August 31, 2012

THE CHALLENGE IS ON!!!1

So for quite some time now I've seen pretty many Finnish cosplay bloggers do this one cosplay challenge so I decided to give it a go because it seemed so much fun.

Sorry guys, for now this will be in Finnish, I will add a short description about the challenge in English at the end!

Säännöt:

1. Kuka tahansa halukas voi ottaa haasteen vastaan riippumatta siitä, harrastaako hän cosplayta. Kokoa kolmenkymmenen (30) minuutin aikarajan sisällä cosplay-asukokonaisuus materiaaleista, jotka löydät kotoasi.

2. Saat käyttää vaatekappaleita, peruukkeja, meikkejä ja maskeerausvälineitä. Jos olet nopea, saat myös ommella/askarrella jotakin uutta (esimerkiksi rusetin kankaasta tai propin paperista). Et saa käyttää sellaisenaan valmiita cosplay-asuja, jotka olet jo joskus tehnyt.

3. Kun olet valmis tai 30 minuuttia on kulunut, ota asustasi kuva ja laita se haasteen sääntöjen kanssa esille blogiisi. Kerro myös, kuka hahmosi on ja liitä mukaan lähdekuva.

4. Haasteen tarkoitus ei ole luoda täydellistä pukua lyhyessä ajassa, vaan testata haasteen tekijän mielikuvitusta ja pitää hauskaa.


Okeei, eli mun valittu hahmo oli Kenshin Himura (Hitokiri Battousai versio) Rurouni Kenshinistä. En nyt ole ihan 100% varma ku en ole sarjaa vielä lukenut ku muutaman random chapterin ja yhen leffan katsonut joskus vuonna nakki ja muusi. Mutta normi-Kenshinillä ku on vaan se reverse blade katana ja Battousailla mun logiikan mukaan perusmiekat + ei oo arpea ainaki jossain vaiheessa joten menkööt näin ~

PS. Joku enemmän tietoinen fani saa korjata jos puhun ihan sontaa!

Joissaki kuvissa Kenshinillä on harmaat hakamat joten en nyt oo ihan varma kumpi on se 'oikee'
Sori peilikuvat, en ole arkusta noussut zombie!!



Cossin sisältö:
• Budo alustakki (jota myös käytän muihin cosseihin jotka vaativat valkoisen kimono-kauluksen)
• Ichiton tummansininen kimono
• Hijikatan vaaleanharmaat hakamat
• Hijikatan miekat
• Random tekkout/käsisuojat jotka ostin eBaystä aikoja sitten ihan vaan random käytöks
• Mustat tabi-sukat jotka olen ostanut mun kimono harrastustani varten
• Puiset geta-kengät jotka olen myös ostanut mun kimono harrastustani varten :'DD Problem?

Hijikata parka jäi ilman housuja ja aseita... 

Jooo-o, mitäpä sanois, oli hurjan hauskaa ja en paljon kiirettä tuntenut ku tä oli tämmöinen ultimate kaappicossi koska kaikki tarvittavat löytyi valmiina jostain huoneeni kolosta.. ongelma oli vaan löytää kaikki ajoissa ja pukea päälle. XD Tosiaan peruukin kävin pöllimässä lainaamassa Jäätyneen Enkelin vaatehuoneesta koska en itse omista ainuttakaan punaista peruukkia.. lähin (värillisesti) mikä olis mun kaapista löytynyt olis ollut Ichigo Kurosakin peruukki... eiiii. Tai muuten olis tullut joku ihmeen rasetsu!Kenshin valkoisilla hiuksilla... koska pitkiä valkoisia peruukkeja multa löytyy!! >8D Joo... *kröhöm*
Tää peruukki oli siis ainoo edes jotenkuten sopiva tähän hätään, vaikka väri on aika räikeen punainen IRL ja en kyllä käyttäis kyseistä peruukkia Kenshinille sit sinä päivänä kuin kyseistä herraa sitten ihan kunnolla cossaan. Joo, on tarkoitus ihan oikeasti cossata Kenshiniä joskus. Sitten kyllä ostan kunnon hyvävärisen peruukin ettei herran hiukset muistuta punaisia liikennevaloja...

