Sunday, 10 July 2011
Post Cosfest Reflections: Jolene
As I have never been to cosfest before, I felt that it is quite interesting and different from the other anime events like AFA etc. As expected, there were numerous cosplayers but the venue had ample space for the large number of cosplayers, as compared to say Comifest 1. The amount of fanmade merchandise stalls surprised me, as other events like AFA have much less fan merchandise and more official ones .
Overall it was a very exciting and enjoyable event. Just looking at all the cosplayers was fun too :) As for the dance, although it was a pity that we could not do it, I think it is just as well that we didn’t. We were quite uncoordinated and not exactly in costume, which probably caused us to feel a lot more self-conscious, especially in a such a large group of cosplayers.
I cosplayed as a bird. I made a pair of earmuffs with wings, using pincushions, felt, cardboard and a thin hairband that I had. Unfortunately, it kind of fell apart after being jostled in my bag on the way home )): It wasn’t very well done, since I discovered that felt is very very difficult to cut nicely with a blunt pair of scissors *sigh* In addition, it kinda kept slipping off during the dance due to the weight of the pincushions and it blocked my hearing somewhat too! Overall, I think our cosplay was quite fun for a mini cosplay.
(Sorry for the smallish and quite unclear pic!)
One cosplayer that caught my attention was this person cosplaying Black!Japan (Hetalia Axis Powers) It caught my attention because I wasn’t expecting anyone to be cosplaying from the black!Asia series. I felt that the gold embellishments were very well made and that the hat was a nice touch to the outfit. In addition, since I plan to cosplay black!Hong Kong, this cosplay of another character with the similar theme would be helpful.
Hong Kong is generally an expressionless, emotionless character for most parts, except when he’s setting off firecrackers. His character is also quite complicated, especially in terms of relationships okay I’m going into fanfiction territory now, sorry! In this picture, his black!outfit is quite simple in terms of design but some designs are really complicated. I think I would be going with this easier design since … it’s easier and more suitable for my woefully pitiable skills with cloth materials. One thing that I have yet to determine is if I should use a prop, since it would be easy to pose but Hong Kong doesn’t exactly have a set item to use.
There were a lot more booths than I were expecting and (much to my horror, I would say), so many booths that were selling hetalia merchandise! This was a far cry from other events I had been to which usually had booths selling from one or two animes/mangas only. I bought badges and badges, being a notorious badge collector.
(some of my hoard hohoho)
I think I bought the most in the group heh, except perhaps for Charmaine? I felt the prices were quite reasonable since badges of the size in the picture usually goes for around 3 dollars, with the medium sized ones around 4 dollars and finally larger ones at 4 dollars and above. Besides, many shops had a buy ____ get 1 free or buy 3 at ____ price offer that was good for marketing I suppose. One area of strength was that many booths sold items from a wide range of animes, which catered to a large audience. However I feel that this would be difficult for us to replicate since we do not have the funds to produce such a wide variety of goods. Also, I noticed that there were few shoujo merchandise (for some reason, it’s always like that?) and that most of the merchandise were for main characters. For example, although there were a range of vocaloid goods, there was an exorbitant number of Miku goods! What about Len and Rin? Or Gakupo, Meiko, Kaito, Neru, Teto, Ted, Neru haha okay sorry I’ll stop now . I also felt that more creative items rather than the standard badges, prints, keychains etc could be done and that the items could also have a practical use.
Also, perhaps prose could be incorporated more into the merchandise :))) *sorry, this is what happens to me from writing too much*
But overall, I had and I think we all had fun at cosfest together :D
Labels: Cosfest
Post Cosfest Reflections: Valerie
This year’s cosfest was the first anime event I had been to so I was very excited. Even though I did not recognize many of the anime characters that were being cosplayed, I really enjoyed looking at all the fabulous costumes the cosplayers were wearing.
I made my animal ears out of some brown felt. It was supposed to be the ears of a dog but apparently it looked more like a deer’s ears. It was quite simple to make but I think it does not look very professional, as I am horrible at sewing.
