Fortunately others are more supportive. "It's good for a young person to attend social activities," said Wang Xiuyuan, whose daughter, Lou Min, is a coser. Besides, she added, Lou has become more outgoing since starting cosplay.

Other parents oppose the activity because it's costly. Cosers have to make their own costumes, so they have to buy fabric and hire tailors. The cost of one costume can run up to 500 yuan (US$62.50).

But Miyabi, a famous coser in China better known as Fengjian Ya, said she never asked money from her parents for cosplay. She earned the money to attend Beijing Foreign Studies University by doing drawings and now does part-time jobs such as painting and modelling to supplement her savings.

Next month she and a group of cosers will perform in the Guangzhou Comic Festival. In some cases, cosers are paid for travel and accommodation. But cosplay is still a long way to becoming lucrative enough for people to make a living from.

"Cosplay can hardly compete with Broadway shows," Miyabi said.

If cosplay is ever going to enter the mainstream, better content is the key. But cosers say China's under-developed animation and comics industry hampers the prospects.

"The nation's comic industry is the foundation, without which cosplay will be just a castle in the air," Lu said. "We do not have Chinese roles to take on."

Sun Lijun, head of the Beijing Film Academy's animation school, pointed out that comics in China, which provide the content for cosplay, are mainly aimed at teenagers, and that to get adults involved, there should be more sophisticated stories with profound messages.

"Unlike Japan, we haven't found a way to combine our culture with cartoons and comics," said Li Liang, a new graduate from the animation school. "Comics can be a good medium to carry forward Chinese culture, and my dream is to make them popular among all age groups."

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