Tamaki Suoh from the anime/manga Ouran High School Host Club. Here’s how I discovered this character. I posted in a suggestion forum online, a forum where you post some pictures of yourself and people suggest what characters you look like and/or could cosplay. The suggestion I got was Tamaki from Host Club. I’d never heard of the series, so I asked a friend what it was about. I ended up watching the whole series on Youtube, and I loved it. More than that though, I loved the character of Tamaki. His personality is very close to my own and I could connect with him well. So, I decided that I wanted to cosplay as him.
Tell me about the process of making your outfit – was it easier or tougher than you imagine it to be ?
I don’t really construct any of my costumes from scratch because I don’t have that much sewing experience. What I do more often is piece together costumes from buying and editing different pieces of clothing from online stores, department stores, and Goodwill. I bought the blue blazer jacket online and fitted it to myself. I found the emblem for the jacket on Ebay. The dress pants and shoes were my own. I bought the wig from the store at Cosplay.com and had a friend of mine who works at a salon cut it to match Tamaki’s hair. As for the props, I got them from a bunch of places. The crown either came from Burger King or my parents found it lying around somewhere. The roses came from Michael’s. I made the little cup of coffee that says “Hescafe” and a friend of mine made the plushie dolls of
the female lead of the series.
Any interesting stories from people’s reaction to your outfit at the con ? ^^
If that Tamaki costume could talk, it would have some crazy stories. I have the most fun at conventions when I’m in this costume because the character is so dramatic and over-the-top. The crown gets a lot of reactions by itself. It’s not officially part of his costume, but it sets me apart from other cosplayers. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone squeal “Look! He has a crown! He’s the king!” Even the voice actor of the character got a big kick out of seeing the crown. Usually, the fans of the series will recognize me right away and either stop me for a picture, hug me immediately, or ask if they can give me a kiss, which is always nice.
How did you get started cosplaying and what got you interested ?
I was in Junior High and I saw a story about Fanime on TechTV. It looked really interesting because I had never seen real-life versions of anime or video game characters outside of Halloween before. That summer, I was planning on being Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VIII for Halloween, so I asked my parents if they would take me to an anime convention so I could wear that costume again. They said yes, and I ended up going to Anime Expo and learned all the perks of cosplaying as the main bishonen character.
What are the con did you first attended and what’s your favorite con that you’ve attended so far and why ?
My first convention was Anime Expo 2005. I attended AX ‘06, ‘07, and ‘09 and I went to Fanime 2008 and 2009 inbetween. I think my favorite con was AX06. It was my second con so I kind of had an idea what was going on. I cosplayed as Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII and I placed 2nd in the Masquerade Ball costume contest, so I had the chance to be backstage for the Masquerade competition and met all of the other cosplayers who performed their skits. I also got to spend a lot of time with people I had met online and I made a lot of new friends.
What does cosplay mean to you ?
As an actor, I really enjoy putting myself in the role of other characters and living as they would. Cosplay is another chance for me to become someone else, if only for a weekend or two. Making the costume is fun and all, but the best part is perfecting all the details and mannerisms of the character so that when other cosplayers and congoers meet me at a convention, they can feel like they’re really meeting the character in real life.
If you had unlimited funds/technology/time, what is your dream cosplay ?
Realistically, I would like to make all of the costumes Tamaki wears throughout the series. Some costumes are simple, like swim trunks or a certain rival club’s t-shirt. Others are harder, like a full sized ballroom dress. Yes, a dress. Another costume I would like to start working on is a life-sized Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas/Kingdom Hearts. I would like to incorporate some puppetry elements to emphasize just how outrageously long his limbs are. Unrealistically, my dream costume is a life-sized Ryuk from Death Note, with a large wingspan and a prosthetic movable face.
