I think politics can't be removed from cosplay or anything at all. "Politic" litteraly means " the life of citizens and the city", and cosplay is part of our lives. Manga and anime were written under political context so they are influenced, consciously or unconsciously. I believe politic has its place in cosplay.

However that doesn't mean we should bully people for politics view, just block them if you don't like their view or argue in times and spaces meant for that. And if someone really does/say something objectively bad repetitively, then canceling might be fine as in collectively ghosting that person. However bullying is never fine.

Writing this makes me realise we may not all have the same definition of cancel, which could be a huge part of the problem

It’s troubling how easy it is to get cancelled. It’s unfortunate because I recall cancel culture being used for good and not well…drama

I was kicked out of a North Carolina Convention for “wearing black face” while cosplaying as a Purple Lizard Alien (lord cooler) from Dragon Ball Z.

i actually detached myself completely from most cosplayers because i noticed they are toxic as fuck, i prefer mentally stable people tbh who i can actually have a conversation with

One thing i find really disgusting is how a lot of people from the cosplay community and tiktok and twitter people want to protect fictional underage characters so much that they end up attacking and harassing real people, even underage i'm not underage but i once got harassed for cosplaying Uraraka from MHA in her sports uniform and people said that i was sexualizing her... just because i have big boobs and my shirt has some normal cleavage.
There was also this time i made a smexy bakudeku tiktok (maybe this one was a bit too much but there was no nudity or anything, just a bakudeku audio but still... they're fictional. And there were nice people that understood it was just a random ship video meant to be fun and laugh a bit but there were a lot of people harassing me, calling me a pedo or even a gr00mer, stitching my video, making duets and even downloading the video to upload it and say "this person is horrible" and stuff like that, i confronted some of them saying that they were harassing a real life person just because of some cartoons and these people were even saying that they don't care or that it's ok because of that one tiktok, i had to hide that video for a while and even delete the comment section because the harassment was incredibly intense. I just hate how this community (sorry but especially the english speaking community) use words like "pedo" or "gr00mer" so lightly, you can't like a teenage character when you're 16 and still like that character when you're 18 because all of a sudden you're "disgusting" and a pedo and stuff like that and if you dare saying that "no 15 year old looks like that" or point out the fact that it's a fictional character and you like them because of them and not because of their age or supposed age, they'll try to make you end yourself or at the very least delete all your socials... Like... WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE??!?!?!?

I mean in 2018 I was bullied and doxed and threatened by conservatives (including comicsgate) my crime was saying "comics have always been political" i know exactly when it happens because my husband elected hospice 2 weeks later. I very much did not need death threats that month.

So there are bad people everywhere. I am sorry for your experience, but I am also sorry for my experience.

are opinions illegal to these kinds of people?? like wtf, they say they're progressive and then tell people to kts in the worst ways possible

I'm still a newer cosplayer but due to how online is now...I dont post online bc of it...I just pop up and conventions then go back into hiding again

I knew this cosplayer for a few months and he has schizophrenia and other things I felt bad for him and wanted to be his friend. He was going to anime expo and he wanted me to go so I paid my ticket got my hotel and was ready to meet up with him… only to get ghosted the entire day after the con I confronted him on discord and told him very calmly that what he did was messed up and stuff. After that we were “cool” and things calmed down after two weeks later he made a bunch of rumors stating that I groom children and I go out looking for children at cons. Meanwhile this same person does these same cancellations to other people and I didn’t even know about it. He has been banned at conventions in the Central Valley in California.  If stuff like this keeps going on Conventions will die off soon.

Cancel culture in the cosplay community is a complete joke. Luckily since I’m not a big cosplayer it was quickly forgotten but last year i went through a break up with an incredibly toxic person. It lead to me getting cancelled online for “sexual harassment” after him and his friends twisted me asking for “kiss or hug” at a con as a joke, i left them alone after they said no and didn’t seriously think anyone would kiss me at all (which no one did). The situation has been cleared up now but this community has become toxic

Thank you so much for making this video because it's very true- you're not the only one that's felt how you've felt in the community. I haven't gone through the cancle culture because I never got involved. I'd see those political posts and stories on Instagram, but ignored because it would start a hoopla. It's sad to hear how badly you were harassed.
I attend some of the same conventions you do and saw what happened as well. The community went crazy and it's insane to see that some still try to harass people even after accusations have been proven false. They will stand with it and not do their due diligence of checking for updates. It is genuinely a hypocritical thing. It's okay until it happens to me. That is an awful way to represent the community.
As a charity cosplayer and someone who just loves making cosplays of obscure characters that are important to me- I 100% agree with you. It should be about fun. I have lots of friends that don't share my views, but I still absolutely enjoy cosplaying with them.

Since those election results… I’ve seen people unfollow, block me, remove me from followers, that stuff. Even people screenshotting my bio telling their mutuals to not follow me.

Funny thing is, I never said who I voted for. It’s just being assumed and all I did was say I voted while cosplaying (I was surprised to even do that) and posted a meme about the results. (Other people make election memes so I made one too, it was just putting picture of a character over Donald when he had 277)

I don’t see a reason to argue with those people because I know they aren’t going to listen.

Also when there are people being called out to be abusers where there is evidence shown, apparently I’m as bad as them even though I said and done nothing.

I remember I was cosplaying one day and actually ran into one of the people that blocked me after election results and they didn’t recognize me. I thought they would because I’m one of if not the only person in the area who cosplays that specific character (Lanzhu Zhong from Love Live)

I don’t think they remember me. I knew there was drama in the cosplay community already.  But when someone does something that affects YOU directly… it makes me hesitant on who I want to talk to or hang out with since they could potentially stab you in the back. Gaining trust and rebuilding trust are two different things.

