イベントレポ：Connichi, MMC

Thought my always belated con reports couldn't get any more late? Wrong!
Beside my usual busyness (Master thesis...), this year's Connichi was very late in September and MMC very early in October, giving me little to no time to write any journals.
Thus, I've decided to write one big entry covering both cons. My costumes were mostly the same, after all.

Let's start with Connichi.






The con
Some of you might remember that last year's Connichi was pretty dissappointing to me for several reasons, so this year things could only get better. And it did.
Reasons?

1. They added a new building (or wing) to the convention site and the new space planning added to a lot less crowded rooms and hallways.
2. For the first time, Eva accompanied us and, being the non-cosplayer she is, brightened the mood with hilarious snide comments. Thank you for reminding me how ridiculous cosplay problems can be!
3. I followed my own advice and simply didn't stress myself or others out. No pressure, just fun. It worked.

The costumes
No big surprises here, because I already wrote about them in my WIP entry, so some parts of the costume desciptions will be copypasta.

	Friday - Fuu Hououji (Magic Knight Rayearth OVA) We decided to re-wear the Rayearth costumes, because they make a great group cosplay and-comfy as they are- are perfect for con Fridays. I highly enjoyed cosplaying with Maddi and my sister again and since Eva took a lot of beautiful pictures that day, I think that now I can retire this costume without any regrets. Below are some of the photos Eva took ↓ Again, our group: Maddi as Fuu, my sister as Umi and myself as Fuu.
	Saturday - Terra (Final Fantasy VI) Our long awaited Final Fantasy VI group. While I love how my sisters came out, I'm rather dissatisfied with my own costume. Or maybe "dissatisfied" isn't the right word - it looks good, really, it's just very far from what I'd originally wanted it to be. The most obvious difference: No shoulder armour. I did make them (Proof), but when I put them on, I just felt bulky and wrong, so I went for the strapless version. Luckily, Terra has a gazzilion of different designs, with and without armour. Maddi's Relm costume, of course, was flawless and her prettiness was dazzling. Next to her and my colourful Kefka sister, I felt very plain, but nonetheless I liked our goup. ↓ First was picture taken by Rose, all the others by Eva.
	Sunday (WCS) - Howl Jenkins (Howl's Moving Castle) Sunday - WCS day. As usual, this was the most stressfull day. To be honest: I'm not sure if it's worth it. This year was comparatively easy going, because we'd decided beforehand not to use any giant props but instead concentrate on telling a story in our performance (for details see below). Howl was very comfortable to wear and I was especially grateful for this cosplay decision, when it got really cold and rainy on Sunday. Our little Howl group was quite popular, propably mostly due to the movie's high profile. And yes, that's my sister as Markl. When I realised that I had still some time left, I decided to sew her a Markl cosplay. It took only one day but I really like the outcome. ↓ 1st row: Stage pictures (taken by Ryu-Phil (1); moma (2&3)). ↓ 2nd row: Con pictures (taken by Eva (1-3) and Franky (4))

WCS
This year's WCS prelims were a bit different than the last years'. Usually, the teams simply submitted their applications a few weeks before the con, but because more and more teams wanted to participate each year, leaving the organisers flodded with applications, they changed the whole procedure and decided to hold a pre-prelim of sorts, an interview. Before that, all applicants were asked to submit pictures of their costumes and themselves and to answer some questions ("When did you start cosplaying?", "What part of your costume do you like most?", "Have you ever been feautured in a magazine?" yaddayaddayadda). This is where things didn't go they way the organisers expected it: Apparently a lot of people couldn't be bothered to fill out the application from or to show up at the pre-prelim, so instead of the expected 50-60 teams, there were only 21 and the organisers decided to drop the interview, seeing no need to further reduce the numbers. I read a lot about how people (read: contestants in the prelims) were mad about all the fuss with the portfolios and the interview, but if you asked me, I'm glad they changed the procedure this year. If people are too lazy to invest some time and effort into the application, how'd you know they will manage to properly finish their costumes and send in all the necessary materials if they actually made it through the prelims and became Team Germany? If the new, more complex procedure resulted in fewer spontaneous and half-assed applications, then it's serving its purpose.

Our team got number 11, if I recall correctly, so we were pretty much in the middle of the stage show. Knowing that we wouldn't have much time to rehearse together (because we're living in two different cities), we had decided on a more simplistic skit in which we wanted to retell the story of "Howl's Moving Castle".
Turns out that was a good decision, because -boy- there went so much wrong on stage fo most teams. Sure, there's always a cosplayer who trips, forgets his or her lines (or choreography) or loses some part of the costume, but this year there was something really strange going on; multiple teams had major wig/costume/prop problems on stage.
We (rather: I... again) messed up some things as well. Right at the beginning, when Maddi went on stage, she accidentally dropped her red scarf. That red scarf, it seems, had been a some kind of sign stimulus for me, because now that it was missing, I not only missed my cue to show up on stage, but I also forgot to take off Sophies braid later on (which was supposed to show her transformation from old to young) and just stood there for awfully long 5 seconds. My feather coat got tangled up so it took me ages to put it on. Then, Maddi tripped as she was chasing Howl and nearly sprained her ankle.
All these mistakes, however, went completely unnoticed by the audience, so the applause we got was quite overwhelming.

