Tag: Cosplayer Interviews

Cosplayer Interviews – Mappy Sánchez

Sherry

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Known as Sailor Mappy on Deviantart.com, this is Mappy Sánchez, an excellent cosplayer who accepted our interview today. Living in Penny Lane at present, she is interested in anime/manga, drawing, photography and cosplay (lots of wonderful pictures in her gallery strongly speak for this). And she is talented. You know cartoon characters like Asuka Langley or Usagi Tsukino? Yeh, they are favorite fictional roles for Mappy Sánchez. Now, let’s take a look at her replies for our interview questions below.

1. Please introduce yourself first.

I’m Mappy Sánchez, I’m 19 years old and I’m from Venezuela.

2. What does cosplay mean to you?

It’s a way of expressing myself, I’ve always loved anime and it’s a big part of my life, cosplay is very fun and it’s amazing to be able to bring to life a character that you love and admire, it also fulfills me to accomplish cosplay goals and it is comforting to receive good comments about them.

3. What and when was your first cosplay?

Sailor Jupiter in 2005.

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4. What is your most memorable cosplay experience?

I guess my first cosplay, sailor Jupiter, I was just very impressed by it all, it was my first convention and before that I didn’t even know that there were conventions at my country so I was very excited.

5. What’s your favorite photo shoot?

My misa amane photo shoot, even though it’s just a closet cosplay.

6. What’s your favorite anime/manga/game character to cosplay as?

Asuka Langley Sohryu, I’m planning to do as many versions as I can, I just love Asuka.

7. Any cosplay plan in future?

I have a lot! For 2011 I want to do Maka Albarn from Soul Eater, Mew Ichigo from Tokyo Mew Mew, Tomoyo Daidouji from Card Captor Sakura and finally Sailor Moon.

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8. Do you make your costumes yourself or buy them?

I make them myself 😀

9. Any other cosplayers you like?

I like many cosplayers, there is so much talent, I love mj-chan,taishoua, shinigamimeroko, the-sushi-monster, muchiko1125, fraulein-maoand many others.

10. Do some changes happen to you after cosplay?

I have met amazing people because of cosplay and I think I’m more creative and talented 😀 it has forced me to learn to do so much stuff I didn’t know I was capable of doing.

11. Any advice you wanna share with cosplay newbies?

I’m still a newbie so I think I’m not qualified to give advice yet, I guess I just say that work with the materials you have, you can make miracles happen, if you have the will to do cosplay you can do great stuff. And please…. buy a nice wig! It can make a HUGE difference 😀

Cosplayer Interviews – Rikuh

Sherry

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This is Rikuh, a Hungarian girl, who calls herself as a self-proclaimed genius. She is interested in music-singing-dancing, drawing, writing, gaming and photography. You know photographers like Suicidebee or Valyeszter? Yeh, they are favorite photographers for Rikuh. This pretty girls very likes Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy X. In her cosplay, we can see many stunning Final Fantasy cosplay works. Today, she joined in our cosplayer interviews and shared something helpful below. Now, take a look.

1. Please introduce yourself first.

Hey there, I am called Rikuh! ^.^ I am a really vivacious girl, who loves to be with her boyfriend and friends!

2. What does cosplay mean to you?

I was once a big anime fan, that time cosplay was a big hobby for me and my friends~ 😀 Now It’s more than 2 years ago that I stopped watching anime. Since then, for me, cosplay is a way to get in an entirely different world for a few days. I find the atmosphere of conventions breathtaking, where you can try being someone else – it’s like a big theatre. I also have grewn to like sewing a lot, I love the challenge of making costumes. And I’m really into hairdressing since I started cutting/styling wigs!

3. What and when was your first cosplay?

My first cosplay was Sango from InuYasha. Haha, I was 13 years old and knew nothing about sewing at all~ But considering I did it by myself it wasn’t that horrible… I hope! 😀

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4. Does your family support your cosplay?

Well, they aren’t exastly happy about it, but they do like that I am „creative” 😀

5. What is your most memorable cosplay experience?

Wow, that’s really hard to tell! I’ve had so much fun with my friends! 😀 But maybe those three times we performed on stage. I was nervous as hell – it was just as scary as amazing how many watched us -but dancing is one of my biggest passions, so it was a great combination with cosplay! ^^

6. Any other cosplay plan in 2011?

I really wanna make Babydoll from Sucker Punch! ^^ Also, I’m working on Vanille and Rikku from FF-X right now, and want to make Lightning afterwards! Other costumes I want to make are Yuna from FF-X and Miku from Vocaloid! ^^

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7. Do you make your costumes yourself or buy them?

I always make my costumes, but I really want to get a lot better at it! ^^”

8. Any other cosplayers you like?

Of course, I always have my idols! 😀 I really love KashinoRei’s work, and Ryuux3 is my current favorite cosplayer for all of her amazing Final Fantasy cosplay! ^^ And AmaneKitarou has to be my fav guy cosplayer 😀

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9. Do some changes happen to you after cosplay?

