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…
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.
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.
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.
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!).
Recently, Yaya Han traveled to Japan for an event that opened the opportunity to team up with another cosplay superstar: Omi Gibson. Easily one of the hottest, most anticipated team-ups that a fanboy could dream.
To suit the occasion, Yaya and Omi chose characters from one of the greatest anime of all time, Cowboy Bebop; dressing as Faye Valentine and Julia (respectively). Sadly, due to Japanese standards of public decency, Yaya couldn’t unleash herself for the signature Faye Valentine cleavage. But she has promised to post photo shoots in the future more true to canon.
On a personal note, there’s a grain of surreality for me, since I’ve interviewed both these lovely ladies at some point last year. You can still read those interviews here and here, though I’ll soon transfer them to this site. Seeing them together while remembering that common tie between them (though I’m sure they’ve already long-forgotten) makes them feel more real.
Jia Jem–well-known as HezaChan‘s other half in the Puma Twins photo series–delivers a fantastic rendition of Kei from Adam Warren’s comic book adaptation of The Dirty Pair. If the costume wasn’t eye-popping enough, let’s not forget the incredible amount of effort to recreate the crazy anti-gravity pack prop strapped to her back.
Dare we dream of another cosplay team-up with HezaChan as Yuri?