Here's the video (taken by therealbigmek):



(the first half is our skit, the second half is the team after us.)

I originally planned to use the video Eva took (better colours and focus) and even to put in subtitles, but apparently my computer is too old to handle HD videos...

Back then, I thought we did great; watching the video again right now, I'd say we were pretty mediocre and simply benefited from the movie's popularity. Nevertheless, I like our performance. After the show quite a few people came up to us saying we made them want to re-watch the movie or that they even teared up a little. It seems like people who liked the movie also liked our skit, which is what I was hoping for, so I'm pretty pleased with myself.
We didn't get into the top 3, of course, not with the skit and costumes simple like that. I'd have loved to know how high we scored, however, but we were told that the judges didn't award points and only appointed the three best teams (if not by scores, then by gut instinct?). That fact made me rage a little inside, because that means they didn't have any scoring tables to begin with, which is unacceptably unprofessional in my opinion.
I was very happy for the team that got 3rd place, because their skit was really inventive and their costumes good.
The team that got 2nd place had the most gogreous costumes, but personally I didn't like their performance, because it was a lot of talking and lame fighting.
The team that won... was a surprise. They'd shown a very funny skit. Their humour wasn't my cup of tea and their costumes (Ranma 1/2) were also more on the simple side, but the audience LOVED them. They differ greatly from the former German teams, so I'm genuinely curious as to how they might change the always drama-heavy German prelims and the finals in Japan.


To sum up my Connichi 2011 experience:

+ cosplaying with Maddi & my sister ♥ ♥
+ Eva
+ Awesome cosplays: Feder as Harley Quinn & Nina as Skull Kid
+ meeting Whitebutterfly & Blackbutterfly and actually find some time to chat♥
+ MTV Game Awards emeriti (XD) meet-up
+ shiny, new dealer's room (although I hardly bought anything)
+ foreign convention panel on Friday
+ nice weather (except for Sunday)

- people leaving their garbage behind at the park (again)
- missed Aigue-Marine's Calla cosplay on Sunday
- didn't take any pictures... at all
- no pictures from MissKrone... at all

Oh, there's one more thing I have to share with you ↓



Yup, that's Eva dubbing her keychain Elmo at Connichi Sunday. This masterpiece had us gigglesnorting the whole train ride back to Berlin.





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--insert weeks of working, studying and sewing--

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The con
To make things short: Mega Manga Con was propably my best con this year. I met lots of people, took beautiful pictures, we had great weather and overall
the con had a very nice stress free atmosphere. This was, however, not due to the con itself. No, the con was horrible. Ill-informed helpers; inexplicable, spontaneous
staff decisions; missing informations and so on. Seriously, it's been a long time since I attended a con this poorly organised.
It's solely thanks to some wonderful people and the great weather that MMC turned out to be such a great experience this year.

The costumes
See above.
As I said before, I didn't have much time, so I only sewed new costumes for Saturday: Kongiku and Yuzuruha from Muramasa: Demon Blade

	Friday - Howl Jenkins (Howl's Moving Castle) Maddi and I had originally planned to wear our Majokko costumes again, but the cold weather made us rethink that decision. Wearing our Howl's Moving Castle costumes instead was great: We finally managed to take a few more pictures, were well-equipped against the cold and the comfy costumes proved perfect for a relaxing first con day. Maddi as Sophie, myself as Howl. Pictures taken by ourselves, edited by me
	Saturday - Yuzuruha & Kongiku (Muramasa - The Demon Blade) These two fox girls were already on my list for last year's Animaco, but due to little time I dropped the project, because I didn't want the costumes to be rushed. This year, I wanted this cosplay no matter what. Some kimono sewing experience from my Yuuko cosplay came in handy, but in the end big parts of the costumes were still done via trial and error, especially the ears and my wig. Speaking of which: I spent three nights trying three times to style my wig and was about to give up when suddenly my sister discovered some hidden wig styling qualities. The hair loopies aren't exactly flattering on me, but I still love the outcome. I'm also very pleased with my fabric choices. I used satin for the kimonos (turned inside out and fully lined) and tafetta for the obis and underskirts. The ears and my tail are made out of fake fur, coloured with copic markers; I like the fluffy little monsters. If I might say so myself: I think my sister and I looked great together (even though neither of us felt as sexy as we were supposed to be) and my day was perfect, when Amapola agreed to take some pictures at twilight. My sister as Yuzuruha (green), myself as Kongiku (orange). ↓ First row taken by Amapola. ↓ Second row taken by ourselves, edited by me.
	Sunday - Terra (Final Fantasy VI) Despite the cold weather, we decided to wear our Final Fantasy VI costume again, because we thought the autumn foliage would make a nice setting for the colourful costumes - which it did. This time around, I didn't feel as uncomfortable next to Maddi and my sister as at Connichi, propably because I was busy shivering. All the freezing paid off, though, because both MissKrone and Franky took some great pictures of our group. ↓1st row: pictures taken by Franky. ↓2nd row: pictures taken by MissKrone.

