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Part 2 of our Animazement 2011 coverage kicks off with our applause for Anime Hell. Our advice for Anime Hell: If you haven’t been, go. If you have been, go again and drag in those who haven’t.
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It’s difficult to admit that I have a personal fascination with anthropomorphized characters without invoking the f-word. I’m no more a furry than a panda is a bear…or knows kung-fu while voiced by Jack Black.
I can confidently say that this is different. My preferred flavor of these characters is completely human, à la Lady Amalthea. Or, for the kids reading this, the Pokemon Girls. The familiar traits of their original form can either be anatomical accents or expressed through their costume. Otherwise, they’re indistinguishably human.
This isn’t a sexual attraction…well, at least not initially. Something about it just speaks to me. In the maelstrom of psychic alchemy, the conditions in my mind are such that this by-product can emerge. That is my best explanation.
There’s a review of the game in here; I promise. Bear with me.
As I’ve said in a previous podcast, we should amend the old saying, “A boy should never meet his childhood heroes,” to include, “…or pinup girls”. Lindze Merritt would be an exception to this. As I’ve learned from this interview, she’s as exceptional in character as in beauty.
Most know her as the #1 Google Image Search result for “morrigan cosplay” while others may have seen her as GI Joe’s The Baroness. Many may have seen her and not even realized it!
For a quick taste: Lindze’s cosplay journey began in 1999, though rooted in the old school fandoms of anime, comic books, and video games. In just a few years, her talents and love of all things geek carried her on to some incredible adventures in her career. She’s appeared in magazines (including Spin and PS2 UK) and television; rockin’ her creative muscle.
Lindze has recently pulled back from the public eye after starting a family and forming her own business, but she’s hardly out of commission! Let’s get to know her…
Since the now-infamous photos as Cutie Honey appeared, HezaChan began spreading to cosplay showcase articles and message boards all over the web. Her online fame further perpetuated with the widespread awe of her adorable Longcat scarf.
She was sweet enough to grant me an interview, sharing tales of her adventures in this surreal fandom of ours. As of this post, HezaChan is representin’ in Japan for Tokyo Game Show 2010!
First, a brief bio: In just a few years, HezaChan went from her first anime convention to becoming an ambassador to the community. She’s appeared in several publications, including Animerica and G4. She’s established a strong web presence for herself, maintaining her website (HezaChan.com) as well as regularly updating her LiveJournal, YouTube channel, DeviantArt, and assorted photo galleries.
There’s tons of material covered in this interview, so let’s get this party started!
For nearly a decade, Yaya Han has traveled to conventions all over the world, adorned in some of the most intricate costumes ever designed. Yaya was able to spare some time from her busy schedule to share with us some insight to the brains behind the beauty.
To give a bit of background, Yaya Han has lived in all corners of the world: China, Germany, and various parts of the US. Growing up, she’d always had an affection for anime and manga. It wasn’t until one fateful con that she was introduced to cosplay and has since built an extensive career of realizing her favorite characters. Every year, she attends several events around the world, posing for photo shoots in fantastic, sexy outfits.
Best of all, she’s truly one of us–a genuine geek.
Here’s what she had to say:
For long-time fans of this website, you both may have noticed that my Cosplay of the Week feature hasn’t been “of the week” for a while… Or “at all” for that matter.
One reason why is because for the most part, the well for that column’s run dry. At least for me, since I have very finicky tastes in costumes and their symbiotic hosts. It’s been a while since I’ve discovered a new cosplay model with an impressive photo gallery, either from conventions or in-studio. My worry is that the column will become less interesting if I reduced it to posting from only my favorite few (Omi Gibson, Hezachan, etc.)
I will, however, put more effort into generating interviews with cosplay models, when possible. There are a couple I’ll cull from my time at GotGame.com, but I’ll see if any more cosplayers would be interested in an interview.
Another reason why I’ve been reluctant to update is the rampant overuse of Photoshop enhancements in the cosplay community. Touch-ups and light/color correction is one thing, but virtually creating a different person for one’s portfolio is offensively deceptive in my book. Models like Kipi, Arisa Mizuhara, and the amusing “Duck Face“, abuse digital effects when their natural appearance is already quite pleasant on the eye.
I would like to comment, however, that I still find practical make-up effects to be completely acceptable. Make-up can just as easily transform one’s face into something (or someone?) completely unrecognizable… But it feels less like cheating to me because there is a greater sense of craft involved. Unlike the digital effects which restructure the person’s anatomy, make-up changes nothing about the face on which it’s applied, save for how it’s decorated.
I encourage you to watch the videos below to see how a supposed “average” girl transforms herself into a supermodel, using practical make-up effects.
Here’s where I find the real magic of the above videos: At first sight, this girl may rank as a “6″…maybe a “drunken 7″. But as I watch the video, I pick up on her voice, the attitude of her speech, and body language. Through that, I’d bump her up to a solid “7 1/2″. She’s confident, funny, and that sarcastic burp gave off that tomboy vibe that I personally find attractive.
Then when she’s fully transformed and dons her cute, “little girl” voice, I strangely find her less attractive. She’s now super-cute, but the voice radiates “fake” in my mind. Before you post a comment about beauty being in the eye of the beholder…well, I just beat you to it.
Back to the fate of the column; if you know of any super-amazing cosplay models, feel free to link me up with their names and photo galleries. But for now, it’s on hiatus.
Omi Gibson is the cover girl for this site’s Cosplay of the Week feature. Omi has an infamous love of Metal Gear Solid, which would explain why more than half of her 100+ costume gallery consists of Hideo Kojima characters. In fact, she’s been given special recognition from various news sites for the MGS4 Raiden costume she wore for the 2008 Tokyo Game Show in Japan.
Omi was very generous to agree to a Q&A interview with me, so that those who admire her work may better get to know the woman who’s made so many men’s fantasies a reality.
Ashe as Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender
Having recently seen the new trailer for The Last Airbender movie, I immediately sought out Avatar cosplay. One of the first truly impressive results from my search was this cosplay of Zuko’s main squeeze, Mai, portrayed by Ashe.
5zCivic as Priss's Hard Suit, by Burikiboy
Now this is craftsmanship…
With rumors of a live-action Bubblegum Crisis feature film in production sprouting every so often, fans have been eager to realize the Knight Sabers’ dangerously sexy hard suits. This costume gives us a taste of what they might look like in a live-action movie…assuming the studio stays in any way faithful to the source material.
The cosplayer inside this suit is known as 5zCivic and the costume itself was constructed by the very talented burikiboy.
Coa and Chocoball as Oguie and Ohno from Genshiken
I recently came across (no pun intended) a cute photo gallery of a yuri cosplay of Kanao Ohno and Chika Ogiue from Genshiken.
While the photo series is generally tame despite the yuri overtones, I’ve posted some of the least-risqué shots here (I’m not running a pr0n site, ya jerks!).
Wait...what??