Most of the cosplayers were amazing, and their costumes were so detailed. I don't really have a particular one I liked but if I must pick one, I will pick Chrome from my favourite anime, KHR! =) Her costume is almost similar to the actual Chrome, complete with the eye patch and the spear (I don’t know if her weapon is called a spear.) The colour and the pineapple shape of the wig are also similar to the actual Chrome! Apart from the wig and the spear, the rest of Chrome’s costume is easy to make, as she is wearing a suit (the formal Vongala Family suit) and not the Kokuyo uniform. The suit consists of a blazer, white shirt, black tie and black skirt, which are easily obtainable. (Sorry I didn't take any photos of her)
My cosplay character is Taiwan from Axis Powers Hetalia. I did not watch the anime so I am not familiar with the character but I did some research and found out that the costume is actually only a 2-piece costume, a pink top and a white long skirt. Actually, it resembles the costume of my secondary school CCA, Guzheng, except the top was maroon. The skirt seems to be easily obtainable but the top looks hard to sew. Taiwan’s hair is a little wavy but the hair colour should be the same as mine (I hope). Maybe I just need to grow my hair longer and perm it?
I find most of the merchandise sold there are quite expensive. I did not buy much; I bought one badge from one of the booths for $4 and another badge and card from another booth for $3 and $4 respectively.
I feel that marketing and price are very important factors. I bought the badge and card from my friend’s booth and I found out that the prices are so high because the cost prices of the goods are high. I think the prices of the goods are the main reason why not many people buy from her. Therefore, I think that it is important to find a good supplier who will supply the goods to us at a cheaper price. The layout and decoration of the booths are important as well as they will attract potential buyers to the booth.
All in all, this year’s cosfest was a great experience! =)
Labels: Cosfest
Post Cosfest Reflections: Joie
Generally, I felt it was alright though a little disappointed that I missed taking photos of some cosplayers and that we did not manage to find a good place and time to dance properly (which is partially my fault for being very picky in this area. I apologise!).
I (tried to) cosplay as a rabbit by making really long ears out of fur and attaching them to a hairband. The ears actually feel quite nice but the hairband slides off almost instantly due to their weight and is, therefore, extremely irritating (took it off within minutes).
Cosplay time! I am supposed to pick one cosplayer but these two form a team so…
Male versions of Panty and Stocking! They're from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, which does kind of lean towards cartoon (and is questionable in a sense but nevermind that). I actually have not watched it but it is quite popular now.
While most people would talk about what details in their favourite cosplayer's costumes they liked, what caught my attention were the personalities these two cosplayers had (though their costumes were amazing too. It takes courage to bind your chest and walk around like her! I've actually always wanted to try that but I'm going to have to do something to my stomach first. ;;). When the cameras were aimed at them they immediately switched into their characters and gave the photographers glares and looks but then this little boy came along and they suddenly softened their glares, smiled at him and beckoned him over. I thought that was really sweet and it left a deep impression on me.
Another amazing group would be the MASSIVE Soul Eater team! Just the number of cosplayers alone overwhelmed me! @ A @ I found myself staring at Death the Kid though, as he was changing his (hillarious) pose HAHA!
Norway from Hetalia ended up being my character of choice. He's a generally expressionless /cynical type of guy so while not really a "technique" per say, it would be good to learn from them and take some time off being in character to humour the kids. And poses do really make a good cosplay even better so it’s important to work on them too! (Provided I’m even allowed to cosplay. Also just throwing this in here but I’ll try to make a little Iceland costume for my doll too if no one takes him!)
