Nurul Titi Mari, Louis Handian, Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung
Have you ever done a double take after observing someone in a public place wearing a mini skirt with a kimono neck, or a sailor uniform as in the movie Sailor Moon, along with Gothic style makeup, colorful dyed hair and eye-catching accessories?
If you have, well, what you saw was costume display or cosplay -- Harajuku fashion, inspired by Japanese cartoons called anime and Japanese comics manga, which seems to have taken Indonesia by storm and is gaining more popularity among the country's youth.
Usually, cosplay fans would also have their hair dyed yellow, red or white or even glittery and would wear big bangles, black boots and a long coat.
Adit, 23, a fresh graduate from Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, West Java, for example, has participated in virtually all cosplay events and is seen as a prominent figure by new cosplay fans.
Adit said cosplay has become part of his lifestyle and he dreams one day of opening a fashion outlet that sells cosplay costumes and accessories.
""The signs are very clear, many stores now focus on this business and even provide services for sewing cosplay clothes,"" said Adit, who has 10 sets of cosplay costumes, including Samurai (seven sets), Miroku, Wizard and Gundam.
Cosplay first appeared in Japan over a decade ago and rapidly grew in fashion district Harajuku, Tokyo, where the youth gathered with fellow cosplay fans. From there the cosplay trend spread throughout the world, including the United States, Brazil and Indonesia.
The cosplay phenomenon was first introduced here in 2004 in Bandung, West Java and the style has spread rapidly across the country, including the capital Jakarta.
Adit said there was quite a good network of cosplay fans in other cities in Indonesia, such as Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Surabaya. He also said that through cosplay they were united, regardless of sex, race, religion and other backgrounds.
Five Bandung girls who call themselves Neko Ranger -- Stephani, Qtin, Corina, Cassa and Via -- wear cosplay clothes virtually every day, including when they go to university, with the full support of their parents.
Cassa, who has been wearing cosplay costumes for the past one and a half years and is a student of Harapan Bangsa Technological Institute (ITHB), said her parents thought the clothes were weird when they first saw her wearing them, but soon supported her hobby. Vina, also an ITHB student, said her love for Japanese fashion pushed her to join Neko Ranger.
In Bandung, which is considered the capital of cosplay Indonesia, there are five main fan groups -- Pinggang Ranger, Cos Party, Ulet, Paku Payung and Kansai.
Established as part of the Bandung Japanese Community, these groups are professionally managed in order to build a connection between Indonesian fans and the Japanese Foundation and Harajuku people. The groups gather weekly in their unofficial headquarters in Cihampelas, which has a store selling Japanese goods. They are planning to open their own office either in Cihampelas Walk (Ciwalk) or the Bandung Electronics Center (BEC) in the near future.
During their weekly gathering, the fans, wearing Harajuku clothes, discuss movies they watch or talk about anything related to manga in order to improve their knowledge about anime and manga in Indonesia.
The price of cosplay clothes is never a cause of concern for fanatic fans. A cosplay outfit currently costs between Rp 200,000 (US$23) and Rp 300,000. For original pieces, however, prices could reach up to Rp 20 million. The clothes are mostly made to resemble the originals -- including the accessories -- worn by cartoon and comic characters.
The fans are, however, worried about the response of people who appear to be unwilling to accept this phenomenon.
""We are afraid that people will think that we lack a sense of nationalism because we admire a foreign culture more than our own traditional culture and clothes.""
""We are Indonesians and Harajuku fashion is only a hobby for us,"" Adit said.