Ai niin, meinas unohtua, mulla tuli paniikki ku en meinanut löytää ihan perus hiuspampulaa vessan kaapeista, olin sillee hetken "midä vidduu, pakko niitä on jossain olla!" kunnes kaivoin kaappia tarpeeks syvään ja sit löytyi semmoinen mursun kokoinen musta pampula... sai luvan kelvata. lol

Mutta siis...

CHALLENGE SUCCESSFUL!

Jaahas, ja äidin ruutuiset aamutossut paistaa mun hihan/käden alla... ihanata.
Mulla oli cossi päällä ku oli viel 10 min aikaa jäljellä, like a boss! Paitsi että melkein kaikki meikit jäi laittamatta koska laiskapaska.com ja naama kirvelee ku meikinpoistoainetta jo käytin aiemmin tänään ku cossasin Okitaa.. ja naama hieman vammaisen tuntoinen sen jälkeen joten annoin olla ihan suosiolla.

 - lalalalala -
And now a quick description in English for those who didn't go to Google Translate lol already ~

So yeah, basically this challenge was to find a character and cosplay them in a time frame of 30 minutes. So you had to make/find everything for it and put the costume on and when 30 minutes had passed you had to take photos of what you had created. You were allowed to use clothes, make-up, wigs and if you were fast enough you could craft something quickly... basically you had to do a closet cosplay. XD You weren't allowed to use already made cosplays aka a character you had cosplayed before. This challenge wasn't about making a perfect costume, it was about having fun and being creative.

My closet!Kenshin consisted of Hijikata's hakama, Ichito's blue kimono, a white budo/martial arts inner jacket, Hijikata's swords, black tabi & wooden geta I bought for my kimono hobby and tekkou I bought from a private person on eBay long time ago just for the heck of it. The wig is my twin's because I didn't have anything even remotely right-looking myself. The wig is actually bright red IRL (not orange-y like photos show) and I won't be using it that time when I cosplay Kenshin for real. Yes, I will do him someday.
And I guess that's it ~

Quick sick!Okita "photoshoot"

Hellou!

I didn't have to go to school today because my schedule is still a mess and, besides, I only had one lesson today. It would have been quite a pain in the ass to get to school because I would have had to wake up piss early (*cough* 05:30 Swedish time) to take the bus and then walk some kilometers from the bus station to my school... and my right foot has been derping rather painfully the last days ever since I dropped my damn laptop on it... OTL Sucks to not have mom driving you on the mornings, hahaah.

Soooo I woke up quite early and decided to do a quick Okita "photoshoot" because I was bored and home alone. I can't really call it a "photoshoot" because it was just me and my camera. ._.
I used the self-timer for some photos but it was kinda hard, or well, damn hard to get everything right. Oh well, I got a few good ones, although the lighting was bad so they are kinda.. err, 'grainy'. But I thought it fit the mood somehow so I don't mind the reduced photo quality all that much and besides, I didn't want to turn on the lights because it made photos turn rather fugly orange-y.



If anyone wonders what that blue thing is it's my shinsengumi haori.. used it as a blanket.. kind of.
I look like a tired mess... and that's what I was more or less. XD lol it rhymes...

When I got fed up with trying to use the self-timer I just went to take some egophotos self-photos instead.. although I only got one I liked enough to publish...


Bbbbbbb, this reminds me... back when I was in Eurokangas yesterday I also tried to search for that light purple fabric I had seen before they moved which I could have used to remake Okita's kimono. I didn't find it. ;_; pffjhfiudhiuf

That's all. Bye!

August 30, 2012

Fabric for Saitou's sleeveless shirt

Went to Eurokangas (fabric store) after school. I'm happy they moved their store to Rajalla/På Gränsen shopping center instead of being next to Prisma (a food store) a few kilometers away. This means that because Eurokangas is now at the shopping center I will have a chance to visit it pretty much every day when I finish school and take the bus home because, well, I walk through the shopping center because it's shorter (and more fun) to just go through it than go around it and I always buy some sweets to eat while I do so, but that's another story... Yeahh, I bought fabric for Bakumatsu Renka Saitou's sleeveless shirt-or-whatever-it-is.

