Tell me about the outfit you are wearing – who are you cosplaying and how did you decide to pick this particular character ?
My character was Ragna, the Bloodedge from the 2D fighter BlazBlue. Back in 2006, I wore a costume of the character Johnny from Guilty Gear, a similar franchise. At that time I met my current girlfriend at the gathering who was wearing a Millia Rage costume. Fast forward three years, and we just had to make costumes from the latest Guilty Gear successor to sort of pay homage to how we met. Her BlazBlue costume was Litchi Fei Ling.
Tell me about the process of making your outfit – was it easier or tougher than you imagine it to be ?
Honestly, I did not make a lot of the costume myself. The credit goes to my girlfriend who painstakingly went through some long nights and a busted sewing machine to get all the material together. I mainly tagged along to the fabric district in LA were I paid for the fabric that went into Ragna. The part that I did do was my prop. I’m not sure if I went the right way about it, albeit primitive one, but I bought a huge plank of cedar from my local Lowe’s and used various table saws to cut the desired shape. I figured his sword art is depicted rather blocky anyways, so why not make it out of wood?
Any interesting stories from people’s reaction to your outfit at the con ? ^^
The comments I kept getting were ones of astonishment at how I could carry such a large prop around all day. I think I got my fair share of bad looks from con security for fear of my lethal, blunt object haha.
How did you get started cosplaying and what got you interested ?
I wanna say that originally, I thought I would never cosplay. I didn’t see the point of walking around as a character and thought it too weird for me. But gradually I found myself more and more interested in such a thing I didn’t understand. It was one of my longtime friends that made the leap to say he would try cosplay. He did a Vash the Stampede, back in the Trigun heyday, and when we both went to Fanime con, seeing all the various cosplayers looked like it was a blast. A year later I decided on Johnny of Guilty Gear as my first cosplay.
What are the con did you first attended and what’s your favorite con that you’ve attended so far and why ?
My first con was Fanimecon of 2000. I was just getting into anime and had little to no idea what took place at an anime convention. I only went for one day that year but I was amazed by the dealers room at the time. Today Fanime remains my favorite con for its location, great hotel service, proximity to food places, great people, and just the perfect size that I feel fits a con. Not too cluttered with the hustle and bustle of people, yet not too deserted to ever be boring.
What does cosplay mean to you ?
What cosplay means to me changed over time. At first I wanted to do something my other friends weren’t into, to set myself apart and maybe impress a few. Over time I learned that there’s just no point in trying to one up everyone else, and I’ve matured more in that sense. I just cosplay for love of the character and to be around good company that share the same love of anime. I will be the first to admit my costume is not the best, I still think my sword looks terrible! But at the end of the con I spent some great time with my girlfriend, got a few photos, and made a bunch of new friends.
If you had unlimited funds/technology/time, what is your dream cosplay ?
That’s tough because everytime I get hit with inspiration for a costume, I forget it a few days later! But if I could get whatever I needed, either: Basch of FF12, Gutz of Berserk, or Killy of the manga BLAME!
