Friday, September 01, 2006

manga fun in Shanghai

Last Sunday, in Shanghai's People's Park, after I past the parents advertising their children I bumped into some Chinese cosplayers:



A Japanese import, cosplay is now cropping up all over the world. The kids here are going for the ol' manga look here while the cosplayers below are straying into Goth Lolita territory, a look that filtered down from Japan a while ago;



Although its an extremely niche activity (especially in 35+ degree heat) it is an illustration that China is part of the ebb and flow of world trends and influences. Chinese cosplayers also post films of themselves on toudou.com (the Chinese youtube) so wait for it, that means that screen media is taken offline as cosplay then ends up back online as user created content to be shared with other cosplayers and manga fans. Very web 2.0, sweetie.

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