Blackface in Cosplay Throughout the year, hotels, convention centers and other high-capacity venues are transformed into a social haven and meeting place for other Otakus and cosplay fans or cosplayers for short. The act of cosplay, the short form of "costume play", is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as "the practice of dressing up as a character from a film, book, or video game, especially from the Japanese genres of manga and anime. . However, there is much more to a cosplayer than this simple definition suggests. For its most dedicated customers, cosplay is an art form incorporating limitless mediums, such as textile making, woodworking, clay sculpture, resin casting, and even theatrical makeup. Some enthusiasts take cosplay much more seriously than a weekend social pastime. While some would be content to purchase a commissioned piece or mass-produced costume for their convention adventures, others won't be satisfied until they have handcrafted a masterpiece with 100% accuracy. These cosplayers will spend weeks or months and hundreds of dollars ensuring their costume is a perfect adaptation of their chosen character. Yet for some, this is still not enough. There are those who will not be satisfied until they have become the living embodiment of their chosen character. They become the actors of the cosplay, memorizing the characters' personalities, walks, quirks and voices. Taking cosplay even further, there are still those who are so obsessed with becoming a character that they paint their skin, whether it's pink, gray, green, or any color intermediate. This is where a sensitive debate arises. Coloring yourself gray or pink for your adventure time cosplays of Marceline or Princess Bubblegum will be ...... middle of paper ...... ver America has chosen to censor and modify the The appearance of some anime characters that appear to resemble Minstrel men in black face. For example, Mr. Popo from Dragon Ball Z, a primitive servant, has jet black skin, large bug eyes, and large red clown lips which are iconic features of minstrel show actors. Another example is the Pokémon Jynx, which also has large bug eyes, bulbous pink clown lips, and waxy black skin. To combat controversies, the American version of Mr. Popo was recolored blue and his lips were changed to be smaller. English nicknamed Mr. Popo, as stated at the beginning, cosplayers will use real makeup to change their skin color depending on the selected characters. Although unnatural skin colors are accepted, the only time a cosplayer can paint their skin black with approval is when playing Dark Link or other shadow characters..