Wednesday, January 3, 2007

   The “Anime is way too important in my life” series of rants
First off, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!!!! Hope they were wonderful for everyone!!

On to the rant: Cosplay. Hardcore cosplay—not just costuming, but costuming AND acting.

Note: forgive redundancy, length, and the complete lack of flow. (Come on, I go to an engineering school that doesn’t believe in any form of liberal arts… I’ve lost the ability to write well. ::cries::)

Cosplay: an interesting concept for little, quiet, shy me. The first convention I went to, I was interested in seeing all the cosplayers, but would not be caught dead in a costume. At that time, I barely knew what the word meant. I walked around thinking, “There are a lot of really cool costumes here, but why on earth would someone do that? I mean, some of these people are in their 20s or 30s! Aren’t they embarrassed?”
Heh heh… The more I watched people, the more fun it looked. Heck, probably over half the convention attendees were cosplaying, so it must be kind of fun, right?
I kind of randomly chose a character to cosplay as for the next year, and had fun making up a pattern and sewing with very little prior experience. At the con that year, people noticed me. And took pictures. And talked to me. It was a little scary, but really cool. I entered the cosplay contest—why not; I spent a lot of time on this costume—and made a new friend. I was sold on cosplay right then and there, even though I didn’t really do much “playing/acting.”
Since then I’ve been cosplaying every year with at least one costume, usually two. Last year, I met someone who has become a very good friend. After meeting her, I’ve realized how much cosplaying can affect your life if you get too into it. ^____^;;

I met my sister last year while cosplaying Subaru. Of course, the person I’m talking about is Hokuto-chan. I met her randomly, and ended up hanging out with her for the entire con. We seemed perfectly suited for our characters, and it was a total blast to actually *act out* the part, rather than just dress it. It was only natural for us to stay in contact, and, as if to extend the convention fun, we continued calling each other by our cosplay names. (Because of this, half of Hokuto-chan’s friends don’t know my actual name or, if they do, they never use it.) Perhaps it’s because we do call each other by our cosplay names, or perhaps it’s because we fit the characters so well… either way, some interesting things have started to happen, at least to me.
1) I can actually blush simply at the mention of Seishiro-san’s name. Hokuto-chan loves to do this to me. So do all her friends. And I can’t help it!
2) I honestly think of Hokuto-chan as my sister. I love her and wish we could be together more. She nearly cries when we have to say good-bye after visiting.
3) Hokuto-chan has begun calling my bf “Sei-chan.” Unfortunately, I don’t think he gets the analogy. Or at least, he didn’t until I had to explain it, red-faced, and even then I’m not sure if he really understood…
4) As an artist, I should be able to at least attempt drawing a scene out. Hokuto-chan has a really fun idea for a… ::cough::…wedding scene for Subaru and Seishiro-san. The artist side of me REALLY wants to draw it, but I JUST CAN’T BRING MYSELF TO DRAW MY OWN WEDDING!!!!
4 ½) As another point, it’s really funny to introduce a person as your sister when the person you’re introducing her to knows that you don’t have a sister. It’s even worse when she introduces me as her brother… or talks about me. (“You should meet my brother. She’s really nice!” “Eh?”)

Hokuto-chan and I cosplayed the first ZERO team from Loveless this last year. As a theater major, it was easier for Hokuto-chan to switch roles, but a little harder for me. But we pulled it off rather well. It was so fun! Afterward, we realized something: after cosplaying someone, you can’t really help but be attached to that character. Attached and sort of in-tune with them. We both got mad/jealous because our charas weren’t in the Loveless AMVs… sad, ne? We’re already planning to go as the twins from Ouran High School Host Club next con. Yay!
The girl cosplaying Soubi in our group had some fun comments, too. She said she’s usually not very good with groups. And even though she’s a photographer, she doesn’t like her picture to be taken. She said she’s usually a shy person until you get to know her (kinda like me). But when she had Soubi’s costume on, she didn’t care anymore. She had no problem acting out his chara, and said she felt like a completely different person. I dunno… I think it’s cool that people like us, who aren’t actors by nature, can still pull it off while cosplaying.
And my bf’s comments: When you’re cosplaying, I think you have it harder than stage actors. Not only do you have to look the part, you have to come up with stuff your chara would say and do on the fly. You don’t have a script to memorize. Instead, you have to know your character in and out to pull it off really well.

So with that, I give you all a break from reading. = p

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