Story (TL:DR below) : A long time ago, I was told by a friend that I shouldn't cosplay from a series because my skin was too dark. It was back then when Persona 4 was just released, and I knew ZERO people who played anything SMT or Atlus. . As a fan boy craving to share my fandom with just about anyone, my goal was to cosplay from Persona just so other fans can easily recognize me at a con and maybe wanna chat about it (or something lame like that). So, I approached a group of friends just before Fanime and asked which character should I do, Yu or Kanji. . "You shouldn't do any of those characters," this person said. "You're dark skinned, man." . I'm sure my friend meant no harm, but I did value their opinion greatly at the time. This opinion was also shared in front of a group, and all of them thought it best not to chime in. Aside from being incredibly embrassed, it still gets to me that I had almost listened. . I'm glad I didn't, and I hope that others stand their ground when faced with a similar judgment based solely on their appearance. Some of my best experiences in cosplay were with other Persona fans, and I couldn't imagine what things would have been like had I missed out on this community because of something stupid like another person's shallow opinion. . It's now become a personal committment to never modify my skin color. Even the makeup I use, all the colors have been picked to match my actual complexion. It's become so important to me that I do, because it's too often that people of color get called out for shit like this when it shouldnβt matter, especially in this day and age. Discrimination is sadly alive and well in the entire country, let alone the cosplay community. . If thereβs just one thing I can hope to impact, itβs the idea that you guys should cosplay whatever the hell you want. And this goes for anything really. No matter your gender, height, weight, ageβwho cares. Just do it, and Iβll support you 100%ππ½ TL:DR - Represent the skin you're in. . . . #cosplay #realtalk #persona5 #persona5cosplay #personacosplay #Persona5DancingStarNight #RyujiSakamoto #ryujisakamotocosplay #cosplayersofcolor #videogames #peopleofcolor (at AnimΓ© Los Angeles)
