So I photographed you at A-kon and you didn’t speak a lick of word to me though you had a little dry-erase type pad which you wrote down answers to questions. On the business card you gave me it read kigurumi performer. Can you tell me about that ?
Kigurumi, as is generally defined in the Western world, is cosplay where the performer is completely covered by a mask, usually made of fiberglass, and a spandex bodysuit, called a zentai (ゼンタイ, full-body tights) or hadatai (肌タイ, skin tights), underneath their costume. The performer does not speak, nor take off the mask in public.
In Japan, the word kigurumi (着ぐるみ) generally refers to any costume that completely covers the wearer. This could be anime masks, which is also referred to as “animegao”, or anything from sports mascot characters to suit performers at Disneyland. In the West–that is, the Americas and Europe–kigurumi specifically means the animago style.
Most of the masks are made in Japan using a fiberglass resin, although recently more mask makers outside of Japan have started to appear. A mask can cost from several hundred and up to several thousand dollars depending on the maker and how custom the design will be.
There are currently about 30 kigurumi performers in North America, and a few more scattered in Europe, but the majority are (obviously) in Japan. Many of the Japanese performers have masks of specific characters such as Sailor Moon, Mew Icihgo, or Haruhi Suzumiya. In contrast, a lot of the North American kigurumi have masks that are more “generic”, as in the character is not really from any particular anime, manga or game, which gives a lot of flexibility to create your own character–looks and attitude–that aren’t already defined.
Okay, I’m curious. Why are American ones more generic than the Japanese ones ?
I’m not really sure. There are some masks from specific shows–one American performer has Bridget Mouse from “An American Tail” and Minerva Mink from “Animaniacs”; another has a mask modeled on Riza Hawkeye from “Full Metal Alchemist”, but in general most of the American (and Western world – non Japanese) are not based on existing characters. However, that’s not to say there aren’t generic masks in Japan. one maker, Build Up Studio Sigma has a couple of models of mask that come from the same mold, but the buyer can customize the eyes, hair, etc. Unfortunately, Sigma only sells in Japan. There are also smaller mask makers who will do one-off designs, either custom or character based–my own mask comes from one of those, MTCraft .
I also noticed there were other kigurumi performers at A-kon – was A-kon some sort of unofficial meeting point ? Do kigurumi performers in the US just choose a con to meet ?
Four of the kigurumi performers at A-Kon are from Texas, and others came in because we were already planning to meet there. We had a total of six performers with masks, and a couple of our helpers are also performers but didn’t have their masks with them…they flew down from Canada to meet with us!
As far as regularly getting together, there’s not a specific convention or any real coordination for meeting. One of the problems in North America is that all the performers are spread out geographically, with the largest concentrations being in Texas (but still scattered!) and in the Northeast, but still only four in Texas and and four or five closer together in New England. The rest are scattered from California to Missouri to (I think) North Carolina and other states. Our Canadian performers are at the same disadvantage too, being spread from one end of the country to the other.
Surprised to see so many in Texas…..I would have assume more in California . Anyways, how did you get into kigurumi ?
Back in 2001, I was looking at pictures from A-Kon, and saw this good looking picture of Sailor Moon, but the cosplayer was wearing a mask. I was intrigued…what was that about? After some research I found out that it was called kigurumi, and was a form of cosplay in Japan. Now, I’ve always been shy about dressing up and going out in costumes and showing my face. The thought of being able to go out and be noticed and get attention, but still be totally anonymous, appealed to me. After many years of lurking on forums and the Yahoo “kigurumifansclub” group I finally was able to get my first mask — it was a (relatively cheap) latex anime girl, and several in the kigurumi group frowned on it, but it was mine. I didn’t go to any conventions with that mask but it allowed me to be able to see what kind of character I could make.
In early 2008 I was able to meet with Rabbit (another kigurumi performer in Texas) for a little while and had the opportunity to wear a mask from Dolphin Studios, one of the best-known mask makers. After just a short while with that, I fell in love with being able to play a character that was so different from myself, but still me. At A-Kon that year Rabbit let me borrow Red (the mask I had tried on before) for the whole weekend, and after that I was totally hooked on being a kigurumi performer!
That was May…in June I was able to make contact with MTCraft and arranged to purchase a mask. Normally it takes 6 months to a year to get a new mask, but he had one in production already that he agreed to sell to me. it was a near-identical mask to his own character Nanako. I was able to get it in time to premiere Kimei at Otakon 2008.
Tell me about the experience being a performer. Why do you do it ?
The experience? It’s amazing, to me. Granted it is restricting–vision is limited, breathing can be an issue (hope I don’t have any sinus issues while wearing the mask!). The hadatai can be hot, especially in the Texas summers. But I love it, I wouldn’t want to cosplay in any other way. I might get another mask sometime–there are characters I love that I’d want to cosplay–but I’m not going out in costume without a mask so I can still be “hidden”. It lets me bring out a more playful side of my personality that I just don’t usually let anyone see.
Cool. Thanks for the interview !
