At the core I would say that no, there isn't. I highly doubt you would see a gyaru in Japan also cosplaying. The two just don't go hand in hand! Most gyaru wouldn't express a interest in this hobby; the only gyaru I have seen ever expressing an interest are gaijin gyaru!
Whilst flicking through this month's Ageha, I was surprised to see some brief cosplay tutorials for the Vocaloids: Miku Hatsune, Luka Megurine and Rin Kagamine.
For those if you who haven't heard of Vocaloid, it's a music program. It contains pre-recorded voices from different people (singer Gackt has even loaned his voice towards one named Gakupo) and you can use them to sing different songs. The characters are the faces of different voices and it has actually spiralled into out of control popularity. There's a weekly ranking, merchendise and the Vocaloids even hold concerts!
The tutorials are brief. VERY brief.
Miku Hatsune
Luke Megurine
Rin Kagamine
I'm not sure how to react to these to be honest!
I don't think the make-up they did for Rin works well; she's supposed to be a fairly young girl and I can't imagine a young girl wearing that much eye make-up! It just looks very heavy. In addition she's also wearing the wrong contact lenses...
My favourite out of the three is the Luka as her make-up definitely doesn't look quite as heavy as the other two girls! She looks almost naturally flawless, and I'd definitely love to see that sort of make-up used in more gyaru co-ordinates!
Which is your favourite? Is there room for cosplay in gyaru?
I love the Luka one, she is so pretty! : D : D And Gyaru is just a style, and style changes.
ReplyDeleteShe really is. I'm also really liking whatever make-up style they used for her; so pretty!
DeleteIt is but some people consider in a life style too. I can't imagine the MA*RS shop staff or even the Liz Lisa shop staff also indulging in what most people describe as a big 'otaku' hobby so I was really surprised to see this even feature in a magazine.
Maybe it's because Vocaloid is so popular nowadays?
I love the Luka one too! She just looks less....edited compared to the other 2. I'm not a gyaru but seeing cosplay in a gyaru magazine would really throw me off...
ReplyDeleteShe does. I think her eye make-up looks less heavy compared to the other two.
DeleteSame, which was why I was really surprised to see this feature in Ageha!
I also prefer Luka, she looks very pretty and innocent *~*
ReplyDeletefor me it is alright if gyaru also want to cosplay ~ it's kind of great variability and very interesting to see :'3 cosplay just means to dress oneself up (in a costume), so i see no reason why gyaru shouldn't do ^-^
ShuShu ♥
It seems as though everyone really likes Luka! I think she just looks the best out of all three.
DeleteThat's a really good way to look at it! I think that maybe the same social 'restrictions' don't apply to Western gyaru than Japanese gyaru. I wouldn't think much if I saw a gyaru attending a cosplay event, but in Japan I'm sure it would be seen a little differently.
The Luka Megurine cosplay looks the best but I love Miku Hatsune's wig and eye make up. I love both gyaru and cosplay. \(*--*)/
ReplyDelete