Wonderful, fabrics seemingly never photograph their real color.. OTL
It has more dark purple tones to it, not just gray like the photo shows.
 The fabric is a tad darker than the reference, but, it was the only grey-purple fabric they had (kinda hard color to find..) and besides I kinda like the color and have a feeling that it will look better with the kimono I'm going to use because, well, my kimono isn't reference color accurate either so I just bought what I thought would look better together with it. Me? Not being color accurate? Dafuq just happened?
My other fabric choices would have been 100% purple but.. eh... I rather buy this one.

It seems that I'll possibly start my Tracon journey already on Thursday next week. SEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW.

August 26, 2012

Second wig styling attempt

I repaired my brown vintage hakama again earlier today because I will need them for my Kondou cosplay to Tracon. I also decided to cut and style my wig for Bakumatsu Renka Shinsengumi's Saitou.

I forgot to take a picture before I started but you can see the untouched wig on my earlier blog post.
Oh, and all wig styling photos are taken with flash because otherwise it would have been hard to see anything... the wig is not shiny at all IRL.

After I had trimmed the bangs. Back of wig still untouched..
Back trimmed too..
Front after spiking
Side after spiking
Back after spiking
And we all know that when you have styled a wig on a mini-sized head substitute you just have to try it on your own head too. Because you need to see how much you just failed!! :'D
I used no make-up except that I made my eyebrows darker (looks so derp to have light brows and dark hair..). I just put a random Thai silk robe on because it's better than a t-shirt. lol

Front..
Side-ish...
Back... something. trololol.
I must say I was nervous at first before cutting, it was the second time I ever cut a wig.. but I must say it turned out quite bueno. It's not half-bad but there's still room for improvement. Oh well, no one is born professional at anything, practice makes perfect. It could have been a catastrophe. lol

August 25, 2012

BRS (no, not Black Rock Shooter...) Saitou WIP test

So a few minutes ago I decided to put on what I already had ready for my Bakumatsu Renka Shinsengumi Saitou cosplay, aka mainly the kimono, kaku obi and wig. The kimono and obi are genuine vintage pieces from my wafuku collection.
The shirt is just my random Finland/wolf shirt backwards. lol I didn't put on any make-up except some eyeliner because 1) I'm too fuckin' lazy xD 2) it was boiling hot.

These are all mirror photos.

I have no clue what's with that face..
Full-body..
PHOTOBOMB!!1 by le twin
The wig needs some trimming and possibly spiking. Gonna fix that as soon as possible.
I also need to go to town and buy some purple-gray fabric for his sleeveless shirt because mom apparently didn't have any purple fabric in the attic that would have been good enough... actually, she hardly had any purple fabric at all. Dafuq.
Oh, and need to make the glove.

Bye.

August 22, 2012

Tracon, I'm goddamn coming!

Yeah, you read right. 
For the longest time I've been pending back and forth should I or should I not go to Tracon this year. Mind you, I've always really wanted to go but this time mom said she wouldn't be helping me pay for the trip like she did for Desucon and some others, so, I would have to pay for everything myself, which, well, would cost a lot of money for someone who has had no income all summer. It stings. Buuuuuuut, I figured if I don't go to Tracon this year I will later regret it a lot for many reasons (like missing my last chance to see most of my Finnish con friends this year and all the awesome cosplays they will do for Tracon) so I decided...


I CAN'T FUCKING MISS TRACON. I LOVED IT SO MUCH LAST YEAR. ;A;
So I'm coming, let it cost what the hell it wants. Fuck money, I'm coming if I so have to live on crispbread and water for the next year!! Or well, no, not really.. but you guys could maybe help me out so here comes some
~*~ SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION ~*~
I decided not so long time ago to start taking traditional art commissions to fund my life and hobbies, want to help me out? Have a look, it's in a book.. almost.

 And to get back on track...