In only 2 months, I have seen multiple callouts, drama posts, falling outs and seeing people have various meltdowns.

I just sit and watch the various posts and stories of drama like that and to me, they’re showing their true colors

Crazy how the side that claimed they are all about acceptance and tolerance is doing this and painted other side as aggressive murderous fascists

Just a recent case where Xenon_Ne got bullied into losing her account cause of character assasination and mass report abuse because she cosplayed a black character and made her skin a bit brown to match it and didnt bend the knee when people came in and emotional blackmailed her and tried to "educate her". Cosplayers might be the most insufferable shit "community" i ever saw. And when she got banned they danced on her grave, got unbanned and then banned again. A cosplayer named "Destinysirencosplay" started a story repost train which got shared about 2.5k times, when she got banned they made a story saying "we should celebrate" and laughed, over a girl losing her account full of incredibly high quality cosplay and hours of work. Idk why but this case is stuck in my head since a week now.

I completely agree with your takes in this video so instead of discussing the matter I'd like to compliment your melly cosplay. It is absolutely gorgeous🩷

I know a few people who need this video shoved in their IG inboxes...

Amen to this video ❤

You really hit the nail on the head on this matter. I myself has experienced cancel culture amidst the pandemic and post-pandemic. I was caught in the middle of it, but it was still like watching a train wreck. I will never forget July of 2020, when hundreds of people in the fighting game community as well as the cosplay community were hit with various allegations. I got tired of seeing all of it so I went on blackout for about a month. I even ended up unfollowing and unfriending many people as a result. And even near the end of 2021 when that one Mesa convention in January got exposed, I wanted to bring some light to it by addressing the issues with cons and the safety of minors, but to no avail. After all of that, I was left asking myself, "why? Why all of this madness? Couldn't there have been another way, or better yet, a better time?" It seems like it will never stop.
But oh man, I'm sorry you had to go through all that, and I'm glad you're still here and still thriving. If anything, you have been such an amazing person and I always look forward to seeing you at cons, and I love your work. I whole-heartedly agree with you on that last part. I joined the cosplay community because I wanted to meet new friends with similar interests, and maybe learn some new things. We can't let this type of behavior run rampant in the community anymore.

Woah, that is harsh and brutal, someone willing to go out of their way just to dehumanize someone because of their political views - and to a then-minor, no less. Cancel Culture isn't just in cosplay, but other things such as Youtube and other social media; I've only seen one side of it after watching one episode from "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder", not to mention a plotline in the third season of Netflix's "Aggretsuko" anime deals with a similar issue (I won't explain due to spoilers).

I've personally never had to deal with 'cancel culture' (only seeing it in those aforementioned shows), but long before I was a cosplayer, I was severely bullied in Middle School (early 2010s) because I was, well, 'not normal'; while it didn't get physical or anything like you went through, my parents had to take matters into their own hands because the school principal at the time only gave my tormentors a mere slap on the wrist  (this happened multiple times and was getting worse) - even though there were many other students who were also bullied; even one acquaintance of mine had to transfer to a catholic school due to the bullying and another classmate of mine was bullied to the point he was considering taking his own life (he's okay, now; but I still resent the principal for not taking more stringent approaches to my issues). This was especially during the time that s&!c!des that were resulted from bullying and cyberbullying were becoming increasingly common - at such a time students had to take a questionnaire twice a year that asks questions regarding their mental wellbeing.

I still have lingering issues from the bullying, even as an adult.

One thing I would suggest for future videos such as this one is to include a "Content warning" when discussing difficult topics such as s&!c!de harassment, etc.; resources for mental health support in discussions of sensitive topics can be a thoughtful suggestion to ensure your viewers' wellbeing is considered. Other than that, very informative video on a difficult subject. I understood you mentioned  that you did regret having to create such a video, even if it meant stirring the pot for something like this.


Thank you for sharing your personal experience(s) and thoughts on cancel culture. I do believe it's important to raise awareness about these issues.

I feel you so much, not on the same level of experience, but in theory... for sure. I'm not really a conservative, but I'm not a strict progressive or liberal person either. I'm somewhere in the middle, though if I'd have to choose one side, it would probably be the progressive one (considering what political stuff is going on in my country at the moment). I really love military-esque characters, not for the 'edgy' aspects of it, but because their stories are often written very deeply and well, with high emotional aspects, and also because I just kinda like their vibe. It's hard to explain, though it might be cuz I grew up in a family of 'soldiers' and alike. In the end though—I don't have the guts to ever actually cosplay these type of characters, because some of them might be seen as critical or similar (I think the only character that I ever cosplayed in this field was Violet Evergarden). And on top of that... I'm a native German, so I suppose that wouldn't make things any better in combination.

As much as I love the cosplaying community, they can be hella scary when they really want to push something through. I keep a sort of 'safety distance' from the community. By which I mean: I do a cosplay, go to a convention, will take some pictures with people at most, leave... and stay behind closed doors with no social media presence whatsoever. I don't engage in much conversation with other cosplayers either, except for those few friends I have that are also interested in cosplay.

What Im trying to say is: You're not alone. Many hobbies in the 'nerdy' fields are full of rather... ahem, how do I put it nicely? ... highly sensitive people. I don't even mean it in a mocking or extremely negative way, but it's safe to say that sometimes you just cannot speak your mind around them without being chased out and getting accusations thrown at you.