|
boredom, stress and other things as well. It has also given the
chance to meet some very interesting and unique people, along with a
number of fun and memorable experiences. Of course just dressing
up and having fun is all worth it too!
Q: What has been your favourite cosplay?
Oddly I kinda have a four way tie there....with my Ichigo
Kurosaki (Bankai form) of
Bleach, Cissnei from Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Zexion
from Kingdom Hearts, and Neliel Tu Oderschvank (Nel Tu) of
Bleach. Each also represents important points to my cosplay
life... Ichigo was my first convention cosplay, Zexion was the suicide
of my sewing machine (may it rest in peace), Nel was the first FULL hand
sewn piece (as in did all the stuff by hand with hand sewing tools and
so on), and Cissnei brought together the first "Shin-Ra Reunion" Final
Fantasy gathering, along with the christening of the Final Fantasy Jump
Rope...
Q: Most memorable moment whilst cosplaying?
I probably have several. One of my
first though was at
Anime
Central 2007 (ACEN- a convention outside of
Chicago, Illinois, USA which is held around early
May), when they had the band
High and Mighty Color as the special guest
for the band to perform. They happen to perform the
opening theme "Ichin no Hana" from
Bleach. Well I basically decided to go to
there panel/autograph singing, which happened to be
right after the end of the
Bleach photoshoot, so I went straight from it to
the panel dressed as Ichigo. Suffice to say
the panel was awesome, but the moment of pure fan
happy for me was at the end when I got my turn to go
up to have a item signed by them. I had a CD
signed by then, but the awesome part was Sassy
actually asked to check out my Tensa Zanzetsu sword
from my cosplay. Suffice to say I was -blink,
blink...um...dizzy near faint- and I finally said
sure, and handed my sword over to him to look over.
Interestingly enough the rest of the band decided to
check out the sword as well so I got a lot of
awesomes, cool sword and such, as well and Ichigo's
my favourite from the group, so they played pass my
sword and oogle while signing my CD. Finally I
get to the other end of the table and get back my
sword and my CD. I sorta walked out of that
session in a daze. Of course just had to talk
about it for the rest of the con weekend...
Another favourite relating to the same sword prop
was at
Youmacon 2007 (Youmacon is my home
convention; held in Dearborn, Michigan, US...around
Halloween). This one involved getting my sword
signed by the US English Voice Actor's and Actress
from the characters Ichigo, Isshin and Orihime.
Here in the US that is Johnny Yong Bosch (Ichigo
Kurosaki), Patrick Seitz (Isshin Kurosaki) and
Stephanie Sheh (Orihime). It makes a interesting
conversational topic amoung my fellow
Bleach cosplayers. Even got to snatch a
pic with Johnny and Stephanie as Ichigo which made
it even cooler.
Q: Have you had any cosplays go wrong/encountered problems
whilst making cosplays?
So far about the only major
SNAFU's I have encountered was with Zexion, whom
I like to call now the cursed Organization member...oO
During creation, it made my sewing machine commit
suicide, I was nearly impaled by the machine's
leather needle twice, before the needle broke.
It then meant HAND SEWING leather/vinyl like
material. Sewing Leather or vinyl by hand is
EVIL!! A friend and coworker watching me do it at
work finally was like 'PLEASE for the love of God,
come by my house and let me help you... watching you
is making my hands hurt...'. She too is a big
crafter and sewer so she knew how much of a pain it
was.
The other major incident with it, involved my cat
BARFING on the nice wig I had for Zexion, less then
24 hours prior to me leaving for
Anime Weekend Atlanta 2007 (AWA, a con
held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA around mid September).
So the day of departure I had to literally run
around town and find a close match, hack it apart,
then dye it before I left in 12 and half hours.
Suffice to say it went to Atlanta with me on the
Greyhound bus in a plastic grocery bag still
half damp attached to my wig head, where it was
finished in the hotel room the night before con
started....
Q: Have you ever regretted cosplaying?
No I have never
regretted it. To me its so much more then a
hobby and a lil bit of an expensive one at times.
It for me is a chance to also find fellow people
with a passion for it as well as the cultures of
anime, gaming and such. It's allowed me to
travel and grow and see and meet a lot of people.
