Lu Xun, Mao Lilan, Hatsune Miku and Guan Gong take a group photo? Is it disrespectful for young people to be fond of portraying Chinese historical figures? Character | Guan Gong

The dimensional wall has broken.

At the just concluded Shaoxing Animation Game Carnival, "Lu Xun", holding the "quit" wooden card, unexpectedly appeared at the meeting, took a group photo with Mao Lilan in the Japanese animation "Detective Conan", the virtual singer Hatsune Miku, and met Guan Gong and the god of wealth.

With the unexpected image of Lu Xun, this role-playing player received 50000 likes on Xiaohongshu. He wrote in his introduction, "I want to COS some Chinese characters.".

Traditional Chinese myths, historical figures, and film and television characters are increasingly appearing in anime exhibitions that originally focused on overseas anime characters. Not long ago, at the 2023 ChinaJoy exhibition in Shanghai, Wolf Warrior and Spartan Warriors stood together, while Sun Wukong and Transformers competed.

Chinese elements poured into the anime activity scene, some people were happy and others worried. People who like it believe that this phenomenon indicates that young people display cultural confidence in a vibrant way; Worried people are afraid that portraying historical figures through role-playing will dissolve the seriousness of history and even disrespect historical figures.

"National style" frequently appears in the anime exhibition

At the anime exhibition held on August 5th, this Shaoxing netizen's portrayal of Lu Xun quickly gained popularity: a touch of Lu Xun's iconic beard on his lips, a dark long shirt and cloth shoes, and his hand pressed on a wooden board with the words "stop drying", replicating the image of Lu Xun in the TV series "Awakening Age". On social media, netizens refer to it as a "Shaoxing specialty".

According to the netizen, he originally wanted to play other roles, but ended up in "The Awakening Era". Therefore, "as an authentic Shaoxing person, let's just take on Lu Xun.".

Shaoxing netizen cos "Shaoxing specialties"

At the CP29 anime exhibition held in Shanghai in May this year, a "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva" made it to the trending list: she was dressed in a simple and elegant Hanfu, holding a white slim necked bottle, and the most wonderful thing was that she also had a halo behind her head. Not only is the makeup and styling exquisite, but the movements are also very particular: when standing, she steps on the lotus base; When she sat down, she also assumed the posture of "Water Moon Guanyin" in ancient paintings.

In addition to mythological characters, the classic styling of domestic film and television characters is also constantly being replicated. At the BilibiliWorld 2023 exhibition held in Shanghai in July this year, someone dressed up as the "class monitor Yuan Hua" in the movie "Charlotte's Worries". Coincidentally, during the heavy rain that day, the character in the film, who was wearing suspenders and holding a harpoon, performed a fish fork in the rain, earning the nickname "divine restoration" and "unity of heaven and humanity" from netizens.

The act of dressing oneself up as a character in anime, games, movies, etc. is called COSPLAY. According to industry insiders, COS stands for cost in English, and COSPLAY practitioners and enthusiasts are generally referred to as COSER. This gameplay originated in Japan, where characters who originally only existed in the illusory world appeared in reality through role-playing. At anime exhibitions, exhibitors almost always invite dedicated COSER performances, and many visitors also dress up as their favorite characters.

Meet Spider Man on Chinajoy this year

"Ten years ago, almost all the anime characters I saw at the anime exhibition were from Japan, Europe and America. Now, more and more Chinese characters are appearing." Mei Zi, who has been engaged in role-playing at the exhibition for many years and now works in art education institutions, saw someone dressed up as "Wolf Warrior" and "Liu Peiqiang" at this year's ChinaJoy exhibition in Shanghai. "The scope of COS has already surpassed the scope of original anime games."

Liu Lei, who works in an animation company, is happy to see such changes. "COSPLAY is infectious and encourages everyone to create more related characters. For example, when 'Guanyin' became popular, it brought 'God of Wealth' and 'Guan Gong'; this time 'Lu Xun' was seen, I look forward to the next time Lu Xun appeared with Run Tu and Yan."

"Because of love, I play the role"

However, some people have also raised questions: "Would Mr. Lu Xun want to see someone play him?"

The appearance of real historical figures at the anime exhibition site made some people feel awkward. Mr. Wu, a citizen with two daughters, came across exhibition photos and said, "I can't accept Mr. Lu Xun and a beautiful girl wearing a mini skirt appearing in the same frame." He also doesn't want his children to be exposed to such activities, "and he doesn't want them to have an entertaining impression of serious historical figures."

