Twitch streamer faces rampant racism while cosplaying as Hinatsuru from 'Demon Slayer'

Twitch streamer and member of OfflineTV, Sydeon recently opened up about cosplaying while black. The streamer recently revealed an anime cosplay of Hinatsuru from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

While the replies on both Instagram and Twitter were overwhelmingly positive, a few bad apples led to a conversation about cosplaying while black on the internet. She was very frank and open about how she felt.

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Twitch streamer reveals a few hateful tweets from recent cosplay photo

In a thread titled “Cosplaying while black,” Sydeon showed a couple of comments that ranged from vague to simply hateful. The Twitch streamer remarked that she wasn’t trying to post this to receive pity from anyone, but it was a conversation that needed to be had.

Many black cosplayers and streamers receive various hateful responses when they choose to cosplay. Sydeon wanted to bring attention to the problem with her platform because cosplay is for everyone, regardless of race, gender, size, or shape.

The thread where Sydeon highlighted the problem was filled with love and support from Twitter. If more threads featuring black cosplay were like this, the stigma could be lessened, and more people could enjoy doing cosplay without fear of being harassed.

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The internet shows up to support Sydeon’s message

The internet showed up to support the Twitch streamer and their love of anime and cosplay. Goldenboy, esports caster and G4 host supported Sydeon’s work, as did Twitch streamer Disguised Toast.

A character’s identity is more than the skin color, and those words, written by Toast, spoke to several people in the thread.

Macaiyla, Tyler1's girlfriend, spoke up about being mixed, and that being why she doesn’t cosplay as a white character in general. It was an unfortunate situation to be stuck in and Sydney responded, hoping that the stigma would go away.

Another user commented that if they had told someone that they were “too white,” it would also be a problem, which would receive a reply from Sydeon. The tea (truth) was strong in this post.

Several other Twitter users came out to say that the Twitch streamer nailed the cosplay, and they were excited to see what she cosplays as next.

Others took to social media to show appreciation for Sydeon, highlighting this very real problem in the cosplay community and how she stood up for fellow POC in the content creation.

While it is a minority in her community, as one commenter pointed out, that doesn’t take away from the need to have the conversation, according to Sydeon in a reply. People in this thread hope that fewer of these talks have to happen in the future, and cosplay can be for everyone, regardless of how they look.

Many supported the streamer and hoped that she would continue to create content like this, despite people's negativity on the internet.

Cosplay is for everyone. It’s a simple statement, but there will always be naysayers on the internet.

The Twitch streamer’s work was incredible. Unfortunately, cosplayers and streamers have to deal with abuse and harassment online. Hopefully, the community will mend its ways with more conversation and visibility around the subject.