I've ordered the con ticket to Tracon a few days ago like a ninja while the cheaper advance ordering was still active (it is no longer available) and today I passed the point of no return, aka Ri-kun ordered the hotel for themself, me, Jäätynyt Enkeli and Mira-kun to sleep in during the con weekend.. this will be fun! 8D

Soooo, now let's spike up my cosplay plans! Man I've been waiting for this!




Saturday

Series: Bakumatsu Renka Shinsengumi
Character: Hajime Saitou

Yay obscurecosplays.com strikes again.
I planned at first to cosplay this to Oulun Animeseminaari but it.. yeah. So I postponed Saitou for later.. and "later" is now Tracon.
I took a picture from the manga but I will do the game/official art version when it comes to the patterns of the kimono although my kimono isn't blue-gray, it's simply gray. Oh, and yes, this cosplay will consist of half vintage wafuku and half self-made stuff. I will need to make his shirt and that glove I guess. Wieee.
Now to get off my lazy ass and start sewing...




Sunday

Series: Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan
Character: Isami Kondou

AWWWWWW YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH
Most of my friends are going to roll a western!Hakuouki group on Sunday and of course I have to be part of it. BUUUUUTTTTTT. I have no western versions myself (yet) and I don't really want to do a "double character", even though I don't really mind doubles, it's just cooler to have as many different characters as possible from the cast. *nods* So, well, Kondou has no western outfit so I'm gonna be trolling there in kimono gear and still feel right, LIKE A FUCKIN' BOSS. >8DD Besides it's awesome to fill the group with yet another character, I think we will have almost all of the shinsengumi members! This will be GREAT!
Hijikata, you can't command people anymore, boahahaha ~


I'm so excited I could puke rainbows!

August 21, 2012

Birches and streams - hakama!Saitou photoshoot [v.2.0]

Hi!

Yah, I promised a second hakama!Saitou photoshoot and here it now is.
These were taken on Sunday 19th August when me and my twin were walking to Oulu's anime seminar event on the morning, a few photos were taken when we were walking back to our aunt's home after the event. All photos are taken at the same 'park' in question; Oulu city had these lovely small walk-through parks in the middle of the city with nice trees, bushes, bridges, nice water fountains, small streams of water, park benches etc. It was lovely and provided a great location for photoshoots! Sadly Jäätynyt Enkeli wasn't really in the mood of taking photos...

Cosplayer: Valkoinen Samurai
Photographer: Jäätynyt Enkeli





And lastly a photo taken on the way back while I was standing on the white bridge. The same bridge can be seen in the background of the earlier photos. I was looking at the flowing stream, very calming.


This is what it looked like (it was prettier IRL though)
If I visit Oulu another time -and have cosplays with me- I want to go shoot in the parks again ~

Bye bye!

August 20, 2012

Forest fungus, Super Mario and sushi - Oulun Animeseminaari 2012

Yesterday night I got back home from Oulu, where I spent last weekend attending Oulu's anime seminar event. It was a rather small event (or well, the building it was held in was rather not-so-roomy) and had the same feeling to it like Kemi's comic days have, namely that chill and relaxed hang-around-with-your-friends feel.

Only photo I have of my company during the con, derp too. Taken by my aunt.
• Chizuru (Sairu-chan), hakama!Saitou (me) and prison!Rukia (Jäätynyt Enkeli)
I cosplayed the casual/plain clothes version of Saitou (aka hakama edition) both days, it was comfortable to wear and derp around in; I'm happy I didn't take a more complicated cosplay with me, there was rather few cosplayers (and photographers) running around so it would have felt pretty 'meh' to spend a long time getting ready when it felt like most people were there just to hang out rather than to put on their most flashy cosplays and take photos of others. Luckily I had my new friends to hang around with all day so it was a certainly positive experience.. even though Saturday was so fucking hot (big glass windows + sun = everyone is boiling inside) I would have died had I not taken with me my cheap-ass fan from Thailand. Phew. Luckily Sunday was better, not too hot but not too cold either.

