- Animegao
A doller is a
cosplay er who performs a variant of "kigurumi " cosplay. The face is fully covered with amask , usually meant to look like a human cartoon character, and the costume of the character is worn. InJapan most cosplayers refer to this style as (nihongo2|アニメ顔 - Animegao, or "Anime Face"). It is still a very minor part of the cosplay scene in Japan, though it was around 2005 when it began attracting attention in other countries, including theUnited States cite web | title = Reika's Kigurumi Haven | url = http://reika.mooshuu.com ] ,Canada cite web | title = クリスのページ | url = http://www.kurisutsurifu.com ] , andEurope ancite web | title = Leigh Kigurumi | url = http://leigh.kigurumi.co.uk ] countries. Or|date=June 2008At the hobbyist level the characters in question are almost all
female , and commonlyhuman , although kigurumi characters of other races andgender s do exist, includingmale (such asKenshin Himura from Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai Xcite web | title = Kenshin's Kigurumi Zone | url = http://kenshin.kigurumi.us ] ), mechanical (such asGundam Wing ), elven (such asDeedlit orPirotess fromLodoss ) anddemonic (such as Inuyasha from the anime of the same name.) Another cosplay motive may also be the desire to emulate a given anime character in exact appearance, and personality. Other cosplayers have developed their own characters.cite web | title = Rabbit In The Moon| url = http://www.rabbitinthemoon.us ]By wearing a
body suit ormask , kigurumi cosplayers are able to get closer to the appearance of the original character, especially in the case of animal characters or highly stylised characters. Non-professional animal kigurumi cosplayers painstakingly make detailed heads and bodies from plastic, wire and artificial fur. In animegao kigurumi, the actor or actress playing a humanoid anime character will wear a flesh-coloured body suit (known as aZentai ) and matching mask usually moulded fromclay or fiberglass composites (FRP). The body suit allows them less-detailedskin features, on the level of animated characters, and the mask allows a similar level of facial features. Some hobbyists obtain masks from established hobbyist mask studios such as Build Up Studio SIGMAcite web | title = Build Up Studio SIGMA | url = http://www.buildupstudiosigma.com] or Dolphin Factory.cite web | title = Dolphin | url = http://www.iluca.jp]As with other kinds of cosplay, many hobbyists have costumes of established characters from games or animations.
Even though this term originated as a translation of nihongo2|アニメ顔, the original Japanese term is not used to describe masking based on anime characters. Instead the term [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9D%80%E3%81%90%E3%82%8B%E3%81%BF 着ぐるみ] is used by most performers.
ee also
*
Cosplay
*Kigurumi References
External links
; External Resources
* [http://wiki.kigurumi.org KiguWiki] ; Mask Creators
* [http://www.buildupstudiosigma.com/ Build Up Studio SIGMA]
* [http://www.iluca.jp/index2.html Dolphin Factory]
* [http://kanakig.accsalon.com Kanakig]
* [http://www.mtcraft.com/ MTCraft]
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