To sum up my Mega Manga Con 2011 experience:

+ cosplaying with Maddi & my sister ♥ ♥
+ Chatting and meeting a lot of people
+ cold but sunny weather
+ stressless
+ awesome photo shoot at twilight
+ made a bargain at the dealers' room

- lousy management
- aggressive kids at the con site
- ugly con site
- no Eva

I'd love to write an entry covering all my cosplays this year and my plans for next year, but work and uni propably won't allow it.
If you'd still like to see some WIP pictures, new pictures and some tidbits of my private life, have a look at my tumblr: Picture this

衣装作り中 2011年版

It's time for my annual Connichi WIP post!

Connichi 2011, one of the biggest conventions in Germany, is still 2 1/2 weeks away, but already I'm feeling a little bit stressed out, because this year not only uni but also work keep me away from my favourite hobby.
I guess I should be upset about that, if it wasn't for the fact that I love my job: I'm working at the Japanese-German Centre Berlin as a librarian. It's exactly the kind of job I'd want to do after graduating, because it combines my two majors -library science and Japanese studies- so well, but unfortunately they can only afford student assistants, so once I graduate (which should be around next March/April) I'll have to say good-bye to the wonderful people there.

Anyways, let's move on to this year's costumes for Connichi.

Friday	Saturday	Sunday

From left to right:
Friday: Fuu Hououji (Magic Knight Rayearth OVA) with Maddi as Hikaru Shidou and my sister as Umi Ryuuzaki. (old)
Saturday: Terra/Tina Branford (Final Fantasy VI) with Maddi as Relm Arrowny and my sister as Kefka. (new)
Sunday: Howl Jenkins (Howl's Moving Castle) with Maddi as Sophie Hatter and (maybe) my sister as Michael/Markl. (new)

Fuu is 100% finished of course; it already debuted at Bookfair Leipzig this spring.

On to the new costumes:


I - Terra

First, I have to admit that I'd never cosplay Terra if it wasn't for my sister, who' s been constantly pestering me with pleas about how much she'd love to cosplay Kefka one day. Two years ago, I drafted a pattern for Kefka as a birthday present for her, but it wasn't until this year that we've finally found the time to make a start on this project. We've decided to use Yoshitaka Amano artwork and in-game graphics as referende rather than the Dissidia designs by Tetsuya Nomura, simply because that leaves us with more creative leeway.

Nonetheless, Terra is a challenge. Not only because of the ridiculous amount of detail (which looks different on every other artwork!) and colours, but also, because I've decided to combine the cape she has on most of the Amano artworks with the shoulder armour parts she has in the game. Just because I've never done any kind of armour before.

Here are some WIP pictures:


The left one was taken about two weeks ago. Never mind the carelessly draped scarf/belt thingies and the cape. They weren't finished yet and I just put them on for visualisation purposes only. Please note my beautiful bed hair. As you can see, I chose burgundy red tafetta for the dress, which I lined with twill because it was too thin. The vent is not only for aesthetic purposes but also an admission to my mobility, because the dress is very close fitting.
On the right are more recent pictures: The gradient dyeing on the capes (I love it!) and the painting are finished and I attached golden braid along the hems. Later on, I will paint the boots, as well.
My sister is helping me a great deal with these, because I'm busy sewing her Kefka costume. I'm currently contemplating attaching some small gems on the flowers, but for now I'd rather wait until I know what it all looks like with the capes and scarfs on. I definitely don't want to end up looking like an art supplies shop threw up on me.


These are the shoulder armour pieces. As I said, first time doing this and it's mostly trial and error. I've read several tutorials but still I have no idea, what exactly I'm doing. I just hope it will work out somehow in the end. The armour is made of craft foam and coated with papier mâché for better durability.


The wig. I wasn't sure whether to use a blond or a turquoise wig, but I went with turquoise in the end, because I love how it looks together with the brugundy red of the dress. This was my first attempt on pulling up a wig into a ponytail and I was surprised how well it came out.


