Sakura-Con 2009

[BigV]

Honestly, I think some cosplayers take it too far. I'm all in when it comes to sacrificing for your art, but at a convention, there has to be a certain level of practicality. This guy? I don't think he's ever gonna get his soft drink.



When I tired of spending my money in the exhibition hall, I went to the--you guessed it--AMV theater. This is just one screengrab I made, and it's a fine, fine example of the art. Just Funkin' Dandy.



I made my way outside to the glomp game, guess who I found.



Guess what he was spending his time doing. Yep, GlompGlompGlomp!

[BigV]

Welcome to 2016!

Another fun year, I found character I liked and I thought I could carry off, and create the costume for. SonofV had a great time too!

This year I chose as my model Klaus V Reinherz from Blood Blockade Battlefront. He's a badass good guy.



What *he* looks like.



SonofV chose the Plague Knight from the game Shovel Knight. Whimsical, easy to make, easy to wear. Plus, there's a lot of this color paint in town.



Boogie down, Plague Knight!

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This is the kind of look he imagines himself to present.


Here's a guy that had a different mask. The masks are coooool, and I'm sure SonofV and I will return to this design to make some of our own.


This one this year was really fun, but not super durable.



Testing out the fur foxskin on your noggin, you know, research.

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A few shots of the mask / costume contstruction process. Mask plus beak.



Paper mache, lighter is better.



Goofy glasses.



Sewing the cloak.

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Klaus was something of a ladykiller. One gal actually wanted our picture to be an action shot where I was punching her. Weirdos.



Yep, this is where I spent a lot of time this year. Shocker, right? Fun topic this hour!



Hey look! Ginko from Mushisi, my character from last year (or that other year, they kinda blur together.)



And Zero from Year Two!

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Some people pick a character to dress up as because they already have the hair, I guess.



Yeah, wigs are hot at SakuraCon.



Some others are in the hair lifestyle, 24x7x365. Super impressive.



Some other people don't want you to see their hair.

[Happy Monkey]

Very cool, overall!

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Some traveled with entourages.



Group costumes are popular.



Some were just cool all by their damn selves.



WTF? She spent the whole con being hauled around? Dedication.

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Oh, wait. *THIS* is Wtf, the element of surprise. Lots of clever, cool tshirts.



Some were more laid back.



And some only needed One Punch, Man.



And come with their own AMV. Singular Strike Gentleman. Yeah, back in the theater. Naturally.

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This year SonofV provided the suggestion for the subject of my cosplay efforts: Sir Crocodile of One Piece. "Please be aware, before progressing any further, that this site contains heavy SPOILERS"





SonofV chose to be a Spider Splicer. This isn't a screengrab, but it's a good sample of what he was shooting for.



We're not really mortal enemies.

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There's some variation among the details of the source images for each character. I chose a white fur collar and my shoes didn't have buckles, nor did I wear the costume jewelry rings I bought.



SonofV's mask didn't have bunny ears or a bird's beak, but plenty of blood. Really, a lot of blood.



A sample of his hooks.



An early pre-release version of my hook. First year each character featured hooks--coincidence.

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My choice this year was very popular (Thanks son!). It also helped that the anime has been running for several years and has many friends. (Cosplay) friends of mine I was just meeting.



SonofV had his usual good time out at the Glomp court.



Outside I encountered many people who wanted their picture with me.

[BigV]

And inside too. This last guy was so cool, he's from a band, Mystery Skulls.

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Some of the people inside were just cool cosplayers. Lots of people like having their picture taken with Master Chief, just like SonofV from 2010.



And the twins from Ouran High School Host Club, serious comedy. This pair has brought them to life.



I really don't know what character she's portraying, but her makeup is flawless.



Some of them just wanted *my* picture, I stole this from they guy's facebook feed after SonofV alerted me to having been tagged in an adjacent picture by one of his friends. I feel so famous.

[BigV]

Now there were a lot of people also cosplaying characters from One Piece. I was greeted by many of them as they knew me far more often than I recognized them.