bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Truly dedicated  comic fans don't just read about or draw their favourite anime or manga characters, they   become them.

'It's like a dream come true,' said Crystal Yeung Yuk-ching, 17, a fifth former at St Rose of Lima's College.

She dressed up as Roy Mustang - a military man in the popular anime series Fullmetal Alchemist -  at a special event in a Mongkok shopping centre that promoted the movie Fullmetal Alchemist - The Conqueror of Shamballa earlier this month.

'When I am reading manga or watching anime, I know it's not real. But when I put on the costume and become the character, it feels like reality. It's like  I possess qualities that I didn't  have  before and the impossible  becomes possible.'

This is the lure of cosplay, a Japanese subculture that involves  'costume' and 'play'.

Cosplayers dress up as their favourite comic or video game icon - in outfits they make themselves - and gather at public events or parties to take pictures or  enter cosplay contests.

The hobby started off in Hong Kong as a promotion gimmick used by authors of fan books - comics  drawn by people so

fond of a manga or an anime series that they use the characters to develop  their own story, which  they publish themselves and sell  at comic events and festivals.

Wong Siu-lun, 23, first experimented with cosplay at the 1998 Comic World exhibition.

She dressed up as one of the characters in her fan books to boost sales.

Now working as a freelance  graphic designer, Wong - winner of the cosplay contest at the Comic Festival last year and the year before - devotes much of her spare time to designing and making costumes  and dressing up for various events.

It can be a profitable hobby. Together with cosplayers  Ng Yuen-ki, 21, and Yeung, Wong dressed up as a character in the Fullmetal Alchemist anime to help promote the movie at the Mongkok event. They charged $300 an hour per person.

Wong also earns as much as $6,000 a month over the Comic Festival and Christmas period  by making cosplay costumes for companies of online and video games.

During non-peak  times, Wong can earn about $2,000 a month. 'This is quite lucrative as a part-time job,' Wong said.

But like most cosplayers, Wong and her friends imitate their comic idols not for money, but for love.

They conduct detailed research - collecting drawings of the  characters and selecting the right materials for the costume - to ensure their outfit looks exactly like the character's.

'If you love the characters, you'll naturally like their costumes. When  you  look like them, you feel more attractive.  And if people recognise you as the character at an event and take pictures of you, it means they appreciate you. That gives me a sense of achievement,' said Ng.



With friends like these, who needs anime?