These are the most recent pictures of my Terra costume. What's still missing are the scarfes, the shoulder armour parts, some jewellery and some red and gold paint on the shoes.
Don't I have the most lovely animu face you've ever seen?
I also want to do Terra's sabre. I've actually already bought wood and paint for that, but I don't know if I can make it in time. For now, there are more important things to finish.


II - Kefka

As I said before, this costume is meant for my Kefka-crazy sister. She even bleached her hair for this.
I drafted the pattern for this about 2 years ago, so I could start sewing right away now. Luckily, my sister didn't gain nor lose any weight in those month, so the measurements are still correct.


WIP picture from a couple of days ago (left) and more recent close-ups of the paintings on the pants, the collar and the sleeves (right).
The stripes are bias tape I sewed onto the shirt. I usually like working with bias tape, but lately, my sewing machine is having trouble with the thread tension so this time around it was just hugely unnerving and frustrating. The pants looked like tracksuit pants first, I know. The costume ist still missing the gazillion scarfs and the ridiculously huge collar. And a lot of paintings.


Close-up of the shirt. We mainly used tafetta for Kefka, as well. We're a group after all and want everything to match, don't we? I love the blue fabric with the check tucks. It kind of reminds me of fish scales and the interesting texture really adds to the overall impression of the shirt.


The Kefka costume is currently about 55% finished. The main parts are finished, but the many (painted) capes and scarfes still leave us with a lot to do.


-----UNHELPFULLY CURIOUS CAT INTERMISSION-----


These are some of the things are still waiting to get used on our Final Fantasy costumes: More colourful fabrics, beads, gems and even some feathers for Kefka's hairdo.


III Howl

Howl, on the other hand is nearly finished.
But let's start with some WIP pictures:


Sewing the jacket. NEVER AGAIN will I sew patchwork diamonds. It's such an unrewarding thing to do. I mean, overall, Howl's costume looks really simple, right? Before sewing this I couldn't even fathom how difficult it really is - at least for me, who simply sucks at sewing neatly and at geometry. And I guess hardly anyone would acknowledge the effort I put into it, because it looks so plain. No fancy ribbons, laces or gemstones. Meh.

To crown it all, I kind of messed up the sleeves. I already sewed in some shoulder pads, but the jacket still looks ... strange. Which really bugs me, because the jacket looks just fine when I wear it properly. Unfortunately, however, Howl doesn't wear his jacket as such, but more like a coat and that's where it starts looking baggy.
I really do like the collar, on the other hand. And the overall impression of the different colours, fabrics and proportions.
The blouse was really, really easy to sew - I finished it in one afternoon. It's really comfortable! I'd wear it everyday if it didn't have huge press buttons on its shoulders. (I had to attach these to keep the jacket from slipping down.)


Close-up of the jewelery I did. I really like the outcome. As you can see, I also did the rings. It's just a tiny detail, but I really wanted to have them.

Howl's costume was 80% finished and only missing the pants, when Maddi and I wanted to have some pictures of the (yet slightly unfinished) costumes for promotional purposes. If we pass the interview on Connichi Saturday, these'll be our costumes for the German WCS prelim and we thought it wouldn't hurt to have some pictures of these costumes in our portfolio. So, two weeks ago, we climbed up a nearby hill to take some pictures:


I have to say I really like us. I think we look good together and do the characters justice. Especially Maddi is such an adorable Sophie. I really look forward to our skit, I hope we get the chance to perform on stage. BTW, I lovelovelove my wig. It's so soft and full and has exactly the right shade of blond. When it arrived it had some lovely little curls in it and it almost broke my heart when I had to straighten the wig.

Oh, some of you might've already seen this:




Demon Within by ~y-o-s-s-i on deviantART

While we were at it (putting on our costumes and having pictures, that is), I thought it'd be nice to have some dark Howl pictures as well.
So I sewed a hooded cloak with feathers on it and pasted even more feathers on my face with spirit gum (which is not as fun as I'd have imagined, BTW).
One thing on Howl's make-up: I know, he's a guy (duh), but with his feminine traits and huge, shiny blue eyes "normal" guy make-up (read: contouring) wouldn't suffice. So, after I put a lot of shadows and highlights on my face (which are all but invisible on pictures it seems...), I put on (short) false lashes and bright blue circle lenses. How do you like it?


I finished the pants two days ago. And I love them! They fit really nicely and are super comfortable. I even wore them at work yesterday. And yes, that's my sexy face.




Not WIP related, but it might still interest you:
came to Berlin last month so we grabbed the chance to finally have some photo shoots we've been looking forward to for a long time.



(Clicking on the pictures will take you to the respective gallery on Animexx.)

On to something else:
Some of you already know this, but I've started using tumblr a few weeks ago. I will use my tumblr blog for general nerdage and cosplay (WIP) pictures, so if you're on tumblr, please follow me. It's a lot more up-to-date than this journal (well, it's hard not to be...). Here's the link: Picture this