I CAN'T CHOOSE A BOOTH, I’M SORRY! Anyway, I bought…
…BADGES, BADGES AND MORE BADGES because I have zero resistance against badges. OTL. Prices were reasonable I think, judging from past conventions’ artists’ merchandise, at around $3 for a badge (with the exception of the large HRE/Chibitalia one in the middle which was $4 after a discount). For marketing strategies, I suppose many booths had discounts for sets or Buy __ Get 1 Free offers which generally work. It is also important to keep up with the times and sell merchandise from new anime, manga and games which are starting to gain popularity (I don’t watch it but I saw Tiger and Bunny already! AND AO NO EXORCIST ///////) alongside the classic ones that will always work (Touhou, Hetalia, Vocaloid and mainstream like Bleach). I’ll try to find out what’s popular before I draw! Things apart from the usual prints, badges and keychains would be something to think about too.
Now for the dance.. I’ve ever been in a dance group that dances random dances from the interwebs, like Happy Synthesizer that we tried, so I’m going to have to say, one day is definitely not enough practice. ;___; If we can, I think we should practise a bit more before videoing (if we end up doing it).
Labels: Cosfest
Saturday, 9 July 2011
Post Cosfest Reflection: WanTing
Cosfest was held in 25 and 26 June 2011.
That was the first time I went for a cosplay event, even though I had wanted to go for o
ne ever since I was in secondary school.
I knew it had to be packed with cosplay
ers, but I had never thought that it would be of such a large scale. My heart was filled with excitement! It was a really good experience, especially when I am a fan of many characters who are cosplayed. :)
Though we spent time practising for the dance Happy Synthesizer with plans to perform it during the Cosfest, we did not manage to capture most people's attention (though we did had someone taking pictures of us). I guess the main reason for this is that we felt embarrassed to dance in the public. Personally, I felt that it would be awkward dancing in a cosplay event when I am not in a costume. I thought that being in a costume would boost our confidence, and hopefully this can be achieved in the upcoming End Of Year (EOY) cosplay event! In addition, I felt that a few hours of practice were not sufficient for us to master the dance, beca
use it takes time for us to look
coordinated as a group.
I cosplayed as a cat and made a headband with cat ears as my head accessory.
(The headband on the doll)
I used brown felt cloth to wrap a thick head band. After that, I made cones from cardboard and wrapped the cones with brown felt cloth too. The most difficult part of making this headband would be attaching the cones to the headband. In the end, I decided to sew it onto the headband.
As I am a beginner at sewing, it was pretty horrible :(
Cosplay(s) that I liked
Firstly, it would be the pair who cosplayed as the male version of Panty and Stocking from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. I found the cosplayer for Panty very brave because she had the courage to bind her chest and walk around in public. Moreover I found their costumes very impressive, it was very attractive :)
(By the way, I was looking at other photographs by other photographers present in the event and I found out that the Stocking from the above photo has a deviantart :
http://sochii.deviantart.com/ )
Secondly, I found the "epic battle" between Power Ranger and Ultraman hilarious
It must had been tough wearing such costume on a sweltering hot day. They did a great job in entertaining the crowd. I respect them!
I will be cosplaying as Finland in Hetalia for EOY.
Though I do know of the anime Hetalia, I have not reached the part where Finland appears.
However looking at pictures of him, I feel that it may be difficult to find/make the costume.
(The one on the left)
Besides, he has blond hair, so I probably have to buy a wig to cosplay as him.
I bought only 2 badges from the stalls!
(Probably winning the award of Lowest Spender P:)
In my opinion, I was amazed by the large number of good illustrators present in the event. Also, it was nice to see people selling badges of characters of anime such as "Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai" (also known as Ano Hana) which is still ongoing.
This Cosfest experience was great! I'm really glad that I'm able to experience this with MAGIC 8)
Labels: Cosfest
Post Cosfest Reflections: Yiqian
I feel that for this round of Cosfest, it was as productive as I thought it will be. Everyone was more focused on looking at the merchandise(I am a culprit too I guess) than our main objective which is to observe cosplayers and hopefully learn from them. Furthermore, looking at the intricate designs of the costumes, I think that we need to work harder on our own costumes for EOY. I am sorry to say that I am also one culprit that did not learn the dance properly. I forgot a lot of the steps. However, I’ll make up for it by practicing more before we film our dance!!
My favourite character is Lightning!! From Final Fantasy XIII.
