If you've ever been to a cosplay event, you've probably seen plenty of adorable cosplayers or those with incredibly accurate costumes. Taking photos or striking up conversations with them is pretty common.
However, at the recent Comiket C107 held at the end of last year, one cosplayer shared a hilarious encounter. They recounted being approached by a foreign attendee at the venue, only for a "character vs. cosplayer gender misunderstanding" to lead to a dramatic reaction. The post quickly went viral on X, sparking widespread discussion.
Coser Jimmy (@231_gragra) revealed they were cosplaying Rina Tennoji from "LoveLive! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club," complete with a handmade "Rina-chan Board" and full costume.
At the event, a foreign attendee enthusiastically greeted them with "Hi~♡." Jimmy naturally replied, "Hi~!" To their surprise, the foreigner's face instantly dropped, looking like the world had ended. They muttered a low "Oh..." and quickly walked away, leaving Jimmy to quip, "Why would they assume I was a girl underneath?!"
Jimmy also self-deprecatingly pointed out that for seasoned con-goers, "beautiful girls emerging from the men's changing room" is just another day at Comiket. They described the venue as a "special space where men's changing rooms mass-produce beautiful girls."
The post blew up, drawing tons of comments from netizens. Many exclaimed, "So Comiket!" while others shared similar experiences: "That's a classic Comiket moment right there," "The foreigner got hit with instant culture shock, brain totally crashed," "I've even seen busty characters cosplayed by guys, even muscular ones," and "Beautiful girls from the men's changing room, handsome guys from the women's – that's just cosplay culture now!"
Some comments also referenced the term "Japanese trap," previously used in overseas communities to describe cross-dressing Japanese characters or cosplayers, highlighting the cultural differences once again.
Many netizens offered advice: "At a cosplay event, never judge gender by appearance alone." Because you never know, that beautiful girl waving and smiling at you might have just walked out of the men's changing room five minutes ago. So, if you ever hit up a cosplay event, don't jump to conclusions about someone's gender based on their character – you might just fall into a trap yourself! XD
via： togetter