The world of cosplay has always been a popular hobby for fans of anime. Whether buying the costumes online or making them by hand, cosplay is all about having fun. It’s a nice escape from reality and some fans will go the extra mile and copy the character’s personality and mannerisms to fully embody them.
There are quite a bit of anime shows that are about the overall otaku culture, but there are a few about cosplay or dressing up. The main characters are passionate about their cosplay hobbies and share that passion with the people around them. Some even join clubs and enter competitions then there are the few who just love dressing up.
Update on June 21, 2022 by Sarah Prado: When it comes to finding an anime about cosplay, there’s not really much to choose from. It’s a pretty niche topic even though the hobby has been around for a pretty long time. There are some shows that explore the world of otaku and cosplay is briefly mentioned in them, but it usually scratches the surface of it.
The world of cosplaying definitely deserves to be further explored and show fans how committed some people are to dressing up as their favorite characters. Now that My Dress-Up Darling has shown that a show about cosplaying can be successful, one can only hope that more shows about it will come out.
8 Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku
Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku doesn’t delve too deep into the world of cosplaying, but it does give a nice introduction to it. Hanako Koyanagi is passionate about cosplaying and is known as a pretty famous cosplayer in the show. She’s known for cosplaying as male characters even though Koyanagi could easily dress up as female characters. She tries to get her boyfriend Kabakura and her friend Narumi into it, but they are a little reluctant for their own reasons.
While she doesn’t succeed in getting either of them to dress in cosplay, Narumi did put makeup on her boyfriend Hirotaka. He didn’t mind, and he looked very good and made Kabakura think he’s a woman. Koyanagi bribed Kabakura into letting her give him a makeover, showing that she does have a strong passion for cosplaying and wants to share it with her friends.
7 My Dress-Up Darling
This anime is fairly new, but it has been making its way around. Wakana Gojo is a first-year high school student whose hobby is making Hina dolls. He hides his doll-making hobbies after being ridiculed by his childhood friend when he was a kid. Enter: Marin Kitagawa, a girl in Gojo’s class who learns about his hobbies and asks him to make her a dress, so she can cosplay as her favorite character. Though he’s never made a dress for anything other than dolls, he agrees to it and the two begin a friendship that slowly blossoms into more.
It’s a romantic comedy anime with classic introvert-extrovert couple tropes, but it’s still a pretty good watch. Kitagawa might come off as a typical otaku, but viewers might be surprised at some of the things she likes. She’s not ashamed of it and will openly discuss the games she plays with Gojo, even though people around them seem uncomfortable with it.
Plus, she’s being smart about affording only what she can spare. She doesn’t go too crazy when it comes to spending money on her hobbies. Her enthusiasm is also pretty infectious and might encourage fans to pick up on cosplaying and show them the process of having to either find a designer that will work with them, or willing to work with only they have.
6 Genshiken
Genshiken is an anime that’s more about otaku culture similar to Wotakoi. It’s about a group of college students who created their own otaku club known as Genshiken. Kanako Ohno is the main cosplayer of the group and is usually the main attraction for the club at student fairs. Normally, she’s soft-spoken but is extremely passionate when it comes to cosplay and talking about yaoi. She develops a relationship with Souichirou Tanaka, another cosplayer and costume designer in the club.
The anime is about the overall otaku culture, but it was nice to see a relationship blossom between two cosplayers. It’s not every day that there’s a couple with shared interests like this, so it’s refreshing to see. Having one character who cosplays as a regular hobby is a pretty rare sight in an anime, but having two who later become a couple is almost unheard of.
5 Cosplay Complex
One of the few anime that’s all about cosplay. This show is about a group of girls and their cosplay club in school. They don’t have many members, no sponsorships, and are on the verge of being shut down. Despite this, the girls share a love of cosplay and practice making costumes to compete in cosplay competitions.
The show is only three episodes long and is a simple watch. Though mostly about cosplay, it does explore a few other things in otaku culture. The show is meant to be a parody and more comedic than developing a deep story.
4 Smile Down the Runway
A show about fashion and two high schoolers overcoming their shortcomings. Chiyuki Fujito dreams of being a model one day and is blessed with overall good looks, and the connections to enter the fashion world thanks to her father having a modeling agency. However, she lacks one important thing: height. Standing at 5’2/158cm, it seems impossible for her, but she’s going to give up. Ikuto Tsumura is an aspiring designer, but lacks the funds to get much done and has a pretty hectic life at home. The two of them team up and set out to conquer the fashion world.
This anime isn’t about cosplay, but it’s pretty close since it’s about fashion. Chiyuki and Ikuto have different disadvantages when it comes to entering the fashion world, but balance each other out when working together.
3 Nurse Witch Komugi-chan
This anime that’s about a cosplayer and not so much about cosplay itself, but still a pretty hilarious watch. Komugi Nakahara is a cosplayer who works at a talent agency and is usually promoting products while wearing costumes. She dreams of one day being a cosplay idol and is considered a bit of an airhead by her manager at work. After Ungrar, the Virus King, escapes from prison, he turns her friend Koyori into a Magical Maid who spreads infection. Komugi is chosen by Maya, the Goddess of Vaccine World, to be her Nurse Witch and stop Koyori from spreading diseases.
This show is a parody of magical girl anime and the anime show The SoulTaker, in which most of the characters first appeared. It’s a bit bizarre considering The SoulTaker is the complete opposite of this show in genre, overall aesthetic, and characterization. The show even has a sequel in Nurse Witch Komugi Magikarte Z and a reboot in Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R.
2 Penguin Musume Heart
This show is a bit of a twisted take on cosplay. Sakura “Penguin” Nankyoku is a student who is a total otaku. She’s completely obsessed with anime and manga to the point that has some characteristics of her favorite characters. One thing that makes Sakura unique is that she gains the ability of the character she’s cosplaying as.
Overall, the show is more about Sakura and her friends’ day-to-day lives with some supernatural-esque elements. It’s more on the humorous side so if viewers are wanting to watch a pretty good comedy anime, this one is worth checking out.
1 Aura: Koga Maryuin’s Last War
An anime show that tackles some social issues such as bullying. Ichiro Sato is a high school student that used to have delusions of fantasy and grandeur by dressing up as an alter-ego Maryuuin Koga. This caused him to be bullied and ridiculed by his peers. Now, Ichiro strives to be a normal student and leave his past self behind. However, after seeing a girl named Ryoko Sato have the same delusions he once had, his teacher asks him to help her. He’s reluctant and refuses at first, but changes his mind after seeing that she’s being bullied and decides to help her by dressing up as his alter-ego.
The movie isn’t about cosplay, but it has some elements of it since Ichiro and Ryoko dress up as characters they created. Similar to how cosplay helps some people become more confident and escape from reality for a while, Ryoko and Ichiro used their characters to become different people. While there is nothing wrong with it, Ichiro and the viewers see that Ryoko takes these delusions to an extreme level.
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