If Glee Were About Cosplay

March 16, 2011 - PRLog -- A group of cosplayers and filmmakers from Indonesia who named themselves the Q-Cosushinkai Project initiative decided that web series would be a good platform to tell their story of the culture they live and breathe everyday. The premise is simple: it would be something like Glee, but instead of the musical platform, costume role-playing  performances would be explored instead. It would be titled simply COSPLAY: The Series (CTS), and it would be available online (http://www.cosplaytheseries.com) for free.

A quick Google search shows that this is the first time ever that the art of cosplay is made into a professionally produced web series. Despite currently being entirely peer-funded, the initiative seem to make little compromise with the quality of their products. To get a taste of their talents, the group has released a bunch of high-quality cosplay posters you can collect on DeviantArt (http://cosplayts.deviantart.com), plus two trailers at the ready on their website. And because all third-party materials used would count as non-commercial parodies defended under the fair use policy, the filmmakers did not have to pay millions of dollars to clear all rights. Smart move!

Scheduled for worldwide release on 20 April 2011 on YouTube, this series follows the wacky exploits of a fictional high school cosplay club who eventually ends up finding itself at the center of an epic global conflict of superheroes and supervillains who derive powers from cosplay outfits.

Sounds dramatic? Stupid? Over-the-top? It’s meant to be, as the comedy series is designed for and aimed at a very specific niche—fans of Japanese popular culture. Starring a wacky cast of hyperbolized otaku (Japanese fanatic) stereotypes in deliberately anime-cliché plot twists, the series throws joke after joke at you in every 3-5-minute installment of their story each week. It also has giant sweat drops and hentai references thrown in for good measure.

You will be introduced to the characters and their stories throughout their first season of nine episodes this Spring, while all the superpowered parts is promised to happen on their second season later this year.

“Remind me not to drink anything while watching this!” said a fan on their Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/cosplaytheseries) who apparently found it hard to stifle her laughter while watching one. The comment was directed at CTS’s second trailer, titled “Enjoy the Series, Enjoy the Nonsense!” Liked better by popular vote, however, was the series’ other trailer, titled “What’s Inside an Otaku’s Head?” probably mostly due to it spurring good dose of controversy due to its comedic yaoi (slash fiction for female readers) content—with many male fans demanding disassociation, and many female fans screaming in excitement in the comment boxes. And to much of the makers’ surprise, even the cosplayers on 4chan said that they “would watch this.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUPTQC9HsW0



“It’s pretty much live-action anime comedy, with all the typical jokes and drama” said CTS creator Bonni Rambatan, also known for his many writings on culture and media. And live-action anime comedy it’s filmed as, as Rambatan hands over direction of photography to Fadli Rozi, a landscape photographer from Malang responsible for much of the series’ signature look. Shot entirely with a DSLR, much of the large, still frames give space for other information to be embedded on the screen, in addition to setting the mood—plus, the lack of camera movements help simulate that anime look. “It’s an entirely new language with web series. We have to think not only about screen size and distance from audience, but also how they may want to pause for buffer, comment on it, watch other videos, and so on,” added Rambatan.

Backed by the Indonesian branch of The Japan Foundation (http://www.jpf.or.id) and various other art/cultural organizations and outlets, screenings and discussions of the series will take place in various events and conventions throughout Indonesia in Spring 2011, the details of which will be updated through the series’ Facebook page. Some will even feature live cosplay performances and free goodies for the attendees.

“The future of storytelling lies in participatory transmedia,” said Rambatan, an avid advocate of cosplay and Creative Commons, following the announcement that animators and programmers located worldwide have also offered their hands to help expand this cosplay storytelling platform. “Web video is a very new medium with so much unexplored potential. Combined with other multimedia technology and the playfulness of Japanese pop culture, I believe we can go very far in future explorations.”

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Q-Cosushinkai Project was founded in 2010 as an initiative for all talents involved in the making of COSPLAY: The Series. It includes over six cosplay teams and a group of independent filmmakers, with total membership of over 30 people.