A doller is a cosplayer who performs a variant of kigurumi cosplay. In Japan most cosplayers refer to this style as (アニメ顔 - Animegao: Anime Face). It is still a very minor part of the cosplay scene in Japan, though it has recently been attracting attention in other countries, including the United States and Canada. Within this hobby can be found various cosplay motives, such as clothing fetishes, such as leotards and miniskirts, both of which are popular garb for anime characters.

Naru from Love Hina, in a shiny leotard

At the hobbyist level the characters in question are almost all female, though the cosplayers are nearly exclusively men. Another cosplay motive may also be the desire to emulate a given anime character in exact appearence, and personality.

By wearing a body suit or mask, kigurumi cosplayers are able to get closer to the appearance of the original character, especially in the case of animal characters or highly stylised characters. Non-professional animal kigurumi cosplayers painstakingly make detailed heads and bodies from plastic, wire and artificial fur. In animegao kigurumi, the actor playing a humanoid anime character will wear a flesh-coloured body suit and matching facemask. The body suit allows them less-detailed skin features and the mask allows anime-style facial features. Some hobbyists get masks from established hobbyist mask studios such as Build Up Studio Sigma or Dolphin Factory.

As with other kinds of cosplay, many hobbyists have costumes of established characters from games or animations, and a few others have created their own original personalities.

See also

• Cosplay

External links

• Strange Kigurumi Army
• The Kigurumi Fans' Portal
• DOLL HOUSE
• IrukaKoubou
• SIGMA
• Happy Sabrina
• Hinata Dolls
• Zukokan (Zukotsu Company) [1]
• FukidaMari no Omocha Bako
• Doller's Station
• Reika's Kigurumi Haven