"He's finally perfect": Exploring China's cosplay commission industry

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Chinese girls have found their perfect guy, but there’s a catch - he isn’t real. Here is their solution to the problem.

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:08 Why otome games are taking over China
9:49 Cosplayed dates: A perfect time with the perfect lover
11:46 ty Proton!
13:01 The Date Questionnaire
20:08 The price of paying for love
24:08 Conclusion

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Academic References
Chen, H., Zhang, J., Zhang, X. and Zeng, N. (2025). Quasi-Virtual Intimacy: An Exploration of Cosplay Commission as a New Form of Virtual-Reality Interaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 168, p.108651. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2025.10....

Fan, Y. (2025). Study on the Development Path of Chinese Otome Games. Advances in economics, business and management research/Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, pp.592–600. doi:https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-7....

Xu, Y., Zhang, L., Zhao, S. and Zhou, Y. (2024). Collective Creation of Intimacy: Exploring the Cosplay Commission Practice within the Otome Game Community in China. Available at: https://arxiv.org/html/2412.00630v3

References
Cao, J., Wang, R. (2024) Otome games: the rise of the female gaming market. TYR. Available at: https://tyr-jour.hkbu.edu.hk/2024/05/...

Lin, Y. (2025). The ‘fantasy date’ trend Chinese women are embracing. RNZ. Available at: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/chinese/56...

Wang, L. (2025). Hiring a "Virtual Boyfriend": Chinese Cosplayer Construct Authenticity and Romantic Fantasies in Cosplay Commission. Henry Jenkins. Available at: https://henryjenkins.org/blog/2025/9/...

Wu, J. (2025). Love and Deepspace wins Best Mobile Game at Gamescom as female-oriented titles emerge on the global stage. TechNode. Available at: https://technode.com/2025/09/03/love-....

Xu, J. (2025). How China Fell in Love With Woman-Centric ‘Otome’ Games. Available at: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1016634.

腾讯网 (2025). 买一天男友：Cos委托与年轻人的情感困局_腾讯新闻. Qq.com. Available at: https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20250917A0...

经济观察报观察家 (2025). cos委托：一种新型的‘孤独经济’悄然出现. 虎嗅网. Available at: https://www.huxiu.com/article/4286219...

蒋继璇. 郭韶明 (2025). 当虚拟男友走进‘现实’：她们在‘Cos委托’里体验被爱. Cyol.com. Available at: https://m.cyol.com/gb/articles/2025-0...

Visual references:
NHK WORLD. (2025). Chinese Women Falling for Virtual Romance - Asia Insight. Available at: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/sh...

‌Thanks for watching! I've been having a lot of peaches lately so take this one with you! 🍑 I hope you have a great rest of your day~

Tags:
video essay, cultural commentary, social commentary, internet analysis, analysis video, otome games, love and deepspace, cosplay, dating games, dating sims, anime boyfriend, china dating, chinese dating culture, cosplay romance china, renting boyfriend china, china social issues, dating burnout, chinese society explained, east asia culture, gen z dating, china, aini