Well, thanks to cosplay, I got used to people taking pictures of me! ;P Earlier I didn’t allow anybody XD

10. Any advice you wanna share with cosplay newbies?

Don’t be afraid to try, if you really want to do something, you will be able to! And most important, have fun with it! ;D

Cosplayer Interviews – Hyetaya

Sherry

Hyetaya, a pretty girl believes in the personal quote of “look forward, don’t look bad unless regrets”, accepted our cosplayer interview today. She is interested in cosplay, anime and KH I & II, FinalFantasy, CallofDuty, etc are her favorite games. Having made much wonderful cosplay performance, she absolutely deserves applauding. Now, take a look at her interview content.

1. Please Introduce yourself first.

I’ve known to everyone who knows me as Hyetaya. I live California, participates almost every cosplay events if I could. I cosplayed since 4 years now, and I am the member of cosplay team called, “ToxicCandy”. I just graduated my high school. I am partially Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean. I can speak four different languages: Korean, English, Chinese and some of Spanish.

2. What does cosplay mean to you?

Cosplay is the way I could express myself. I enjoyed a lot when I cosplay, I can feel myself is living my life. Cosplay is the way I could exit from my reality, being other characters that I wished to become as.

3. What was your first cosplay?

Agito from Air gear at AnimeExpo 2008-9. I cannot remember the exact date for it, but I can remember myself back then…how horrible I was and how much I improved now compare to my first cosplay.

4. Does your family support your cosplay?

Yes. My mother actually likes me more when I cosplay and took really good pictures. She shares with father too. It just, my baby brother is accepting the fact I cosplay, but not like it much.

5. What is your most memorable cosplay experience?

Anime Expo 2010. I was cosplayed as Kagamine Len, Imitation black version. That was the first time I joined the Vocaloid gathering. It was pretty fun.

6. Any other cosplay plan in 2011?

I have lots of plan is coming up. I upload any upcoming plans on following sites, any changes made for it too:

http://hyetaya.deviantart.com

http://hyetaya.blog.me

http://www.facebook.com/hyetayas

Please do check those links for my upcoming plans and changes according to it.

7. Do you make your costumes yourself or buy them?

I’m just starting to make my costumes. (but I think it’s not working well) I usually buy the costumes or make it together with my team members.

8.Any other cosplayers you like?

…There are lots of my idols. First of all, Dearest Saya who passed away..she was my biggest mentor of cosplaying. Sakuya, Hibiki Touya, Singi, Kotaro, HEKI, Chiza, SSIN, Arisa, Kipi, Kuryu, KANAME, Yugene FAY, Yolkler, IRVY, Shin, Nokutesu, TASHA, Tomiah, haji.

9. Do some changes happen to you after cosplay?

I learned how to wear make ups, improved in fashion, hair styling, making clothes…stuffs. Cosplay actually do changed my life a lot in variety ways.

10. Any advice you wanna share with cosplay newbies?

Please, if you cosplaying have at least some respects for your characters which you cosplaying for. I see lots of people who just wear wigs without wig nets, which it makes you’re wig and you’re real hair get mixed. It makes you’re cosplaying is very crappy. If you want to cosplay as something, please at least put efforts to it. Lots of efforts, the results are very beautiful. Remind it yourself before you cosplay.

Other cosplay works by Hyetaya:


Cosplayer Interviews – Living Ichigo

Sherry

Widely known as Living Ichigo, this 23-years-old cosplayer has a muscular figure. He lives in Northern California and holds a strong interest for cosplay, games and anime. Final Fantasy VIII is his favorite game and Ichigo Kurosaki is his favorite cartoon character (actually, it’s really not difficult to recognize this from his cosplay gallery, XD). You can keep updated with his newest information on his website. Today, Living Ichigo accepted our cosplayer interview. Now, focus on his viewpoint for cosplay below.

1. Please introduce yourself first?

I am known as Living Ichigo to my fans. I am a professional cosplayer, model and bodybuilder. I’m from Sacramento, and I attend most conventions in California alongside Hikaru Kazushime from RUN AROUND: NETWORK. I cosplay Ichigo and his various forms, as well as Grimmjow from Bleach.

2. What does cosplay mean to you?

To me, cosplay is very serious. I work very hard to look as close to what the character would look like in real life. I work out about 3 hours a day, 5 days a week so I can perfect my cosplay. I am very dedicated. In the end cosplay means having fun, while being serious enough to make the character into a “living”, breathing real life version.

3. What was your first cosplay?

My first cosplay was Ichigo Kurosaki Bankai Vizard form. When I first began, I was very out of shape. I noticed that Ichigo was muscular and lean. That’s when I decided to dedicate myself to training. I wanted to become as close to him as I could.

4. Does your family support your cosplay?

My family doesn’t know about my cosplay.

