When Kigurumi Onesies Become the Character

(Featured image credit via 霜之 (soyanase) via X)

When you wear a Pikachu kigurumi onesie, does that make your outfit a Pikachu cosplay?

Obviously not.

As you might have known, we have already discussed the intricacies of kigurumi being technically considered as cosplay in a previous blog. In my personal conclusion, I stated that it is somewhat both. You do represent the character in some way, but you are also still someone in a kigurumi onesie. Therefore, it is more of a cultural consideration, rather than just a straight black and white designation.

But… what if the characters are themselves wearing kigurumi onesies? That creates a unique blend, a classification that transforms a Venn diagram into a complete, integrated circle. Because when you don the kigurumi onesie of a character that does wear one canonically, you are the cosplay. You are the character.

This is especially true if you also attempt to match the facial features, hairstyle, other props, plus the overall atmosphere and vibe of the character.

Exhibit A: Yuna’s Bear Kigurumi Onesie from Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

I have extensively featured her in this blog, and even turned my entries showcasing her into somewhat of a paraphrased update of the entire story of seasons one and two. That is just how much of a focus her kigurumi onesie is in the story. It is her main OP gear, the primary visual draw of the series, the source of her somewhat weird reputation in the first few episodes, and eventually a derivative artistic inspiration for other things that would occur in the story.

Her kigurumi onesie is just so integrated in her character and identity that just donning it alone, and maybe wearing sock puppets that represent her weapons, is already enough to be considered a full cosplay. If you are planning to wear her white bear version, which is her sleepgear, you can even completely get away with the entire bear kigurumi onesie package without even paying attention to any other detail (she doesn’t equip anything else while wearing this version, of course).

Exhibit B: Jaguarman’s Action Kigurumi from Fate/Grand Order

Jaguarman from Fate/Grand Order presents another similar theme. Everybody at this point already knows and memes on Taiga Fujimura’s iconic jaguar kigurumi and her signature weapon. At least in FGO, it is part of her permanent, canonical design in the minds of all players, and her character identity is the kigurumi onesie itself whenever she appears or is relevant. Of course, specific design details matter for accurate representation, so rather than just the kigurumi itself, other quirks of her complete setup, such as her jaguar rubber shoes, and her upperwear (now innerwear) from the original Fate/Stay Night series should still be an obligatory inclusion.

Only when wearing a jaguar kigurumi with the appropriate accessories would you absolutely be recognized as cosplaying Jaguarman!

Exhibit C: Mahiro Oyama’s Cameo Kigurumi Onesie

To be fair, people might argue that this doesn’t really count, since she(?) wears the kigurumi onesie in one episode, and only manages to wear it for a few minutes. But what about characters with signature kigurumi onesies that never ever wore within the episodes themselves, and were only featured in opening and ending sequences? Good examples of which are from Bocchi the Rock! (OP sequence) and from Is the Order a Rabbit! (ED sequence). So I believe that so long as the uniqueness of the design is enough, it counts.

Exhibit D: Koyuki Kurosaki’s “Double Rabbit” from Blue Archive

If minutes-long air time and cameo appearances are still too brief for you, maybe a middle-ground case like Koyuki Kurosaki’s rabbit kigurumi onesie might serve a better classification. As many of you may have already known from a previous blog post, this costume was introduced during the “Secret Midnight Party” event. Since this is a variant of the character, it effectively becomes an alt, and thus becomes an official costume under her own character category. This is especially important in Blue Archive, where the reservation of costumes is somewhat tighter, with the writers requiring strict story justifications for launching new costume versions.

As such, while this rabbit kigurumi onesie hardly represents how dangerous she truly is under her operating codename, it still was wildly popular, as to launch a thousand different derivative artworks the moment she was revealed in a livestream. Wearing this specific bunny kigurumi to represent “Pajama Koyuki” would be considered a legitimate cosplay of this character. And that is even if she ironically first appeared in a bunny suit many years ago, and has yet to become available gameplay-wise in that costume.

Maybe Bocchi’s Kigurumi Design is Generic After All?

When a kigurumi satisfies both the character aspect and complete kigurumi onesie aesthetic, it crosses from "wearing" into "becoming" territory. It is no longer a casual character-themed clothing, like a Charizard kigurumi, and is considered a legitimate kigurumi onesie character. Despite the variations of a character-defining kigurumi (Yuna), identity-fused kigurumi (Jaguarman), alternate version kigurumi (Pajama Koyuki), and moment-specific kigurumi (Halloween Mahiro), all still represent a full, true cosplay, a canonical depiction of a kigurumi onesie.

So, the next time you see someone in a kigurumi at a convention, think about that weird, never-before-seen design again. Maybe these people are not simply wearing comfortable character-themed clothing. The distinction may seem subtle, but to the myriad of kigurumi onesie combinations out there, it makes all the difference.

Ah and yes, these four examples are just a glimpse of the entire sea of examples out there!