What I like about her is that her costume is very realistic and well-made. She give me a very nice feeling compared to the other Final Fantasy cosplayers. It is a totally awesome cosplay. The best thing is the sword totally looks alike like the game!! I can see quite a lot effort has been put in to make that and it is indeed a job well done.
I will be cosplaying as South Korea from Hetalia in EOY. Well, I don’t know much about the character yet so I guess I have to get to know the character first. However, I can see from pictures that the costume is similar to the kind of traditional Korean robe. It will be a challenge to sew everything but I think I should be able to manage as long as I put in the effort to learn and try out.
There was a booth that was selling bookmarks and badges. I bought two badges and a set of bookmarks.
The price of the items were a little costly but I still bought them nevertheless because I am a Final Fantasy fan!! I noticed that most of the booths were selling stuff that was from different animes, manga or games except the mainstream mangas. I think at least in this way there would not be a need to compete so much with the other booths. Thus, I feel that for our marketing strategies, we should find out the more popular animes, mangas, games as well as to find out which of them are seldom seen in the market such as Fairytail which I did not see anything much. D: Hence, in this way, we will not have to compete with other booths but our products must of course be attractive in the first place. After the whole event has ended, I feel that we should all help each other in the costume making. Several of the cosplayers had friends whom willingly helped them with the costumes and weapons. Thus, teamwork is important to ensure our cosplay will be successful. MAGIC JIAYOU!!
Labels: Cosfest
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Post Cosfest Reflection: Marcus
Name: Marcus Quek
This year’s Cosfest was held in Pasir Ris, June 25 and 26. I think the location is a bit too far East, and be a bit inconvenient for people who live in the West. Moreover, it was not located near the MRT station. Nevertheless, the venue was an open grass patch with tentages, which provides ample space for cosplayers to showcase themselves both indoors and outdoors.
We did not manage to video-tape our dance segment at one corner as
planned, which left me very disappointed. I realized there were 3 main reasons why. Firstly, I understand there was no quiet place to perform and generally, we felt embarrassed to perform where people can see us. Secondly, not all of us learnt the performance well. Thirdly, everyone was more eager to see cosplayers and buy merchandise, so there was no “atmosphere” for dancing. Therefore, we decided to postpone our video-taping to a later day.
As our theme is “animal”, my cosplay was an arctic fox. I used a cap and the synthetic white fur Joie and I bought from Chinatown. It was my first time handling fur, which created a big mess in my house, which I somehow managed to clean and hide from my mom. I think our cosplay could have been better if all of us were able to roleplay as the animal.
Picture source: Wan Ting’s camera
My favourite cosplay was the whole row of “Soul Eater” characters. Of those characters, I really liked the cosplayer playing Death the kid, mainly because of they way the streaks of the hair was expertly coloured, without looking messy. Also, the costume resembles the actual character and it seems that it is very easy to make (a black tuxedo with a white shirt, and a few black-and-white add ons). The only thing that was missing was the guns, which could have been bought or made from cardboard.
I will be cosplaying Denmark from Hetalia, which I believe is harder to cosplay than Death the Kids. Firstly, it has a more complex costume (long suit, boots and tiny cap) than Death the Kid. Secondly, Denmark’s hair is blonde, which means I would have to grow mine out and dye it, or buy an expensive wig. Finally, Denmark as a signature axe, which will be a challenge to make.
Apart from observing cosplayers, we purchased merchandises. I bought one “Shuuhei Hisagi” cotton pouch from one particular booth. This booth was selling badges and prints as well. I think of all the merchandises, the bag was the most affordable ($4), looks durable and is useful (I used mine to place my important notebooks inside). The art was not very outstanding, as some characters like “Hitsugaya Toshiro” looked odd. (There is also a fold that doesn’t seem to go away, and I dare not iron it) Still, this booth was able to sell well because its neighbouring booth had expensive items. I think printed bags are a great and unique idea that we can include in our booth, as long as we can find a supplier with good quality.
Labels: Cosfest
