How did you first get into cosplay, and what motivated you to take your first step into the cosplay community?

I first got into cosplay through my love of anime, and honestly, that was the main motivation for starting this hobby in the first place. I believe that cosplaying is a form of love, and I truly love the characters I portray. I can say that every step of the process brings me joy, and I genuinely enjoy every part of it. My introduction to cosplay and my introduction to the cosplay community are actually two different stories. My interest in cosplay began with my love for collecting wigs, which made me start imagining the possibilities of what I could do with them, like which characters I could bring to life. Meanwhile, my introduction to the cosplay community happened through the friends I met during the production of EPIC: The Fan-Made Musical. That experience gave me friendships that I believe will last a lifetime and opened the door for me to become part of a community I had always longed to join.

Tell us about the first time you did cosplay. What was it like, and what did you learn from it?

I would like to say that my first cosplay was the time I did my Marin Kitagawa as Shizuku-Tan Cosplay, but even before that, I was already cosplaying with the little resources I had before I polished it. I first cosplayed Midari Ikishima from Kakegurui for our online book and character month celebration, it wasn’t pretty at all, lol. I barely had anything, for her costume and props, I wore my school blouse, a vest that was too big for me, eyepath I diy’d, a cute purple headband and a toy gun I borrowed from the neighbor’s little brother. It wasn’t much, but it genuinely made me believe I can actually continue doing this hobby. Through it, I learned a lot about what I like and what looks good on me, which I believe helped me grow and become more polished as a cosplayer.

Can you share a little bit about yourself and the characters you cosplay?

I don’t think I’m particularly interesting if we’re only talking about myself, but I do have a deep love and respect for the characters I cosplay. Whether they are a cute and cheerful character or a fierce villain, I appreciate them all the same, and I always try to give justice to their characters through my cosplays. Because of that respect, I can get a bit nitpicky and perfectionistic when a detail is off or when I feel like I don’t look right in the costume. To me, it feels like I’m not giving the character what they deserve, because in my mind they have to look their best. Therefore, many of my future cosplans involve more detailed characters. I’m currently saving up so that when I do them, I can execute them as well as possible.

Who or what were the first people or things that inspired you in the cosplay world?

It is definitely my love for anime that motivated me to start cosplaying. No one told me to begin this hobby, but I truly wanted to see my favorite characters come to life and hopefully bring joy to other people as well. Another thing that encouraged me was when I used to go to malls and unexpectedly run into cosplay conventions or cosplay strips; I remember feeling a little jealous that those cosplayers could display their passion so openly, which pushed me to work on building my confidence so that I could eventually join them at these events. I also hope that through my cosplays, I can inspire others, especially the younger generation, to pursue cosplay as a hobby, just like how other cosplayers inspired me. Cosplayers such as Hera Lynx and RubyBliss Coser were some of the people I met back then, and I still keep the photos I took with them because they are truly treasured memories of seeing my favorite characters brought to life so well.

Threads of Inspiration: The Journey Begins

How do you decide which character you’re going to cosplay? Walk us through your creative steps.

Before I even start deciding on a character, I first think about whether I actually like them and how much they mean to me. The first thing I consider is how the character would look on me and if I could portray them well. Next, I think about whether I already have a wig that could work for the character, or if it would be worth buying a new one. After that, I look at the costume and ask myself if it’s something easy to find or ukay, like the outfits worn by Kyoko Hori from Horimiya, or if it’s something more specific and harder to get, like the outfit of Gawr Gura from Hololive English. After thinking about all those things, that’s usually how I end up choosing which character to cosplay.

What inspired you to combine music with cosplay and become known as a “singing cosplayer”?

I have always been into music, in fact, even before I joined the cosplay community, I have already done lots of singing, band gigs, and even musical and theater practices. It wasn’t necessarily planned but it just came to me naturally, combining two things I love was the most obvious outcome. For me, singing has always been a part of me, so when I introduced cosplay as my new hobby, I also wanted to share my passions with other passionate people, and I am fortunate to have met a group of people who share the same sentiment about music as I do, and I feel even luckier that they are my friends but also my most skilled competitors, Natsu Euna, Enmei Chii, Johsei Kogei-hin, Ai Chii and many others.

How does performing with your band differ from performing as a solo singing cosplayer?

Most people would think that it’s similar but it totally is different. Firstly, the change of environment, I wouldn’t say that either side is bad, but they definitely are contrasting the same way orange and blue are contrasting. My experiences with my band were definitely unforgettable as it forced us to develop a deep relationship with each other, stemming from compromises, understanding, fun moments and even tiredness from constant practices. Meanwhile, performing solo provides me more creative freedom and a much more flexible practice schedule, although the landscape is more competitive. If given a choice to pick between the two, I really couldn’t pick because I love performing in both ways.

What advice would you give to aspiring cosplayers who also want to showcase their musical talents?

My advice is to just go for it, you never know. I genuinely find it great that events find value in cultural segments such as singing and dancing competitions, so with that, I suggest you try joining singing competitions during cosplay conventions. Not only can you showcase your musical talents, but you can also form connections, meet new people and experience what it’s like to be on stage. Other than that, you can also start small, from uploading singing/music videos on social media. Me and my band also uploaded a tiktok video for fun, not expecting anything, but when we woke up the next day, it reached 300k views, and by now, it has reached more than a million views. Moral of the story? Better try and find out, than not try and not find out.

