EXO’s Kris: When Cosplay Becomes an Addiction

The elaborate outfits at the airport, the creation of a plethora of pseudonyms, the adoption of different personalities; yes, I think it’s safe to say EXO’s Kris has a problem. This goes beyond a questionable sense of fashion. What we have here is a serious addiction to cosplay. If you aren’t familiar with the term, “cosplay” refers to dressing up as a character, or an archetype, and taking on different personalities to fit the different characters.

Although the term is most commonly used for people dressing up for fan conventions EXO’s Kris has taken it to the next level and is integrating cosplay into his everyday life, even going so far as to cosplay at the airport. Whether it be under the name Kris, Wu YiFan, Li Jiaheng, Kevin, Ben Ben, or Mr. Galaxy, it is clear that EXO’s leader needs an intervention.

Kris doesn’t always cosplay characters he created himself, though. Here we see him cosplaying the character Ryota Kise from the popular anime Kuroko’s Basketball. It is common knowledge that EXO’s leader played basketball in Canada while he was still going by the name Kevin. Between his personal experience with the sport and the fact that SM Ent. marketed his “Ben Ben” personality as being a basketball player it seems only natural that Kris would choose to cosplay a sports anime.

Sometimes his cosplay is a little vaguer as far as character goes. He went through a phase where his airport fashion screamed “I want to be a military man” with one green coat after another. Fans theorized his inspiration to be everything from 19th century European uniforms to Attack on Titan’s Chief Erwin (if he wore sunglasses, that is). The mixture of traditional fashion and modern street fashion was appealing in its own way but his character would have been more authentic if he had stuck to one period.

While the military theme was fairly recognizable, there are times that Mr. Galaxy completely misses his mark. The time he dressed like an old lady at a death metal show, for example, was particularly concerning. What type of cosplay is that, really? A good cosplay has a recognizable character, Kris. Equally odd was the French baroque drapes cosplay. I don’t care how much he admires Marie Antoinette, he shouldn’t have made her curtains into a jersey set.

Of course, he doesn’t always miss the mark. He’s had a few delicious “chaebol son” cosplays. First we have the impeccable rich boy in the trendy silk shirt. This look really suited the Wu Yifan side of EXO’s leader and it is almost a shame it was just a cosplay costume. Equally enticing was the rich-boy-gone-bad cosplay. Kris looked like every rebellious prince character from every anime ever with his solid black outfit (complete with tight pants). I’ll say it again, it’s a shame these were just cosplays and not his everyday appearance.

Finally, we have his most recent cosplay endeavor: the 90’s boy band member. Kris seems to be getting in touch with both the b-boys of the 90’s and Korea’s own Seo Taiji. Maybe he felt like the one-short-pant-leg fashion would help him fit in better in Los Angeles, but come on, we can all tell it’s just a character. No authentic swag whatsoever. The white bucket hat cosaply we can blame at least partially on SM Ent. and their MV costumers, but I’d be willing to bet Ben Ben was digging on the chance to cosplay the famous Korean boy bands of the 90’s.

While the cosplaying may be fun it also makes it difficult to put a finger on who Kris/Kevin/Yifan really is. There is something to be said for having a creative personality, but a little consistency of character goes a long way. Ah well, I guess Mr. Galaxy will always be a mystery, even to himself.

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