Cosplayers dressed as a Battle Sister and an Ultramarine from Warhammer 40,000 pose during Los Angeles Comic Con at Los Angeles Convention Center on December 03, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)

Cosplayers (left to right) Oli Hazeldine (dressed as Princess Adora from the animated series She-Ra); Val Imms (Catra from She-Ra), and Lou Frewin (Raven from the animated series Teen Titans) travelling on a Jubilee Line train heading for MCM Comic Con at the ExCel London in east London on Sunday, May 29, 2022. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Wire)

The eighth annual Nipponbashi Street Festa stamped Osaka March 20, 2012 (Nipponbashi is Osaka’s geek district – much like Akihabara is for Tokyo). Cosplayers turned up in colourful outfits, dressing as characters from their favourite manga, anime, and video games. The street was closed to cars, and otaku flooded the streets, snapping pics, cosplaying, and hanging out.

A cosplayer visits an anime fair in Beijing, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

A Barbie cosplayer arrives for San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, on July 20, 2023. (Photo by Chris Delmas/AFP Photo)

Cosplayers attend Day 3 of WonderCon 2017 at Anaheim Convention Center on April 2, 2017 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Justin Baker/FilmMagic)

Cosplayers attend the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London in London, Britain on October 28, 2022. (Photo by Maja Smiejkowska/Reuters)

A cosplayer poses for photographs at the 2015 Comic Fiesta event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 31, 2015. (Photo by Olivia Harris/Reuters)