Lousy Cell Phone Pictures - Tsumugi Kotobuki

Taken while waiting for the light rail at Phoenix Comicon. We were bored, so we made fun! Even if the pictures look lame.

Oh my.

The quality of these remind me of back when the only way to get pictures on a computer was with a scanner.

Phoenix Comicon - Take 2 - 2012, that is!

So, we ended up volunteering at Comicon and it was a huge success. First of all, my Tsumugi cosplay was finished just in time and I couldn't be happier with my first fully self-made cosplay. I keep inspecting the jacket and thinking, "Wow, I made this. I MADE this." I don't like to brag, I'm just really happy that I'm HAPPY with something that I've done. Unfortunately, we lost the memory card for our camera and couldn't take any pictures. All I have are some lousy ones we took with my phone because we were bored while waiting for the light rail. I'll post them, but I promise I'll get something more professional soon. The main thing is, I had fun posing for the pictures. And I'm amazed with how well they turned out on a first try. Usually I have to retake a picture 5-10 times before I get one I approve of.

We had sooo much more fun this year. We volunteered Friday and Saturday in the Kids Programming. Caj helped with crowd control during Plants vs. Zombies, Ghosbusters, and Imperial Cadet Training. I spent the entire time in the art room at the coloring pages station. Kids are so funny and adorable. The Create Your Own My Little Pony presentation was PACKED and made me realize how much I need to have a little girl. Strangely though, when I was at my in-laws on Memorial Day, I was drawing ponies for my niece and before I know it, my nephew and son are begging me to draw Rainbow Dash for them. HaHa, is it wrong for me to turn Jac into a bronie? HeHe... Bronie... it sounds like Brownie. Well, it seems we did our job right because they were practically begging us to volunteer again on Sunday. I explained we had religious obligations and were unable to, but assured them we'd return next year. We're actually looking forward to Comicon now! What an improvement from last year. I guess we're just the kind of people who need to have a purpose somewhere and be contributing to something.

Because we were volunteering so much, we didn't get much time to see panels. We just barely made it to the last half of the spotlight on Colin Ferguson which I am so glad we got to see. That man is hilarious! He seemed very laid back and cool, I'm not sure how to say it, but, humble for a celebrity. Approachable! Is that the word I'm looking for? *shrug* I'll take it. Anyway, I'm a bigger fan now than ever before. I'm so glad when seeing an actor in person they exceed my expectations rather than disappoint. I've had so many disappointments... But he rocked! So, thank you, Colin Ferguson for highlighting our con experience! We also made it to the Masquerade. It was my first time at a Masquerade so I'm not sure how it compared to others, but I've heard nothing but bad things. I enjoyed it, enough, but was left hoping that surely there was more to a Masquerade than that. It seems half the contestants didn't show, or something. While I'm glad they didn't exclude walk-ons (as I'm currently a solo cosplayer, myself, and have heard of conventions not allowing anything but skits) I still wanted to see skits. I think there was one. That's it. I've heard a lot of complaints about the rules and how the Masquerade was run, so I think I'll have to look into it more to understand better. All I have to say was I totally geeked out over little Sauron. And Gir. Oh my gosh, Gir had me in a fit of giggles that I could not contain.

My poor, future children. What kind of mother will they have?

Threed Place

Last Friday, while other people sat at home celebrating May the 4th by torturing themselves with Star Wars films, there was a gathering of anime fans at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Phoenix for Ani-MAYhem.  And that's where I was, too.  I meant to take pictures but alas, the camera died.  Caj diiid manage to get a couple of photographs of my cosplay first, but we'll get to those in a moment.

We started with a stroll around the garden.  There were so many trees that provided refuge from the heat of the afternoon sun.  They were beautiful and exotic and I could only imagine how much work it must take to keep it looking so alive in this desert. I'm lousy with growing plants. Every time I tell Caj that I want to grow something, he tells me to leave it alone then. t_t

A few sculptures dotted the path adding variety to the scenery.  Through the center of the garden was a large pond with a waterfall towards the east end.  This was the home to dozens of koi that we were permitted to feed their special koi food - cheerios.  Just a small handful was enough to bring the fish together in a frenzy, twisting and squirming around each other in a fight to reach the little cereal first.  Fish can be so aggressive!

We arrived at the event a little late, so we missed several of the demonstrations. I did get to enjoy seeing the performances by At Your Service cafe, based off the maid and butler cafes that can be found in Japan. It looked like a lot of fun, and I couldn't help but think of them as the cheerleaders of the cosplay scene. I think it's something I'd love to try sometime, but I don't think Caj would like me calling other people "Master" while serving them. Even so, I went ahead and came up with a maid design anyway. I think as a maid I'll be called Honey-chan~!