5. What is your most memorable cosplay experience?

My most memorable experience was a recent one. FanimeCon 2011, I cosplayed Grimmjow on Friday, Bankai Vizard Ichigo on Saturday and Vasto Lorde Ichigo on Sunday. Throughout the convention, what seemed like hundreds of people asked me for photos, and it was amazing embracing all of my fans from the internet. Not only those things, but I partnered with Crunchyroll, Maridah Cosplay, Hikaru Kazushime and VampyBitMe to make a live show that was streamed to over 8 million viewers. It was a lot of fun.

6. I see you made many bleach Ichigo cosplay,any other cosplay plan in 2011?

Vasto Lorde Ichigo and Grimmjow are the two newest cosplays that I’ve done this year. But soon, I will be doing Super Saiyan 2 Goku from Dragon Ball Z as well as Kamina from Gurren Lagann.

7. Do you make your costumes yourself or buy them?

Some are bought, but when I buy them I tend to alter them a bit. Certain masks I’ve used have been commissioned and then altered by me. I’ve commissioned a few as well. Anything cloth I’ve sewn and I’ve handmade my weapons.

8. Any other cosplayers you like?

Other cosplayers that I admire are PikminLink, Syren, and Kaname. They are all very admirable cosplayers to me.

9. Do some changes happen to you after cosplay?

After cosplaying and doing photoshoots with Hikaru Kazushime, my pictures tend to explode on the internet. Every convention I’ve cosplayed at since I started has been a checkpoint in my career. I started getting a ton of popularity and so I made a Facebook Page a couple months ago- so far its hit 3200 “likes”!

Unlike some professionals, I am not untouchable. I am the people’s cosplayer. It’s really them that keep me going, and I am very social with them. I love and appreciate all of my fans, and I hope to keep cosplaying for them. I’ll always do my best. I am actually now looking into doing modelling, and my new website is almost done.

10. Any advices you wanna share with cosplay newbies?

For cosplaying newbies, I’d suggest looking for a character that is closest to you, or your body type. If you can, you’re already one step of the way to pulling of a good cosplay. You also want to make sure you have a good wig (if you need one) and basically, do your best. You want to represent the character as close as you can to the original. If you’re having trouble finding good quality costumes and don’t want to make one, there are many commissioners out there that you can hire.

Soon, I’ll be posting cosplay and workout tips on my new website at livingichigo.com.

Cosplayer Interviews – Akira Manami

Sherry

Having cosplayed 12 characters including Kairi, Sasuke Uchiha, Usagi Saitou, Black Goth etc and having a lot of new cosplay ideas in future, Akira Manami, who is also known as Patricia Anne, is absolutely a devotee for cosplay. It seems like everything she shares with us in her profile is interesting. For example, she will want to cosplay a certain character once watching an anime or manga. But planning frequently, she doesn’t always act, XD. While being asked with her favorite genre of music, she just answered “it depends with my mood”. Then, she is fond of lots of styles of art, certainly including cosplay. You can find her on here.

Today, Akira Manami accepted our cosplayer interview. Below, let’s take a closer look at her viewpoint on cosplay.

1. Please Introduce yourself first?

Hello everyone! I’m Patricia Anne, but I’m known as Akira Manami around the internet. I’m a cosplayer from the Philippines~! I’m 13 years old and a friendly otaku! =3

2. What does cosplay mean to you?

For me, Cosplay is my way of expressing creativity. =3 Because of my hobby in Cosplay, my art skills have increased! ^.^

3. What was your first cosplay?

My first cosplay was Kairi from Kingdom Hearts 2! My Kairi cosplay isn’t really accurate because I didn’t wear my red wig and plus I don’t look like Kairi, since she is slim and I am chubby! XD

4. Does your family support your cosplay?

Yup! They really do! My Mom and Auntie make some of my cosplays! And every time I go to a convention/photo shoot, they go with me! :33

5. What is your most memorable cosplay experience?

My most memorable cosplay experience is when I cosplayed Ciel Phantomhive in his Circus version (SMILE) It was my dream to cosplay as Smile! And I finally did~! <3

6. What are your 2011 cosplay plans?

I have a lot of cosplans in mind but I think I’m going to do Ciel & Alois in Wonderland, Oz Vessalius, Deep Dive Riku, Organization XIII Roxas and Roxas in his Twilight Town outfit! =3 (I know, my cosplans are all guys! XD)

7. Do you make your costumes yourself or buy them?

Some of my costumes were made by my Mom but I made 2 costumes by myself!

8. Any other cosplayers you like?

I idolize a lot of cosplayers! Especially Jin Joson, JenxtheJinx, KellyJane, Nova Vandorwolf, Twinfools and more~! <3

9. Do some changes happen to you after cosplay?

After every cosplay, my Arts and Crafts skills have increased and I do make new friends and surprisingly, I became more confident about myself. :3

10. Any advices you wanna share with cosplay newbies?

Remember, cosplaying is not about who’s the best or who has the most awesome costumes, it’s just about having FUN!! =3

Thanks for interviewing me~! ^-^~Akira Manami