This is Part two of my interview with Austin Bemister, the guy behind Anggul. Please go and read part one First!
It's heart breaking when people don't appreciate your Character. So... Your first cosplay. Most people I know are embarrassed to admit theirs. How about you?
Well years ago in primary school you'd have those days for charity where you'd all dress up. Of course, at the time I had no idea what Cosplay was, or probably even what Manga was, but if they count, Celtic Guardian from the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. If you mean starting from 'actual Cosplay', then Kratos Aurion, which I was pretty happy about at the time. It was at a ReCon in Southampton, only a couple of people actually knew who the character was, but one of those is now a good friend, and it was a great introduction to the Cosplay community, if it can be called that without any hint of irony.
Celtic Guardian? That's so cool! I was ill, and missed the dress up day... How did you get into Cosplay?
My uncle (he's only a couple of years older than me) started reading Manga, and I had a look and got into it, then he mentioned a little con called ReCon which he was going to, and said he was going to be dressing as Ed Elric. At that point, I laughed and said it was going too far. Then, over the next few days, as I saw it taking shape, my thoughts quickly changed, as I thought over in my head how cool it would be to be a favourite character. A lot of people talk about their favourite characters, but how many can say they've been them for a day? So I decided I'd be Kratos Aurion, and that's where it started.
Do you have any Favourite cosplayers?
Not particularly, I admire their work, especially PikminLink's, she's worked hard on pretty much every Link in existence and more, but I don't like how serious a lot of cosplayers take it all, it's a fun thing to do, but it's laughable when cosplayers put themselves high and mighty above others. No matter what way you look at it, you're dressing up, give it whatever name you want, it doesn't change what it is, and when people idolize cosplayers, I can't help but feel they're in the wrong frame of mind. That aside, I'd say the best cosplayer I know is Tab, she works hard to learn new techniques and expand her abilities to create increasingly impressive costumes, and she lives right here in Southampton.
Ok.. Last Question! What's your favourite thing about cosplay?
Let's face it, most characters we Cosplay as dress ridiculously, but in the right atmosphere, it becomes brilliant. I've personally never really had a problem with confidence, but for some, it can really help a lot. Think about it, if you have the guts to roam around before the public dressed as a fictional character, you can be sure that most other things won't seem anywhere near as daunting. You know form personal experience that I love walking around the town when we have our Cosplay meet-ups, just the confused yet enamoured looks the public give us sends joy rushing through me, that the appearance of a few people can make such a difference.
I know Austin, and have had the pleasure of seeing his cosplays first hand, as a member of Cosfusion. If you're interested, you can find his Deviantart here: http://anggul.deviantart.com/
He's pretty cool guy, with some awesome cosplays, and a great attitude towards it too.
If you'd like to be interviewed, or want to suggest someone who should, please email: cosfusion@hotmail.com
applause. good interview.
ReplyDelete