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How did you discover cosplay for yourselves?
Well, in general everything starts at a very young age.
I discovered Sailor Moon when I was 7, well and that's why I am sitting here right now.
Back then I started to draw.
I even drew during class.
That's actually what everybody did.
And then you somehow discover your creative side
and start to think that in comparison everything else seems boring.
One tries to get as close as possible to this world by representing characters and that's cool.
Thanks to her I was able to get more professional.
We started to sew 3 years ago and today the results of our work are quite impressive.
And it’s really amusing to have fun with the people at conventions.
Well for me the focus is more on how we work on a project, and also which material we will be using.
I'm usually the one who makes sure that the costumes are correctly manufactured.
If for example somebody cosplays Inuyasha, I'll make sure that he won't take a sack with some holes.
Otherwise it would be terrible.
Well in general the costume should be stylish
and the quality of the fabric should be, and no satin for example.
My very first costume was a Doujinka from a My Little Pony
and I'm not ashamed to admit that.
Yeah, you shouldn’t.
My first cosplay was Sailor Moon in 4th grade.
For 50 “Markt” my grandmother bought me the costume from the newspaper:
"Grandma, please!" "If you get good grades!" "Ok."
That was totally great.
My hair was like this, but I really felt like Sailor Moon.
But she looked like Hermione, we could show you photos, she completely looked like Hermione.
Let's talk about the future.
What plans did you already make?
Do you plan to resume your activities .
Are there any events you have been planning for in advance?
So do you want to know what we have planned for next year?
Or do you want to know our plans for the next years in general?
Yes in general. Will you keep going and create new cosplays ...
Yes, definitely!
So you wont stop?
No.
No, no way!
Even if I am a granny.
Then I will just cosplay Kaede from Inuyasha.
Then I'll cosplay a character from House Castle.
Everything is customizable.
Yeah.
It's not like it’s going to stop someday.
I think that ... am I allowed to say what we planned for next year?
Go ahead.
We found really good illustrations of female Avengers.
But they are not like: "Look at our bust size."
Iron “Maiden” for example has a complete suit.
I'm a costume builder, so I really like that!
The problem is that Iron Man is my favorite character.
Mine too.
Well and I am a little too small for this costume, so crafting the whole armor is way too laborious.
I'll probably just manage to focus on the arm.
Of course I’ll make the whole costume, but not in a sexist way.
She will cosplay Hawk Eye.
She saw the illustrations without seeing the film:
"Whom do you prefer?" "Oh he’s wearing purple, I like him!"
Lila sucks.
We also have a female Bruce Banner and Captain America.
And that's our next big project.
I'm really excited.
Our next project is about Inuyasha.
That's still this year.
Yeah exactly, but the deadline is drawing closer.
The costumes have to be finished until the end of July.
There is still a lot to do.
But we will manage that.
And what is your favorite character that you already cosplayed or ...
Yuri!
I love Street Fighter 4 and I'm in love with Yuri Han.
I haven't played the game before, I just watched, but when Yuri appeared I was like: "Can I cosplay her?"
Her costume was my first professional one, which I made myself.
What was my favorite character?
Well it's this Pams and I love her.
The costume is actually more brown and white.
She's my personal mascot because I love bunnies.
How do you connect Japan with cosplay?
Do you want to answer first?
Yes, of course the cosplay scene comes directly from Japan and other Asian countries.
I was generally interested in the culture.
Cosplay came much much later, namely when I first went to a convention.
Before I've never been to conventions because I thought:
No way! Too expensive, why should I spend my time there?"
At first I was interested in Japanese culture, the cuisine and the language.
Then after those I became interested in anime too.
In our childhood a lot of people played Pokemon.
We are already 23 and 24.
Back then it was really popular.
But animes did not have a specific priority when I cosplayed.
The fact that I could make my own costumes was more appealing.
The whole concept of cosplay is somewhat different for me
because I used to play roles in the theater very often.
During that time I could also partially use my mother's make-up room.
I was able to gain quite a lot of practical experience.
Thus for me cosplay is all about creating, designing and sewing the costumes.
I discovered manga characters or game characters, I really like Silent Hill for example, just by chance.
I've also seen that book characters were taken as reference for cosplays.
My friend cosplayed Doctor Who from a British series.
As you can see something completely different.
I think that the cosplay scene here is totally different from the Japanese.
In my opinion cosplay over there originated because everyone has to wear uniforms.
There is no individualism, if I may say so.
Well, people wanted to change, they wanted to be different from the normal society.
And then in the afternoon they met each other and that’s how the scene over there originated.
Especially in the Harajuku district.
Here it's somewhat different, because you are able to be individual here in Germany.
I’d say that it's more about the crafting aspect.
But it's still about the changing aspect, especially for me it’s about slipping into different roles.
It would be rather boring if I were only myself.
So I really like to slip into many interesting characters and represent them.
So even though we do have individualism here in Germany, cosplaying is still attractive?
Yes definitely.
Despite the growing number of cosplayer, there are still few cosplayers what makes it very appealing.
But especially the aspect that one can represent characters, while still expressing a part of oneself.
This is a cool combination.
I think like this you can work on yourself.
Many cosplayers have already shown that cosplaying and the fact that photographs are taken of them
contributed to their self-confidence.
I know a few people that were used to be like: "I do not have the courage..."
Yes, I was the same.
Like this you’re able to open up.
Well you wear your costume for just one day.
Then you can say: "Ok I'm finished with this."
When you for example at school wear something that all your classmates dislike,
then that troubles you for a few months.
That's at least among girls the case.
And during that period of time one cannot simply try something new.
That's exactly why some people become actors.
Those people wanted to be versatile instead of always staying the same.
Maybe they too wanted to play evil characters for once,
even though they do not have evil characteristics.
I think that cosplay and acting have this aspect in common.
So traits from anime characters that do not often occur in society are especially attractive?
Sometimes they’re even adopted, for example when I smile I always see Yuri.
That’s really strange, because now I have acquired this nasty laugh.
Well it’s adopted.
Thank you for the interview.
Finally, a Keck?
A Keck at the end?
Ok just for you.
Shall we hold hands?
Sure.
One, two, three!
Unfortunately there was no fly between us.
I'm sorry.
But we could perfrom the "Creep" for you.
Do you want to see it?
Yes please!
Take care everybody!
It’s very saddening that some cosplayers are too conceited.
It’s given that with dressing up lines like: "I can’t go into the water" come along.
But you also have to be silly.
Silly.
Do something totally unphotogenic.
Be yourself.
And then just laugh about it.
That’s what we want to demonstrate now.
That was our little homage to the group The Lonely Island.
You can watch their video on YouTube.
It’s “Creeper” right?
"Do the Creeper" or "Creep" just "Creep".
Nicki Minaj is featured in their video and she’s like this.
She's quite pretty too.
Bye!