Not long after that I noticed my friend Ally, who helped me to meet some new people there. She even convinced me to participate in the cosplay contest. Even though my cosplay wasn't quite finished and I had to grab a suit jacket from my closet and flip it inside out to complete the look as best I could with what I had - I placed Third in the competition! It completely blew my mind, but I'm really grateful. It has really encouraged me to continue working hard on sewing and performing for my next competition. The best part of the evening? Meeting Banzai Productions again! At least, I got to chat briefly with Oz and SWP, I didn't see the others. I think my nervousness during the contest was due more to me geeking out about Banzai than being on stage. Afterwards, SWP even asked me about where I got my shoes because she was looking for some just like them. It makes me feel good that I can talk to them about these things. Later, online, Oz even told me that I should try a Masquerade next time. Yay~ I believe the night could not have been more perfect.

(Okay, so I mentioned I'd post my pictures, but the camera is at school. I'll come back and edit this post with pics later, okay?)

Mokona Modoki mo doki doki!

I don't have my nice camera back yet, but I was able to get my quirky dinosaur to work well enough to get these pictures of Mokona. I hope you enjoy them and we look forward to seeing you at our next convention!

Puu~!

Well, it's been a week since my last post, time for an update!  Last week I gave a hint for what I was working on for my cosplay with Caj.  If you guessed Mokona, you're right!  I just finished making him today, too.  Can you say super cute?  Well, you'll just have to believe me, he is flippin' adorable!  Unfortunately I left my camera at my in-laws so I can't post any pictures yet.  I promise I will get some as soon as possible.

This was my first time making a stuffed animal, so I'm really pleased.  If you want to make a Mokona for yourself, I used Artflower's pattern found here.  The instructions are in German but I was able to figure it out without them for the most part.  If you need help, she does speak English (I had to ask her a couple of questions, myself) or you can ask me.  I also made a pocket and inserted it into Mokona's body with a zipper so I can put in essential items for conventions.  Functional cosplay props, ftw!

I hope you all are having a lot of fun, I know I have been.  Now it's time to get back to work.

Future Cosplays

Going to Comicon has really motivated Caj and I to get more serious about cosplay.  We have so many ideas we want to do and can't decide what to do first.  I'm excited to share with you our current Future Cosplay List:

Custom Robo - Hero and Marcia

Final Fantasy VII - Rude and Reno

Legend of Zelda - Ganondorf and Zelda

Tsubasa - Kurogane and Fai

Hetalia - Germany and Italy; Russia and Belarus; America and Canada

Of course I will get around to making all of these cosplays but what will I do first?  I guess it'll be a surprise!

Cosplay Spotlight Saturday: Banzai! Productions

Cosplay entertainment has the green light for this group of four girls.  I'm talking about Banzai! Productions, and they are breaking ground in comedic insanity.  On May 28, OzTheNekoMaster, ChEsHiRe-K, SuperWeaselPrincess, and ValdaAbyss celebrated their first year anniversary, and together have quickly found sweet success in the cosplay community.

But it hasn't always been the foursome we know and love today.  For nearly a year and a half prior to their official debut, Banzai! only consisted of OzTheNekoMaster, a girl who dreamed of having a group where she could share her love of cosplay with friends.  Devoted to her pastime, she uploaded her own cosplay videos to Youtube.  At last, after convincing her childhood friend, ChEsHiRe-K, to cosplay, and meeting ValdaAbyss and SuperWeaselPrincess at the Kaigi Picnic, Oz had the cosplay group she had been waiting for.  That's when they feel Banzai! truly began.  I asked Oz if she ever felt discouraged, and she said, "At times, I was. Cosplay was a huge hobby of mine and even though I had a lot of friends, none of them cosplayed and I wanted to share that hobby with someone. But there were times when I was completely content on my own. But to be honest, my creativity was definitely not as good as it is now with the other members contributing."  What kept Oz going until the three others came around?  "I suppose you could say Banzai! Productions went on a temporary hiatus. It was simply what I called my Youtube channel and I was 'OztheNekoMaster.' What kept me going with Banzai is my complete love for cosplay and small hope that I would find someone who I could get along with that I could cosplay with."

So what advice does Oz have for anyone looking to start a cosplay group of their own?  "Advice I would give to cosplayers trying to start a new group is to just remember to have fun. It's probably a good idea to get your closer friends together. If you don't have any close cosplaying friends, there's great people in the cosplay community that you could get to know--and regardless, it's always great to get to know your fellow cosplayers. Be patient. Wonderful relationships could come from that. When you're in a cosplay group, you have to be negotiable, able to communicate well, and be considerate of each other. And it's probably a really good idea to avoid drama. But the number one piece of advice, is to always, always have fun!"

With the group finally complete, it was Go, Go, Go! for Banzai! Productions.  They participated in their first masquerade at Taiyou Con 2011 and won Best In Show, and soon after won Masters Best In Performance in their second masquerade at Phoenix Comicon 2011.  Nice work!  Patience and commitment really paid off.  The key to performing is staying in character, so what does Banzai! do to get ready?  "We usually cosplay characters that have similar personalities to us or that we can easily relate to. For example, it's really easy to get into character for Vocaloid because our personalities are already really similar to the 'default fanmade' personalities given to them. Otherwise, we research the characters and study them."  They also don't limit cosplaying to just conventions.  This group takes any chance they get at gatherings, picnics, making Youtube videos, or just for the fun of it.

