Tell me about the outfit you are wearing – who are you cosplaying and how did you decide to pick this particular character ?
The Castlevania Alucard outfit, came out of a combination of factors- I had discovered the Masquerade Ball event (AX07), and wanted a more appropriate cosplay than my Vampire Hunter D cosplay. I think it was the year that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night became available on Xbox360- my friends asked me if I had a 360 to get it, and I told them I had the original Playstation version! That’s when the idea was born, and finding the original Kojima artwork for SotN just made it seem perfect.
Tell me about the process of making your outfit – was it easier or tougher than you imagine it to be ?
Well, it wasn’t so much easier or tougher, but more involved than I initially thought. There were many things to do to bring it all together: finding suitable patterns, altering them, and figuring out how to understand the instructions. By the time of AX08, I didn’t have the vest made, and I didn’t have the right matching gold colors for the coat- I had made it in a silver theme instead. But I had enough to wear to the ball, including a matching themed mask.
There weren’t enough entrants for the ball that year (AX08), so it was opened up for anyone in appropriate costume to enter. I didn’t feel the cosplay was ready, but I entered anyway, and I won as Masquerade Ball King!
This year (Summer 09) I finished the vest, even designing it to be functional where it wasn’t apparent from the artwork, which lead to fabricating the metal buckles. I picked up the sword from a dealer at Fanime and replaced the steel blade with a plastic re-cast (to meet weapon policy). I still have plans to make a new coat in the proper gold theme, and make the Alucard Shield prop.
Days and weeks are almost bad measurements of how much time I spend on the costume. I could only focus on certain tasks for a few hours a day, on and off for weeks. I’m usually distracted by other things I’m working on aside from cosplay. And then after a con is over, unless another one is coming right up, I tend to put aside my cosplay projects for months. So it’s only my own fault it drags on so long!
Only in a couple of cases I’d get hung up on the planning stage- not knowing what to do for a particular piece of the cosplay. I’m getting better at it though, which makes it easier to get things done right and faster.
Any interesting stories from people’s reaction to your outfit at the con ? ^^
The most common thing I get is someone calling me Sephiroth, for which I yell back, “No! Wrong videogame!” and they’re stumped for a bit. There was one stunning ballerina (Princess Tutu?) who insisted on having her picture taken with every bishounen, and that included my sparkly vampire Alucard.
How did you get started cosplaying and what got you interested ?
I think my first cons were ACEN near Chicago, in 2000 and 2001, so that was my first exposure to cosplay. After I moved to California, my friends were regulars at cons, and some of them did cosplaying, which got me interested. I kept thinking about what I could cosplay, I wanted it to be something cool, something that wasn’t done very often. I decided I wanted to cosplay as Vampire Hunter D, and eventually debuted the outfit at AX in 2006. So that was my start!
What con did you first attend and what’s your favorite con that you’ve attended so far and why?
I’ve been to small and big cons, seen various problems that keep me from saying any one is my favorite, but I always tend to have fun with friends (new and old) wherever I’m at, which is why I keep going to them.
What does cosplay mean to you ?
Cosplay is a hobby that challenges me, to bring a character from anime/manga/games/art to ‘reality’. From interpreting the original source, concepting the outfit, construction, wearing it and acting the part (mostly just for the camera), it’s a rewarding outlet for my creativity.
If you had unlimited funds/technology/time, what is your dream cosplay ?
Well, whatever my current plans are that I haven’t made yet would be my next dream cosplay. I don’t have any ideas in mind that are completely impossible to me, though maybe I just need the extra time! I want to revamp my Vampire Hunter D outfit, and I have plans for Cornelius (Odin Sphere), Gordon Freeman (Half-Life), and also to do some fully armed-and-armored character from World of Warcraft.