"Playing the role of 'Wolf Warrior' is not a problem. This is a movie character. But is it appropriate to dress up as the Eighth Route Army to participate in such activities?" Some netizens are concerned that the actor's words and actions may have a negative impact.

Guanyin Bodhisattva, who gained popularity at this year's CP29 exhibition, has also launched a styling tutorial in the future

"It is not advisable to confuse the role played with COSER." Faced with such criticism, Meizi believed it was unreasonable. "Many professional COSERs have to play different roles. If the two roles are swapped, I will become a bad person. Is my character not good?" As an educator, she emphasized that if minors cannot distinguish between role-playing and real characters, "parents should first explain to them clearly, rather than criticizing the activity."

In fact, two Lu Xun characters appeared at the Shaoxing anime exhibition. Someone posted a comparison picture of the two online, and someone immediately imitated the tone of Lu Xun in "Autumn Night" in the comment section: "At this comic exhibition, you can see two Lu Xun in the venue, one is Zhou Shuren, and the other is also Zhou Shuren."

"These comments can only be written by those who have read Lu Xun." Yang Rui, a 36 year old financial worker, is a senior anime fan. "We must like and understand a certain character or role in COS." In his eyes, "COS is the greatest tribute to characters and roles.".

The increasing popularity of Chinese characters is not an exception. Li Mu, who works on hand made models, also found at recent exhibitions that many domestic independent prototype designers seek inspiration from traditional culture and Chinese history. "Many people have created monsters from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and even restored scenes from the Liaozhai." What surprised him even more was that some brands have also launched combat scenes for the Eighth Route Army, and some studios have even assembled Chinese spacecraft into the shape of dragons. "From COSPLAY to hand-made models, the prevalence of the anime national style shows that young people are more confident."

Explore traditional Chinese "fun" elements

At this year's CP29 anime exhibition in Shanghai, Guanyin Bodhisattva shone brightly, and later released a complete set of "tutorials" on clothing, hairstyle, and makeup on social media. The bright light that emits light from the back of the head is actually fixed at the shoulder position, carried like a backpack and fixed, while the switch and battery box are hidden at the waist.

"Compared to those famous overseas anime characters, there are not many exclusive costumes for Chinese characters, and one needs to find their own way, but the fun also lies in the creative process." Meizi found that nowadays more and more ordinary audiences also enjoy role-playing, and COSER is no longer just a professional behavior. At this year's Shanghai BilibiliWorld 2023 exhibition, a man suddenly fainted on the road. A girl wearing COS clothing was treated in an emergency and sent the man to the hospital with an ambulance. The girl who loved the anime culture was Zhang Xinyu, a trained doctor in burn and plastic surgery.

Zhang Xinyu was recognized by many people on Chinajoy, and his friends rushed to take a group photo

Yang Rui and his friends are also enthusiastic about such character changing activities, but apart from anime exhibitions, similar parent-child activities are only launched by the community during Western Halloween. "In the past few years, it was mostly Princess Elsa and Spider Man from" Frozen ". In recent years, there have been more and more Chinese characters, including Xiake, Tang Dynasty Princess, Huluwa, Qing Dynasty Zombie, and many adults. Yang Rui's deepest impression is that last year, he had a neighbor wearing a long shirt with hair tied, shaking a folding fan, and even deliberately pasted the words" Chu Liuxiang "on the back to avoid being recognized by others.". "Originally not familiar to everyone, now everyone knows' Chu Liuxiang '. In fact, many people have a childlike innocence that they love to play with, but cannot find suitable opportunities to release it."

During his travels in Japan, Liu Lei participated in a celebration in a small city. Adults and children dressed up as immortals, monsters, and historical figures of the city, from the beginning to the present, portrayed the history of the city on the main roads of the city. Citizens gathered on both sides to watch and cheer. "Telling the history of urban development in this way is impressive." At that time, he sighed. When talking about traditional Chinese festivals, many people first think of "eating" and being surrounded by relatives for education. "Why can't we have fun during the festival?"

Kanda Festival in Tokyo, Japan

Some ancient documents, poems, and cultural relics also show that traditional Chinese festivals also have folk activities similar to role-playing. Some citizens suggest that research and promotion of traditional festival customs and culture should be strengthened, and more creative forms of traditional cultural activities should be encouraged. This not only meets people's needs for enriching festival activities, but also revitalizes and inherits traditional culture. "After all, 'fun' is more easily accepted by everyone," Liu Lei said.