In addition to their participation in masquerades, Banzai! Productions hosted their very first panel at Phoenix Comicon 2011 and plan on doing more in the future.  For all the cosplayers and convention goers, I say, "Please do!"  Their panel was a shining star- hilarious, informative, well executed and highly entertaining with mini skits and a Powerpoint presentation, and completely family friendly.  Future panelists and cosplayers could really learn from these girls' examples.

With these experiences under their belt and more to surely come, what do the girls feel is the key to their success?  "Our bond. Even though we've known each other all together for a year, we are incredibly close. We cry together, laugh together, and just happen to be very close friends who happen to be cosplayers. We often think of each other as sisters."

Is there anyone Banzai! would like to thank? "Definitely our parents for supporting us and even helping us out with finances. Our fans for keeping up with us and supporting us. And our friends for hanging out with us, collaborating with us, and being awesome!"

Thank you, Banzai! Productions!  And to my readers who haven't seen their work yet, please go visit their pages.  Their videos are priceless and cosplays are beautiful.  You will not want to miss out watching this group!

Banzai! Productions on  

DeviantArt Youtube Facebook

Comicon?

Maybe my expectations were too high because of my experiences at Anime Expo, but Phoenix Comicon was such a bust. Half of the panels were unprofessional, felt thrown together and unplanned, so we walked out. A quarter of them were cancelled or the panelists just never showed up! We were really looking forward to the Cosplay Drama 101 panel Saturday afternoon and were so disappointed by this time with having one event cancelled, another one ending an hour early because they failed to plan, and now panelists just not showing up altogether, we left the convention never to return. But with all of this, we did have some highlights.

Highlight #1: Tips, Tricks and Etiquette for the Cosplayer panel by Banzai! Productions! Seriously, this made my convention. If it weren't for this group I would have felt like I completely wasted my husband's money. I was never aware of their work before, but I feel okay in that considering they've only been around for a year and I haven't had internet for a year and a half. I will certainly be keeping track of their work now. What made them and their panel so amazing? It was so clean! There was no offensive language, no offensive behavior, no innuendos. The room was packed full so obviously they don't need it, and really, nobody does. That's what people need to understand. No one is going to complain that you don't swear enough, but people will leave if you are too offensive. If you need to swear like a sailor and joke about explicit behaviors to get an audience, maybe you suck and shouldn't be performing. The true performers are the people like these who are highly entertaining without the trash. Thank you.

Highlight #2: Red Cross Blood Drive! Wow, was the convention so bad that having a needle stuck in my arm for half an hour made it to my top 3 highlights? Yes. And I'm type O-Neg so I know how important it is to give blood and am really giddy about any opportunity I get to do so. I'm usually really timid but the people there were such a joy to talk to, and I'm sure they felt the same about me. Any time I feel good chatting with complete strangers is a highlight for me.

Highlight #3: Cosplaying as a Family! I don't care how cool my cosplay is, cosplaying alone is depressing. It was so much fun going with Caj and Jac and people took so many pictures. Being able to bring a smile to you, the convention-goers, is why I cosplay. That and it's good fun dressing up.

It was also really cool to see Bruce Boxleitner, he seemed to be a pretty cool actor. If it weren't for Caj's favorite movie being Tron (at least until Legacy, which changed his favorite movie to Dune), I wouldn't be familiar with him. Now I intend to keep a closer watch on his work.

I've never been real big into American comics, so I didn't know much about Stan Lee either, other than he is Marvel Comics. I'm so glad I went to his panel though because that man is a hoot! I love funny old men. I'll probably follow his work more closely now, as well.

So that was my convention experience. I hope Caj wasn't so disappointed with it being his first con that he never wants to spend money on another one again. I may volunteer for SabotenCon this year to see if it's worth going to, otherwise we'll have to save our money and go to Anime Expo in a couple of years.

Adventures in Cosplay

We're going to Comicon this weekend! It's too bad Caj (my super awesome husband) has to work, but he'll be able to go Thursday and Friday night then all day Saturday. He's never been to any sort of convention so this is my early Father's Day present to him. This is also our opportunity to see how Jac (our coolest son-shine) does at a convention before he spends the rest of the weekend with family.

With me, a convention just isn't a convention without cosplay. So we'll be dressing up as characters from Death Note because that's really easy to do last minute and it's not completely embarrassing for anyone who has never cosplayed before (Caj). Naturally I'll be Amane Misa, and Jac will be so adorable as a Chibi Light with a Chibi Death Note and Chibi Ryuk (teehee!), and Caj will be L. I was having him try on clothes for the cosplay last night and he was getting all in character and everything and oh. my. word, I had my doubts but he is going to be the best L EVER. I'm so happy I married an actor. I almost ruined it last night when I was cutting a nasty old black wig we had, which I messed up phenomenally, so I'm going to the store now to get a real wig for him to wear.