After sharing images of a recent Hinatsuru cosplay from the hit anime Kimetsu no Yaiba, Twitch sensation Sydney ‘Sydeon’ Parker responded to the racist backlash.
Twitch star and cosplayer extraordinaire Sydeon rose to fame in 2021, taking the world by storm with his stunning recreations of some of pop culture’s most famous faces, as well as a burgeoning streaming career.
Joining OfflineTV in 2021 (home to giants like Jeremy ‘DisguisedToast’ Wang and Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys), it continues to grow bigger and bigger, producing spectacular cosplays of characters like Mona from Genshin Impact and many more.
Unfortunately, her Afro-Swedish heritage has put a target on her back with internet trolls, and following the backlash to her cosplay of Hinatsuru from Kimetsu no Yaiba, Sydeon has addressed the comments head-on.
Sydney’s rise has been meteoric, but unfortunately, it hasn’t been easy.
Sydeon calls racism ‘rampant’ in cosplay
Following the release of her Hinatsuru outfit, the cosplay star has been inundated with racist comments about the fact that Hinatsuru is Asian, not African American. Sydeon is of West African and Swedish descent.
“Cosplaying being black,” she says in a March 11 tweetattaching images of several different comments on the look.
“I’ve always been afraid of cosplaying anime characters because I didn’t want to deal with it,” she continues. “This shit is RAMPANT in the community and it’s fucking pathetic. My favorite is when people say ‘you’re not white enough’ WHEN THE CHARACTERS ARE LITERALLY ASIAN. Just say you hate dark-skinned people and catch this block.”
I’ve always been afraid of cosplaying anime characters because I didn’t want to deal with it. This shit is RAMPANT in the community and it’s pathetic. My favorite is when people say “you’re not white enough” WHEN THE CHARACTERS ARE LITERALLY ASIAN just say you hate dark skinned people and capture this block
— Sydney🔮 (@Sydeon) March 11, 2022
Amid the waves of fans supporting her are some of OfflineTV’s most famous faces. “It is a special kind of pathos to try to hide their racism behind the veil of protecting fictional anime characters from being dressed up by people of all races, as if the character’s entire identity is based on the color of their skin. ”, DisguisedToast wrote.
it’s a special kind of pathos to try to hide their racism behind the veil of protecting fictional anime characters from being dressed up by people of all races, as if the character’s entire identity is based on the color of their skin.
— Toast (@DisguisedToast) March 11, 2022
QuarterJade was quick to echo this, arguing that this is the whole point of cosplay: to portray whatever character the creator chooses.
I LITERALLY DON’T GET IT LIKE ANYONE CAN COSPLAY THAT’S THE FULL POINT ALSO YOU LOOK SO HOT SO WHY IS HE EVEN COMPLAINING I’M SO MAD
— QuarterJade (@QuarterJade) March 11, 2022
Sydeon isn’t the only woman of color speaking out about racism in the cosplay scene. Summer ‘Summerdru’ Corbin has also spoken about the hateful side of the community and her struggles as a PoC artist.
However, despite the hate, these women are here to dress up and kill the game as whatever character they choose.