What Is Kigurumi
Kigurumi, sometimes shortened to Kig or Kigu is a cosplay genre that focuses around anime-styled masks. Originating in concept from Japanese live-action shows, bringing an anime character to life in a mascot-esque way for the audience. Today kigurumi offers a unique way for cosplayers to bring their favorite characters to life or to become characters otherwise considered impossible to portray in the flesh.
Often paired with the mask is an all-encompasing flesh-toned bodysuit known as a Hadatai. As anime characters rarely have realistic human anatomy and the masks larger than our own heads, a Hadatai serves double duty to cover up any padding or shapewear being used to achieve the desired character look.
The Japanese term Kigurumi (着ぐるみ) itself is somewhat of a blanketed term for full body costumes, The anime kigurumi masks this wiki is focused on can be specifically referred to as Bishoujo Kigurumi (美少女着ぐるみ), although most kigurumi masks are not limited to just anime characters nor only girl characters.