The Community and Impact

How has cosplay changed your life? Has it helped you make new friends or discover things about yourself?

I made lots of valuable friendships, meeting people younger, the same age, and older than me really gave me lots of inputs on how to live my life. I believe that my cosplay journey is not just a hobby alone, but it is a very important step in me growing up. Not only did I make new friends, but it also opened the doors to new experiences, exciting challenges and joyful times. I know I will pursue this hobby continuously, and learn more in the process, and to me, that is the most exciting part.

What does the group of people who do cosplay mean to you? How do you connect with other cosplayers?

I have always found cosplayers cool and admirable, showing off their passions so openly and creatively truly inspires me and makes me happy. I like to believe I connect with others very positively, considering I am still a newbie in the cosplay community, I have already made countless friends and even the cosplayers I idolized before are now people I work with and I hang out with constantly. I like how cosplayers don’t judge you whether or not your cosplay is skillfully made or if it’s expensive or not, because they know and understand, and I find it so sweet. With that, making friends has been very easy because people in the community have been really friendly, welcoming and easy to get along with.

Sometimes people don’t fully understand cosplay. Have you ever faced any problems or wrong ideas about it? How do you handle those?

There will always be judgement from other people as long as the stigma around cosplay still exists, and I believe we cannot change judgemental people, but we can change our perspective. I have experienced problems with people laughing at me, mocking me, and even saying inappropriate phrases towards me just because I cosplay, and I used to be bothered by it, but I realized that people will hate no matter what. Learning this, I decided to just pursue whatever makes me happy rather than listening to their opinions. With this mindset, I slowly started to gain confidence and self assurance in my hobby, even riding public transportation and walking home in cosplay with no fear of anyone’s judgement. What’s important is that I am not hurting anyone with my hobby and it genuinely makes me happy.

The Future: What’s Next?

What are your future goals in cosplay? Do you want to enter contests, work with others, or create videos and posts?

I’m still just starting out, so of course I have a lot of goals for the future. First, I want to focus on saving up money for my cosplans and adding more characters that I really like to my lineup. I also want to gain more experience by collaborating with other people and hopefully getting hired to cosplay again, whether it’s through busking or doing character interactions at events. At the same time, I want to keep improving my skills so I can portray my characters better and give stronger performances. Even though I’m a singing cosplayer, joining contests isn’t my top priority right now, but I do plan on participating in some in the near future. And with the advice of Sir.Bryan Valentino, I’m also planning to start creating content where I can showcase both my singing and my cosplay.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting cosplay?

As I said previously, just try, you never know. Cosplay is such a fun hobby, and I have met the most genuine people in the community. If you’re scared, just take baby steps and allow yourself to have failures, as that is what makes you better. Even if you don’t join the cosplay community and just want to cosplay, I still suggest you should, it can even be your creative breakthrough and you may find out things about yourself that you didn’t expect, just like I did. So if you’re hesitating, just do it- it doesn’t hurt to try. If you need help, and reassurance as you start your cosplay journey, you can even message me or anyone in the cosplay community as from my personal experience, they’re all so nice and accommodating. You surely will enjoy and have fun once you start and get comfortable.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about why you love cosplay?

One of my favorite parts in cosplaying is definitely the preparation. My excitement starts even days prior, and I get so excited I start squealing about it with my friends, with my family, and even to myself before I sleep. On the day when I am cosplaying, the morning feels brighter and I get more motivated to move and get ready. Doing the makeup for the character you’ll cosplay is such a “trust the process” move, but once you put the wig on, everything makes sense and it just makes you even more excited. I really want to share this happiness to everyone else, and that’s why I find cosplay to be such an enjoyable experience, because it really makes your day start great and end even greater.

Behind the Scenes: A Day in the Life of a Cosplayer

How do you balance your cosplay activities with your personal life and other responsibilities?

Personally, I hate schedules. But with my newly found hobby, and as a graduating student, I found out that I really didn’t have a choice but to make a schedule in order to prepare for events. It doesn’t have to be a physical schedule, because mine is a mental schedule, and with that, and the proper use of time management, I juggle them all to fit. Other than that, I always find a day or days for my body and mind to rest because it really is essential so that you can ensure that you always give quality outputs no matter what task has been given to you. I can see why people would think that it’s hard for me to balance my time considering I am not only a very active cosplayer, but also an entrepreneur, performer, student, and a family oriented person, but I believe that managed to take all of these tasks without breaking down because I exercise saying the word “no”. Saying “no” is important as to not overexert yourself, declining opportunities to rest doesn’t make you less productive, it makes you human, and that’s what I do.

What is the most difficult part of being in a cosplay event: makeup, costume, or staying in character when interacting?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a very cheerful person, but for the most part, I don’t take breaks during my jobs and the Creative Lokal team knows that very well, lol. So with that being said, the most difficult part of being in a cosplay event is definitely interacting, because as much as I love interactions and making kids happy, smiling and standing gets really tiring when done for hours with no break lol. Sometimes, I do get pressured when working on an event for kids, for example, as Mira from KPOP Demon Hunters or as Princess Belle from Beauty and The Beast, I feel like if I stop smiling for one second and a kid sees, their perception of that character will never be the same ever again. My goals in working and being in cosplay event is truly to make other people happy, and I try my best to ensure that happens.