Blockchain-powered Cosplay Has Arrived in Japan

What happens when the worlds of blockchain, crypto and cosplay collide? The world is about to find out, as a company in Japan begins issuing exclusive blockchain technology-powered contents for die-hard cosplay fans.

Japan, one of the biggest global hotspots of cryptocurrency innovation, also happens to be the spiritual home of cosplay.

For the uninitiated, cosplay (a term coined in Japan in the 1980s) involves dressing up as popular characters from comics, movies, drama series and video games – often to coincide with comic conventions.

Some popular cosplayers have garnered enormous online followings. So perhaps it was only a matter of time before innovators devised a way to join the dots, and monetize cosplay using the world’s favorite technology du jour, blockchain.

Per newspaper the Sanyo Shimbun, a Japanese company named Sky Communications has begun selling exclusive signed posters and A4-sized images of top-billing cosplayers.

But the tech twist can be found on the flip side of these pics. Buyers can turn over their exclusive images to gain access to a QR code that allows fans to ask their favorite cosplayer to send them a special good night, good morning, birthday or custom greeting that can only be viewed from the purchaser’s device.

The pictures also come with blockchain certification proving that they are one-of-a-kind collectors’ items.

There is a crypto angle, too. Instead of loyalty points, collectors receive tokens, which they can save up to spend on yet more interaction with their favorite cosplay stars. If fans amass enough of this currency, they will be allowed to chat 1:1 with their best-loved cosplayer, says the company.

Sky Communication released a behind-the-scenes video to promote its first project: a collaborative Gakuen game-themed effort involving photographer Kuro.

A group of top-billing cosplayers also took part, including Nana Pink, who told the same media outlet that the blockchain-powered incentive was a “new way to reach out to fans,” and called the innovation “ground-breaking.”