Game girl: Re-imagining Japanese gender and gaming via Melbourne female cosplayers

As gaming becomes increasingly part of mainstream culture globally, we are beginning to see other modes of gaming subcultures most notably in the form of cosplay. Cosplay is short for 'costume play' and cosplayers take their inspiration from games, manga (comics), anime (animation), and movies. As a subcultural movement, various forms of cosplayers can be found both within Japan and around the world. Cosplaying provides new avenues for fans to express their interest in Japanese popular culture creatively; in turn, cosplay also provides a great example of new types of fan agency and evidences the increasing role of fans in twenty-first century transmedia storytelling and social networks such as Web 2.0