A cosplayer for 14 years, Zhang Wei was among the first Chinese to try costume play when it came to China in 2000. She designs and makes most of her clothes and props. [Photo by Zhang Wei/China Daily]

Not for everyone

However, a life devoted to nijigen is obviously not for everyone. Lv Zhuoshu, 26, who graduated recently from the University of Macao with dual degrees in business and philosophy, says that at one stage she was a fervent anime fan.

"From second grade of high school to college there were very deep things that I kept to myself, not knowing how to talk to people about them. When I watched anime I had a feeling that I was not alone and was being heard and understood."

Studying in Macao, she had few friends, she says, and with just 15 hours of class a week she spent a huge amount of time watching anime.

"Anime is an integral part of Japanese culture. You have loneliness, solitude and everyone being a unique individual. This expression of human emotion resonates with what I feel."

However, as an anime purist who has studied business, Lv says the commercialization of the craft－animation producers being first and foremost out to make money from their films and merchandizing－bothers her.

After studying philosophy and becoming acquainted with Japanese literature more broadly, nijigen's spell was broken for her and she gave it up.