Dressed to thrill as growing craze for Japanese art arrives in Scotland

DRESSING up as comic book and computer game heroes may not sound the usual behaviour for Scotland's teenagers and twenty-somethings but it has become the nation's fastest growing subculture.

Cosplay or 'costume play' sees participants dressed as anything from Zelda to Sonic the Hedgehog in celebration of Japanese-style animation and computer games.

Cosplayers meet to parade in their costumes, make friends and wander the streets of our nation's fine cities. Oh, and they usually visit a few pubs and enjoy a DJ set too.

It has been hugely popular in Europe and the US, with some Cosplay conventions drawing as many as 30,000 devotees.

Now Scotland has finally got in on the act. Although the country's first convention had a modest turnout of only a few hundred people last year, more than 600 people have booked tickets for this year's sold-out event at the Holiday Inn next to Glasgow Airport in November.

With its roots in America, Cosplay has become an institution in some countries, where people celebrate Manga, Anime and Japanese-style computer games in a party atmosphere, with Cosplay fashion shows, photo-shoots and dances.

The events can become a colourful celebration of all things animated and Japanese.

The Meadows in Edinburgh is a regular haunt for Scots Cosplayers.

They go online to arrange monthly meetings in public spaces where they show off their new costumes and take photos.

Glasgow-based Cosplayer Angela Hacket explained the appeal: "Dressing up is great fun, especially at the conventions when everyone else is in costume too. I spend weeks making costumes I've seen on Anime movies or Manga artwork, and it's great to get to show off the finished product."

Although the dressing up and fashion show-style parading are the main appeal to most, the costumes themselves are considered just as important.

The Cosplay popularity around the world has resulted in a number of successful businesses being set up specifically to cater for the Cosplayer's every need. Although the average price for a costume is about £50, some fetch as much as £300. Aside from the wigs, props and costume sellers, companies that specialise in taking photographs for Cosplayers, are also enjoying the rise in popularity.

Dr Jane Prince, head of psychology at Glamorgan University, said: "It's fun pretending to be someone else. We very rarely get the opportunity to reinvent ourselves.

"The appeal of dressing up, be it for Halloween or a masked balls or costume parties, is that you can be whoever you choose to be.

"If you hide your identity and conceal who you are, you can recreate a new one which can be tempting. It's appealing, just for an evening or so, to throw off the shackles of who you really are and be whoever you want to be."