So, eh, what more to say? I don't know.. I had a fun time. Vinkee fiilis tulee metsäsienistä ~~
On Saturday me, Jäätynyt Enkeli and Sairu-chan went to troll around the city in cosplay, mostly to try and find a restaurant and a food store. We obviously got some stares, along with comments mainly I overheard after we had passed by, like "Oh, Japanese..?" and a father seemingly telling his children "Some kind of samurai gang". We all three were wearing kimono outfits, me being the only one with autenthic vintage pieces though. *points at photo up there*
When we got to the sushi bar at the top floor of Stockmann the one Japanese chef/bar holder/whatever well, when we stood outside and looked at the menu he came outside the sushi bar and spotted us. Later inside it felt like he looked at us pretty.. I don't know. XD His expression didn't really change but he looked at us every now and then. lol Not everyday random gaijin walk in dressed like that..

Hmmm.. I don't have so much more to say. I derped a lot with my new friends and I mostly just hung around with them all day. There wasn't really that much to do at the event so I can imagine that if you didn't have any friends with you you might have gotten bored pretty fast. *shrugs*
Oh well, I had a great time nonetheless and will be going again if this event will be held again; an anime event that close to me (yes, 100 km is close..) with free entrance is awesome, be it small or not!
Also it was a blast sleeping over at my aunt's place well, I have many aunts butbut. She is generally awesome and she even had a Nintendo Wii so me and my twin played some New Super Mario Bros. Wii there. So much fun because neither of us two had played it before... so we failed a lot and did lots of derp mistakes. xD Even though we are gamers olololo ~

That's it, a second hakama!Saitou photoshoot [feat. Oulu] will be posted soon!

August 16, 2012

Repairing vintage hakama

Konnichiwa!

Remember those dark brown vintage hakama I used for Kondou and will use this weekend for art/collector book Saitou too? Well, during the Saitou photoshoot a few days ago when I crouched down I noticed there was three holes on the hakama that would need to be repaired before Oulun Animeseminaari. One couldn't see that there was holes if I was just standing or walking slowly, but if I sat down, crouched or just did basically anything that makes hakama spread everywhere then.. yeah. Oh, and I don't mean a hole in the way that it's in the middle of the fabric or something, I mean a hole like where two fabric pieces were stitched together and the stitching holding them together is coming loose... look, my English is so wonderful, I'm not even sure what that's called, if anything. So yeah, I decided to fix my hakama in shape before the event.

But.
I went to town today and visited four sewing supply/fabric stores asking for silk thread.. no one carried it. One of the sellers at one of the shops even said "you're the first person even asking for silk thread this year". So... yeah. The fuck.

Oh well. Back home I figured I would just have to suck it up and use normal sewing thread instead, even though silk thread would have been preferred...
   At first I hesitated sewing because I wasn't sure how the hakama were sewn and well, I'd hate myself forever if I messed up any traditional Japanese clothing because I have such a deep love for them.

I thought if there was any 'quick fixes' but all the ideas I came up with where... eh... let's say barbaric. I then decided to examine the stitches on the hakama and noticed they were super simple... then I proceeded to feel stupid. OTL With a sewing needle in hand I started working ~

Started hand-sewing...
Done
(flash photo, so bad lighting in my room)
It didn't take me long time to sew shut all three holes. Now my hakama look presentable again and I can go and rock them at the event without having to feel embarrassed all day and wonder if anyone notices the holes or not. Oh, and now I can sit down too whenever my feet decide to kill me. Sweet.

Now it's time to start packing my stuff for the weekend, bye bye ~

August 13, 2012

When Saitou decided he needed pants too...

 Hello to everyone!

So today after a lot of "but I waaaaant to have a cosplay photoshoot today" whining to my twin he finally agreed to be my photographer, but he didn't cosplay because his next cosplay isn't quite finished yet. So I tried on my casual/plain clothes version Saitou cosplay to see that everything worked together before the coming debut at Oulun Animeseminaari and of course to, well, have a photoshoot. Duuh.

Less talk, more photos!
hakama!Saitou preview galore!

