'This looks better IRL' follows young people in this contemporary subculture, largely influenced by Asian media and pop culture, full of community spirit, individuality and personal challenges, as they prepare for and attend cosplay conventions in Western Europe. Cosplay is a form of performance art in which participants use costumes and accessories to portray a particular character from the world of comics, anime, and manga. This community includes a large proportion of neurodivergent people. Screenshots from the cosplayers’ social media accounts are a recurring element in the publication, revealing much of their underlying feelings. The book shows a timely subculture in which the interplay between the online and offline worlds, the astonishing costumes, and the youthful vulnerabilities are so delicately portrayed by Xu.
