SooYong

EDIT 1/31/2016: Oops, I just realized that February has 29 days this year! I guess it would be best to use #29DaysofBlackCosplay instead for this year's posts! Character: Viola (Soul Calibur V) Cosplayer: Sooyong (SCHIZO-ALIAS) Photographer: Jim O'Connor February is near, and that means it’s almost time for not only Black History Month, but also 29 Days of Black Cosplay. Last year the movement had a lot of participants, including myself, and I enjoyed it very much! The reception was generally very positive, but not without criticism. As I wrote in my blog from last year, some people felt that black cosplayers didn’t need to b

With all of the heavy feelings documented and out of the way, now I can focus on the positive experiences from the past year and then some, otherwise known as my 10th year (Summer 2014) and 10th anniversary (Summer 2015) of cosplay. My first cosplay experience was at Otakon 2005. I had kept this in mind from Otakon 2014 and throughout 2015, and although I had said that I was going to take a break while I made my transition from Japan back to the US, I ended up never taking that rest. Starting from Otakon 2014, a year which also happened to be the 20th anniversary with my BFF from 1st grade, she and I made an awesome memory together not only

(Continued from Part 2: Part 2) ------------------------------- My anxiety with cosplaying as Kasumi and having been ogled and harrassed is related to my decision to start crossplaying. A few years ago, I started following Reika, a famous Japanese cosplayer. She had cosplayed as a few Dynasty Warriors characters and her work was impeccable. Not only were her costumes well-made, her makeup technique made her appear to be a very convincing Asian male. If her name wasn't Reika, I wouldn't have known right away that she was a woman. She almost exclusively cosplays male characters, and she has a huge following of female fans who adore her as if