Model: Valkoinen Samurai (Hajime Saitou)
Photographer: Jäätynyt Enkeli






And well, let's say it wasn't all pleasure taking photos... we were butchered by a swarm of mosquitos. Almost. So here's a few mosquito related derp shots ~

SMACK a mosquito.. without giving a flying fuck.
Lawdy lawd my foot is itching ~ *scratch scratch*
And lastly two (more) bonus pictures because I know everyone loves random derptacular crap, heuheuheuheuhe. In the middle of the shooting I noticed there was something in my kimono sleeve and I had no memory of it at all... so I decided "fuck the shoot, I must know NOW what it is".

FFFF what the fuck is inside my sleeve??
PAPER TOWELS! OM NOM NOM NOM
What is this I don't even....
That's it, I'm outta here!

August 10, 2012

Oulu, here I come!

I just bought the train tickets to Oulu so me and my twin Jäätynyt Enkeli will attend the Oulun Animeseminaari event! Yay!

The problem relating to where we would sleep during the "con" has been solved. I didn't get contact with one of my cosplay friends in Oulu, whose place I (we..? ahah) had originally planned to sleep over at. Time was running out.. or well, time to buy these more or less cheaper 'advance tickets' was running out because VR stop selling them a week before the departure date. So today was the very last chance to buy train tickets cheaper for the Friday night departure and this meant that, because I didn't get in contact with said friend, we had to resort to use plan B.. aka asking one of mom's sisters who lives in Oulu if she would let us stay at her apartment during the weekend.
Jäätynyt Enkeli called her and it was green lights, much to our relief, even though her apartment is rather tiny. Oh well, a free sleeping place is worth being crammed like tuna in a can for!
Problem solved and now my appearance at Animeseminaari is secured!

My cosplay for the weekend -yes, just one cosplay- is still casual/plain clothes version Hajime Saitou from Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan. I don't think I can take with me another cosplay because I will share luggage with my twin during the weekend, herpderp ~

Sooooooooooo..

Watch out northern congoers, immah comin' like a DERP ~~


August 9, 2012

Remake, or not remake?

So err, earlier this week me, my mom and my twin went to Eurokangas in town to check if they had some stuff we needed. Eurokangas has a huge sale going on because they will move to another local in town and this is the last week the sale is going on.

While wandering around I spotted in those random "fabric leftover" boxes a very pale light purple fabric... and my thoughts immediately went to my sick!Okita cosplay. I think that's about the same shade of purple that I had used. I have no clue how much fabric that piece consisted of or how much it cost though. I'm wondering should I buy it and remake my Okita kimono? I'm not satisfied with the one I made to Desucon because it was so rushed and there's just so many things gone wrong with it... lining cut too short, cutting mistake ending in seams at a "not accurate" place, too short (especially annoying/embarrassing in my eyes because I do kimono kitsuke) etc. BUT. I'm not sure will I wear this version of Okita to another con (read: I have too much cosplay plans and too few cons to wear them too) even if I did a remake. While I did like wearing it -and I can imagine myself wearing a remade version- I can almost bet on that the day I make his wafuku and western versions those will take its place. Although I still want to do a sick!Okita photoshoot.

So... I'm rather perplexed, should I buy that fabric and remake it if there's enough of it and it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg or should I save that money in favor of future cosplays and just do the photoshoot with the fail!kimono I already have?

By the way, for your information that shade of purple is a bitch to find at least in my hometown and neighbor town, hence why I can't decide should I pass it up or buy it now when I got the chance to remake it.

That's all.

August 5, 2012

I heard a Chizuru will attend Animeseminaari...

And thus I think my Oulun Animeseminaari cosplay plans got changed.
I have a feeling I might not get my wig for Bakumatsu Renka Shingengumi Saitou in time and I'd rather cosplay with a wig even though my real hair would work decently for him. Yeah. So I figured I will postpone him for a later con and now do a Hakuouki cosplay to accompany said Chizuru, who, is a person I know from the "cons"/anime events in northern Finland.

Sooooo, I'm not too keen to cosplay Hakuouki Saitou's shinsengumi kimono version because I've been cosplaying it quite a lot at the latest cons and well, I have a love-hate relationship with that scarf. lol
So in the middle of last night, before I fell asleep, I suddenly got enlightened about what I could cosplay instead and already had everything I needed for!


