Evangelion Cosplay
The success of the Evangelion from the anime, manga, and merchandise made a significant impact on the Japanese popular culture. The series had a strong influence on the anime industry when it aired, which made a difference not only in the production for Japanese animation but also an artistic revival of the industry.
Most significantly, the aesthetic appeal of the female characters of the series became iconic figures in the anime world. They not only contributed greatly to the high sales of Evangelion figures, merchandise and toys but made an impact on the cosplaying culture. The most popular cosplay and iconic of the Evangelion anime is the character’s plugsuits.
Evangelion Pilot Plugsuit
A plugsuit is a custom form-fitting full bodysuits used by Evangelion pilots in the Evangelion anime series and movies. These suits differ for each character such as main protagonist Shinji Ikari wears a blue, black and grey plugsuit, whereas Asuka Langley Soryu wears a red and black plugsuit.
These plugsuits are used when piloting Evangelion Units and contain several devices that monitor the pilots vital signs and health. In addition, this plugsuit is said to cut out interference that helps the pilots synchronize with their Evangelion Units.
Popular Cosplay Characters
The female characters of the Evangelion series, Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Soryu have been the most popular characters used by cosplayers and fans. The most common cosplay would be the two female pilots in their plugsuits. The plugsuits themselves are a sleek and body-fitting wear so they are popular with cosplayers and cosplayer fans.
In addition, Rei and Asuka are said to be complete opposites, as Rei has blue hair and Asuka has Red hair. Using colored wigs and plugsuit cosplay, cosplayers are able to create very genuine mirror copies of the anime characters.
Evangelion Cosplay in the Media
Alodia Gosiengfiao is a Filipina cosplay queen, TV presenter, singer, pianist and actress cosplayed Rei Ayanami in a Grimrock mix figurine version at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo in Brisbane, Australia. She served as a special judge for Australia's Madman National Cosplay Championship. This cosplay was featured in a magazine with Jay Tablante as the photographer.
Yaya Han, a Chinese American cosplayer, model and costume designer based in the United States showcased her original Misato Katsuragi plugsuit cosplay at the 2013 Fanime, A-kon and AnimeKon Barbados conventions. The cosplay was completely original and made from scratch. She states that Evangelion was an anime series that had a huge impact on her as an anime fan and artist. She also mentions that Misato is her favorite character, and the costume gives good fan service and is revealing.
YouTuber TaraFYW, an avid cosplayer has created cosplay tutorials showing how to recreate yourself as a character of Evangelion. In a particular video she cosplays as Asuka Langley Soryu in a swimsuit version of the pilot’s plugsuit. The video includes how to style a wig to recreate Asuka’s hairstyle.
Evangelion Cosplay in Politics
In 2019, Lai Pin-yu, a Taiwanese politician part of the Democratic Progressive party in Taiwan, campaigned and won a legislative seat. At the announcement, Lai Pin-yu thanked her supporters wearing a realistic Asuka plugsuit cosplay costume. A scene that is most likely the first ever in the world, with a politician wearing a cosplay at any kind of formal occasion.
Lai Pin-yu is a well-known Taiwanese activist and a fanatic cosplayer who goes by the name Soichi. She is active on social media and can often be seen campaigning in the public while wearing the Asuka Langley Soryu cosplay.
She also uses her cosplay to create awareness on political issues. During her campaign she also posed for cosplay with a background of buildings that were scheduled to be demolished. She took her voice and cosplay to protest against the demolition and to raise awareness.
Evangelion Cosplay in Japanese Media
In the Japanese entertainment industry, Sakura Saki Inagaki a Yoshimoto Japanese comedian, impressionist, model and YouTuber is most famous for her work as being the Asuka Cosplay comedian.
Inagaki was a die-hard fan of anime and especially Evangelion, and was one of the reasons why she brought in the cosplay to her character. When she appears on TV show or performs comedy stints she would be always wearing an Asuka school uniform cosplay complete with head receptors. She is also good at character impressions and after practising from her junior high school days she is able to fully impersonate Asuka who is voiced by Yuko Miyamura from the original anime series. When Inagaki and Miyamura first met on TV, Miyamura was surprised at the quality of her impersonation and Inagaki received acknowledgement from the real Asuka voice herself.