Culture and the market size exceeds 29 billion u. S. Dollars. The culture spread to china in the late 1990s. From then a number of young people who like anime and manga slowly began expanding the culture. Initially the movement was met with disapproval but when the Chinese Government began promoting them, they began investing, creating major industry. Cosplayers who now symbolize the culture are making a living from cosplay. Some of them appear in dramas and variety programs. Major dramas featuring cosplayers are even in the works. Chinas cosplay is experiencing dramatic shift. This episode follows these changes and the young people attempting to create their own culture by building a society where cosplay leads to business. This is northern beijing where the China National Convention Center is located. A large scale event was held over two days from december 31st, 2016. Despite the new year season, more than 100,000 people attended the event. Some attendees came far. The beijing animation games carnival is the largest such event in northern china. It is held four times a year. The 220,000 square meter venue is mainly separated into three areas. This one sells products related to manga, animation and games. This area exhibits new products such as cosplay costumes and game software. There is also an area for photo shoots. The booths are available to any preregistered attendants who pay a fee. The price depends on the space. One square meter of space costs 100 for two days. The stage in the very back of the venue is used for preliminary contests for cosplay skits held every year. Stage plays featuring cosplayers are becoming common in china. Among them government organized contests in shanghai are known for their high quality. What prompted cosplayers to take to the stage was the need to receive a permit from the police when more than five people form a gathering in china, but permits arent necessary for stage performances. Initially, cosplayers danced to music and performed skits. Eventually growing into full scale shows. Now, performers create manga just for the purpose of playing the characters in their shows. Jin weilin has been cosplay contests. He works at an ad agency. The event the held from 9 00 a. M. Until 4 30 p. M. Ji flr jin continues filming for as long as he can. Jin, who has been following cosplay performances for years says there was a certain point when the shows began to change. Jin began reading japanese manga when he was a university student. He found out about events that at one point belonged to a cosplay organization but he quit after lacking interest in wearing costumes. Cosplay performances recreate the world of fans favorite characters. As jin continued filming videos, he noticed the new ideas growing from the cosplayers. He decided it was important to keep on chronicling them. He shows footage of a cosplay stage contest held in 2003 in beijing. The theme was japanese ninjas. There were no sets on stage but jin said the show was amazing. This was the 2010 contest. This time there was a full scale stage set based on the theme of online chinese games. Around this time, there had been a surge in organizations that made domestically produced cosplay content and funded theater performances. What triggered this commercialization of cosplay theater was a government policy introduced in 2006, which designated domestic anime as a priority industry and gave it incentives. As part of that policy, cosplay performances based on the content were promoted. One cosplayer has launched companies riding the coat tails of the governments promotion of the development of domestically produced culture. He formed the Production Company hoping to distribute the content to the rest of the world. Currently, he distributes dramas and variety shows featuring his peers based on cosplay performances. Da er has been a cosplayer for nearly two decades and operates his own organization. After graduating from university, he ran internet caves cafes and invested in real estate but he always wanted to work in a field he enjoyed. He has also appeared in many contests. This show is das first online variety program. It quickly caught the attention of viewers. Its about cosplayers making costumes from scratch in two days. Filming a video in costume and competing to see whos best. Its kpaexactly what da and his friends had been doing on their own. The judges are famous cosplayers and professional prop makers who are tough critics. The first season of this show got 50 million views. The second exceeded 200 million views. After the show was aired, das Company Became famous. Now his firm is flooded with inquiries. Today theyre working on an Internet Program for an animation company. Li lisa, a first year employee will be in the show. The program is about dressing up as an anime heroine and researching possible merchandise. Thanks to the interactivity of the internet, content producers can instantly know what kind of products fan want and are likely to buy. Lee had always looked up to da whom she often saw at contests and shows. When she heard about da launching a company, she decided to audition. After graduating from university, li skipped job hunting and continued being a cosplayer. Her parents finally accepted her decision when she joined das company. Lis First Encounter with cosplay was in 2006. That year tv broadcasting of foreign animation was banned between 5 00 p. M. And 8 00 p. M. By the government. To continue watching foreign animation, li surfed the net and found cosplay. She soon took up an interest in dressing up. Broadcast of foreign animation are still restricted by the Chinese Government. Only censored content is aired. In 2015, 62 anime were suddenly removed from the internet. Hangzhou city is about 200 kilometers south of beijing. This is the city that the Chinese Government designated as the Production Center of anime and manga. The town was home to chinas largest cosplay organization. The leader of that Group Launched a company. Inside the office is a studio where make up artists and camera operators work. The Company Brings out the beauty of cosplayers and markets them in appealing products. All 15 of the cosplayers who belong to the group are well known within the industry. Their images appear in advertisement te advertisement posters, magazines for games and various other media. Publy k publications include each cosplayer as well as manga like books. Theyre like paper versions of cosplay performances. The company was launched two years ago with 30 people and now has 120 employees. Zhang yu, the ceo, is well known among cosplayers in china. On this day, an event was held for fans of cosplayers belonging to the company. Hes the most popular star with 6,500 fan club members. Admission tickets are 105 each. Despite the steep price, 300 people attended. Zhang entered the venue surrounded by enthusiastic supporters entered the building. The three hour session consisted of a living singing performance and talk show. Recently, hes been increasingly working in dramas and variety shows as a cosplayer. His work is like that of a tv star, but he insists hes a coplayer overall. After his performance, a new group made its debut. This project was launched at the same time as the company and has grown this far in two years. This sevenmember boy band was created after auditions were held all over china. They plan to dance and sing but they arent cosplayers. Its important for the company to be stable first, and he believes it would be interesting if this group begins cosplay after gaining popularity. Hes also begun a new project. Its the grand Scale Production of an imaginative performance featuring characters from the monkey king and chinese mythology. Computer graphics will be used to create an other worldly background. Hes already managed to secure the 30 million production cost by signing Distribution Contracts with several online video sites. Chinas cosplay has rapidly become commercialized under Government Protection and changed overtime. Where will it go in the future . Will it form a completely new culture or will it be a mere product . It all depends on the paths that these men and women choose to take. Glad to have you with us on this edition nhk newsline. Its 10 00 a. M. In tokyo. Im catherine kobayashi. The government acquired a 50. 1 stake in Tokyo Electric Power company through a statebacked bailout fund after the accident which put the uti
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