I'm not sure what this version is called but it seems to go by something like casual/plain clothes version.. at least according to the names of the plushies wearing these alternative outfits. Most male characters in Hakuouki seem to have one of these different clothing versions.
I want to do this because I already have everything I need for it and I won't need to have a battle royale with that motherfucking scarf during two days, trololo. Hopefully people will still recognize me as Saitou though.. we'll see. I will carry with me two swords of course.. on the right side like he does.

August 1, 2012

If I go to Oulun Animeseminaari..

.. I think I know who to cosplay there!

Oulun Animeseminaari is held during 18-19 August and well, because it's in Oulu (read: pretty close to me), has free entrance and I think I might be able to sleep over at a friend's place.. well, why not? I would only need to pay for the train tickets to get there and back. Besides today I checked when my school starts and it seems to be 20th August so mom can't use the "you can't go because you're gonna miss school" card.. and you don't have school during weekends anyway lol, but I know she means if I go there on Friday or/and come back on Monday.. but because it's close I need not take extra days I think.

So yeah, for quite some time ago I've been interested in Bakumatsu Shinsengumi Renka (or is it Bakumatsu Koi Hana? I don't know, but I see BRS used much more often..) because, err, shinsengumi, do I really need another reason? xD It's a semi-unknown otome game/virtual novel only released in Japan.. again I'm planning to cosplay some obscure stuff no-one knows in Finland. Oh well, today I randomly found the manga translated to English online and while I was terribly bored I figured "why not?" and read it, at least I would get some knowledge about the series even though there's only one volume of the manga and the game is probably much more deeper than the manga. *shrugs*
I can't say the manga was bad, but I can't say it was OMFG awesome either, worth a read though and quite funny sometimes. Basically it's like a more light fluffy not-so-serious romantic version of Hakuouki where no one dies, heck, there's hardly any fights. I found it enjoyable and it was quite funny to notice that pretty much all the characters had the exact same personalities like in Hakuouki.. except Kondou who was a womanizer and had a white-pink kimono with flowers on.. and is blonde. lol Didn't see that coming.

...
Whoops, I ended up rambling about Bakumatsu Renka Shinsengumi when I was supposed to reveal my cosplay plans for Oulun Animeseminaari, if I can go there.
So err, I had planned to cosplay this guy:

Hajime Saitou from Bakumatsu Renka Shinsengumi
Yup, that's what Saitou looks like in BRS. Here's a manga page too, because everyone looks older and cooler and hotter in the manga:

(I erased the text)
At least based on the manga Saitou was my favorite, followed by Hijikata. He has pretty much exactly the same personality as in Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan, he is the distant lone wolf of the group and hard to read because he doesn't really show emotions.. until he trusts someone.
Okita sadly got almost no screentime.. or should I say pagetime. ;_; Except the last chapter.. or well, I think it was more like an bonus story because it said 'the end' earlier on the chapter before it. Oh well ~

It would be an easy cosplay and it seems pretty comfortable to move around in too, although I will add swords to it. I figured I could maybe use one of my vintage kimonos for him too.. it isn't the right color (although the color and patterns, if any at all, varies from picture to picture...) but it has vertical 'spray'-like pattern.. kinda like he does on that official art photo. Note how in the manga his kimono is plain.
My kimono is not super accurate but close enough I guess.. and it's not like anyone will know who I am anyway. xD Besides I've checked those few cosplayers who've done him on Curecos.. no one had a perfect kimono either what I could see, everyone seemed to just use a close-enough one. lol
My kimono in question looks like this:

(photo by the seller)
If I decide to use this one I just need to make that purple loose armless shirt whatever-it-is, a glove and an obi.. because his obi is weird pattern-wise and I can't find anything similar to it online... and green kaku obi's are rare anyway. The rest I have at home... oh, and a wig I need to buy.

I think I'm only going to bring one cosplay to Animeseminaari, it doesn't seem to be a big event and it's chill to just have one cosplay = less stuff to take with me and remember to take back home. lol

See ya!