I mean I even met a person who came to my home con,
Youmacon from the UK! They travelled all
the way across the Atlantic to Michigan for a
convention, because they happened to hear from some
friends they had in the States that it was cool.
Q: Have you ever done group cosplay? If so how did you find
that experience?
I've done a few, most of them revolving around Kingdom Hearts or
Final Fantasy. I myself started with
Youmacon 2008 a
group cosplay gathering called the Shin-Ra Reunion, which gathers all
the Final Fantasy cosplayers who are doing characters of the
Shin-Ra Electric Power Company. It includes not just Rufus and the
Turks, but any character that was a part of Shin-Ra at some point, but
they have to be doing the costume that was worn by the character while
they where a Shin-Ra employee.
Q: What cosplays are you planning?
O.O...do we really WANT to try and list
them....Actually I think I will!! Be warned the list is a little long.
Persona/Shin Megami Tensei Series: Naoto Shirogane, Yosuke Hanamura,
"Main Protanganist", Teddie [Human form] (all from Persona 4), Philemon
(Eternal Punishment/Innocent Sin Ver.)
Yugi-Oh Series: Jack Atlas (5D's), Yubel (GX)
Ouran High School Host Club: Takashi Morinozuka
Final Fantasy Series: Genesis [Degenerated Ver.] (Final Fantasy VII:
Crisis Core), Carbuncle, Siren, Shiva, Chaos [Dirge of Cerberus Ver.]
(Final Fantasy VII)
Legend of Zelda Series: Navi
Bleach: Grimmjow Jeagerjaques [Pantera Release]
Immortal Rain (Manga): Zol Balfaltin "The Grim Reaper" [Grandpa of
Machika]
Devil May Cry Series: Virgil (DMC 3)
Naruto Shippoden: Garra
Deathnote: Mello
The ones that are finished are Cissnei (Final Fantasy VII: Crisis
Core), Vincent Valentine [Turk Ver.] (Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of
Cerberus), Neliel Tu Oderschvank [Child Form] (Bleach), Larexene
(Kingdom Hearts: CoM), Teru Mikami (Death Note), Zexion (Kingdom Hearts:
CoM), Squall Lionheart [SeeD Dress] (Final Fantasy VIII), Light (Raito)
Yagami (DeathNote) and Ichigo Kurokasi (Bleach)
Q: Do you have a dream cosplay?
Right now, my dream piece would have to be Vincent Valentines Chaos
form and the in progress Pantera release of Grimmjow. I am hoping
to debut Pantera this year...if I can get it finished.
Q: Do you have one piece of advice that
you would give to cosplay virgins?
I probably could say I have more
then one. First and
foremost RESEARCH your
character! I cannot stress
this enough. Learn all you
can about them. Find
plenty of screenshots, read the
manga if you can, watch the
anime, play the game, etc.
Learn there quirks and such.
After all the more 'life' you
put into the characters, the
funnier it is to cosplay them.
Not to mention that you will
earn even more brownie points of
the fellow fans, because they
know you put the effort into it.
Other thoughts would be to be
honest about your costume.
If you didn't make it yourself,
don't be ashamed to say so as
not all of us are wizards of the
sewing machine, and in some
cases may just not have the
time. Fellow cosplayers
will respect you for being
honest, plus you never know, you
may just give that commissioner
a future customer!
Lastly, as we at
Anime Central say... "Got
Soap?"... bathe daily and also
stay hydrated and fed (and not
just on
Pocky and carbonated
beverages). Sleep is also
good - get at least four hours
if you can. Trust me
hygiene, hydration, nutrition,
and sleep are just as important
to looking your best in your
cosplay as the makeup, as well
as the costume itself.
Q: Do you have an account with the website
Cosplay island/other social networking sites?
I am on:
Cosplay.com:
http://www.cosplay.com/member/58945/
American Cosplayer's Paradise:
http://www.acparadise.com/acp/display.p ... cd67063a0a
Cosspace:
http://www.cosspace.com/raijimagiwind
(click any picture for a larger image)
.jpg) .jpg) .jpg)
.jpg) .jpg) .jpg)
.jpg) .jpg)
.jpg) .jpg)
.jpg) |
