If you thought break dancing was an odd sport, it turns out being a superfan is also competitive.
Australia’s entrants in the 2024 World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, Japan, Tasmania’s Emerald King and Amy King performed as Tetsuo and Kaneda from Akira, a cyberpunk action film. Mark Christensen
It takes unwavering dedication, hours of preparation and a whole lot of sewing: dressing up and performing as Japanese fictional characters may not be an Olympic sport, but the sub-culture has an impressive international cohort of elite competitors.
Earlier this month, teams from 36 countries – including Australia – competed in central Japan, having meticulously recreated the colourful outfits, precarious hairstyles and attitudes of anime, manga and video game stars.
Jessica SierNorth Asia correspondentJessica Sier is the North Asia Correspondent for The Australian Financial Review. She is based in Tokyo, Japan. Jessica has previously written on technology, global capital markets and economics. Connect with Jessica on Twitter. Email Jessica at jessica.sier@afr.com
