videos

10:22that are, like, infused with, you know, anime opening titles

10:25and all that, and it just makes it so much more fun.

10:28I was an influence to your music in general.

10:30It's mainly about, like, the sounds that I go for,

10:32the production. I try to kind of go for, like,

10:34stuff that's upbeat, high-energy.

10:37Kind of sounds like the Sonic video game kind of vibe.

10:39Yeah. Like, I love that.

10:40The sound of, I don't know, like, Mario,

10:42something like that, like, putting that in a sample

10:45in one of my songs. It's just fun.

10:47Like, being into games and all that leaves that door open

10:49for the weirdest kind of things to enter up in a track.

10:53You, Thundercat, Meg, all you guys are, like,

10:56molding it into, like, you know,

10:58kind of your love for this culture,

11:01like, into, you know what I mean?

11:02Like, your career completely, and it's, like,

11:04really dope to see.

11:05The aesthetic and everything.

11:06Yeah, it's, and I mean, I'm grown, but, like,

11:08there's just this small, like, little acceptance.

11:10You're just like, ah.

11:11You never, I've been told people

11:12when they are always surprised about how old I am.

11:15I'm like, anime, K-pop, and, you know,

11:18that keeps me young. Video games and stuff keeps me young,

11:22and, like, I never want to lose that element

11:25because it was such a large part of me growing up.

11:27I spent a lot of time in my room playing games.

11:31I even got my Switch in my bag right now.

11:33Like, it's life. It's a life.

11:35It's life.

11:36It's important for Black people, Black women,

11:40to show up in the nerd space

11:42because I do feel like it's very cyclical

11:44where the more people of color

11:46that are participating in nerd culture,

11:47the more the creators of this nerd culture

11:50will then include those types of characters

11:52or hire on creatives for their shows and for their movies

11:56so that then kids can see themselves in anime.

11:58Whenever I get, like, a DM from, like, you know, support,

12:01and they're telling me about, like,

12:03how this video has changed their life

12:06or it meant so much to them that, like, I create this video,

12:09and they push me to keep creating more videos.

12:13It's like, I never thought that, like, what I love doing

12:17could make other people happy.

12:19I feel like that's the best thing you could do.

12:21Just be yourself.

12:22If you're that nerdy kid, you're that nerdy gamer, be that.

12:26Put yourself out there because you don't want people to like you

12:28for something that you're not.

12:29I feel like I wish I, like, heard some shit like that.

12:31Like, that's how I felt 20 years ago.

12:33It's not even taking up space.

12:34It's taking the space we rightfully have.

12:37Like, this space is for everybody, so, like, here we are.

12:40I'm grateful for where I am right now.

12:42I'm grateful for the people that I've met that look like me,

12:45that have the same mentality as me with the whole thing with anime,

12:48cosplay, reading manga.

12:50I thought I was only one, but I'm not, you know?

12:53And that's probably someone somewhere else.

12:56They think that, oh, I'm probably the only one,

12:58but little did you know, there's a big old community

13:01that is about to burst out and show up.

13:06The people that I followed, like, a long time ago were all white

13:09because I didn't see any Black creators.

13:12But then I started seeing more and I was like, I like this.

13:14Boom, there's more.

13:16I feel appreciated and welcome.

13:19Yeah, you feel included in it.

13:20I was like, wow, this is what I need.

13:22Like, this is home.

13:24They're always going to hate us.

13:25Don't stop anything because someone's trying to stop you.

13:28The only person that can stop you is yourself.

13:30And you never know what could be if you don't, like, go for it.

13:35I'm good at that.

13:47You're the only one.

13:48All right.

13:52I have to do it.

13:52Take care.

13:53Thanks for the time.

13:53Then I'll be right back.

13:53Bye.

13:58Bye.

The Hidden Secret Of Anime Cosplay | Refinery29

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