Our most recent survey found out cosplay porn is all about fantasies of specific characters. It’s not about generic characters (covered by the uniform fetish). The survey follows our June edition of What’s Your Fetish, which covered cosplay as it applied to all manner of porn.
The poll drew 176 responses, which was fewer than last month’s poll on oral sex (287 responses). We admit that selection bias factors into the results: 96% of those surveyed said they enjoyed cosplay porn. Those who don’t care for cosplay were unlikely to read the article in the first place; let alone follow through with a survey.
Four individuals took the survey but indicated they didn’t like cosplay in porn. One preferred the look of the naked human (or humanoid) form; the costumes get in the way. Another simply said “it just does nothing for me.” Another respondent wrote that he liked virtual cosplay porn (3DX or 2DX) because it ensured accurate representations of characters. Real-life cosplay, he wrote, is “too hit and miss to be a legitimate contender with other major fetishes.”
The demographics were overwhelmingly male, with just 19 respondents identifying as female; three identified as transgender and another 11 declined to state their gender. That said, our readers and survey-takers showed clear preferences in terms of why they liked cosplay porn. They were also clear on their favorite sources for cosplay characters.
Cosplay is about characters, not costumes
While the term “cosplay” is itself a portmanteau of the words “costume” and “play,” cosplay porn is about characters and not merely costumes. More than 72% of respondents said cosplay porn is about specific, well-loved characters being depicted in sexual situations, not just categories of characters. They want to see Lara Croft getting fucked, not generic adventuresses getting fucked.
The vast majority of respondents also wanted to see cosplay in 3DX (82%) over live action (18.7%). The remainder wrote in that they liked both mediums equally (or enjoyed cosplay porn in any medium). Respondents are skewed towards being 3DX fans merely by our content appearing on Affect3D; but live action also held its own. Porn parodies have captured the popular imagination, with mainstream media featuring films such as The Sex Files (based on The X-Files) and Star Wars: A XXX Parody.
We’ve written about uniforms as a separate niche (schoolgirl uniforms in particular), but respondents were clear about the distinction between characters and costumes. While a specific costume can make a specific character more recognizable, uniforms are all about the outfit. They take away individuality. Costumes in a cosplay context are about an outfit making a specific character stand out more.
What’s so hot about cosplay porn?
A key question was what makes cosplay porn particularly appealing. We offered answers including “the actual costumes,” “sex with a specific character due to his/her backstory,” and “seeing a specific character go from familiar costumes to nude and having sex.”
The latter option was far and above the most popular answer, getting about 52% of responses. Another 38% said it was a character’s background or history that made sex with him or her most arousing. Finally 18% said it was simply the costumes that were the sexiest; they picture, for example Princess Leia’s famous, oft-imitated metal bikini.
As for sources of cosplay to depict in porn, Western video games and Japanese anime were the two winners with 37.5% and 20% of responses choosing them as favorites. In third and fourth place respectively were Western comics (14.2%) and Western television and film (12%).
Different demographic perspectives?
The tiny sample size of female respondents (19 females versus 162 males) made it very difficult to draw meaningful differences between genders.
Overall, we found little differences between how male and female respondents replied. About 73% of females preferred Western media (in all its forms, comics, TV/film, video games) to Japanese media for their cosplay porn. The figure was almost exactly 50% for males preferring Western media. This seems like a big difference; but the split is actually similar when you take into account the sample size.
Men are supposedly less into romance and more into mere lust, so one would think a character’s backstory isn’t too important to them. But we found that many men found a character’s history and background to be a source of arousal. Among men, 33% cited that as their top reason for liking cosplay porn while 47.8% cited simply seeing a favorite character naked or having sex.
For women, this split was almost even (42% vs. 47%). Given the sample size differences, this result isn’t definitive. But it does suggests that both genders have a more holistic rather than purely sexual appreciation of cosplay characters.
The voices of the few
A few of our respondents chose to give very specific statements about why they don’t like cosplay porn. Since those that did not were such a fraction of the total respondent group, their thoughts may offer insight into the dissenting opinion.
“I find cosplaying too distracting, and would rather have the original character. I do still live[love?] clothing in porn though.”
This makes sense in regards to 3DX. Since 3DX is art, the idea of an artist’s OC cosplaying as another character really seems to primarily be way to avoid IP law on the surface. However, as a counterpoint, we could go really meta with identity. There is a little bit of us in our characters, so if we take that in the most immersive way possible, that OC is part of the artist’s identity. Thus, the character is a vicarious source of stimulation. This is sort of like a disabled person playing Second Life to experience a personal narrative not defined by disability.
“I like ‘cosplay’ within the bounds of virtual porn, but irl cosplay is too hit and miss to be a legitimate contender with other major fetishes. Virtual porn sets the bar to idealistic heights, and outside of the occasional exception I’d rather watch something else.”
This comment about cosplay being hit or miss and virtual porn setting idealistic heights is interesting. In a way, this is admitting to the sociological complaints made against the fashion industry and porn industry that accuse them of damaging the collective psychology of the population. This comes in two varieties. One is destroying women’s self-confidence/image, and changing what women feel they have to be willing to do sexually to have a successful relationship. The other side is damaging the male perspective of women, and misleading them as to what women want in sex. Often, these claims themselves are misleading, and conservative religious values are far more damaging to people’s sexuality than porn will ever be.
Concluding thoughts
Cosplay has always been driven by fandom — a given character from a given universe gaining a popular following. As our heroes and villains are often physically attractive, it makes sense that we would fantasize about them sexually. Cosplay itself pays tribute to characters, but cosplay porn takes it to the next level. Because 3DX allows accurate reproductions of recognizable characters, it allows us to make our fantasies that much more real.
Jason
January 31, 2018Would love to see an animated version of Callie with the shemale dressed up as Korra. I find them both to be very hot.
Trekkie Monster
July 1, 2017As I see it, within the boundaries of 3DX or adult art, there’s not much point to having a character dress as another, more famous character, since you can just create porn of the more famous character. While I do enjoy cosplay porn, you make a good point that the fantasy worlds these characters inhabit set unrealistic standards, even beyond the unrealistic standards of porn.
Case in point: the Oversnatch parody from Brazzers, which was criticized not for the performance or even appearance of the female star, but for its relatively low production values. In the source material, the Widowmaker character has blue skin and an iconic visor. In the parody, Aletta Ocean appears with normal skin and part of a bicycle helmet, which seemed to hamper the enjoyment of some viewers. In 3DX, you’re not limited by actresses, makeup artists, or production designers. Only the software you’re using and the amount of effort you’re willing to put forth constrain you; the skybox, so to speak, is the limit.