Matsucon 2024 cosplans!

Hello everyone!

I'm still reeling from the wakes of Mericon, but already next weekend I go back into the cannons because it's time for Matsucon and this masochist applied to be part of the work force! It's such a busy month send help. No but really, I prefer volunteering my time at conventions because I get something meaningful to do and it feels good to help. :) This time I'm gonna be over at the green room, unlike last year when you could find me assisting over at the video games!

So, what am I cosplaying then? Well, I still haven't gotten around to going through my cosplays and making a condition check on them but I know that most aren't in wearable condition for one reason or another. But there are still a few that I can bring, thankfully. But hey, look below to find out who, woop woop!

Character: Hotaru (Keikoku)

Series: Samurai Deeper Kyo

Yep, I'm rewearing Hotaru. :'D I have already modified the costume since the last outing at Nekocon, to make it a tiny bit neater and more accurate. I undid the side seams of the white outermost kimono and sewed them back together after cutting off the excess fabric that I had only done a temporary narrowing fix on before Nekocon. I also left the side seams partly open at the hem to make the tucking in the back look more like on the references with the slit – this was a detail I had missed originally and only noticed at the hotel room while dressing for the con like "wait a second.." style. xD
I will wear Hotaru on Saturday, although for transporting difficulties I won't be bringing the sword nor the tengu geta this time because I will be arriving by bus and I need to pack as light as possible. I will wear ordinary geta as replacement shoes indoors.

Character: Leon S. Kennedy

Series: Resident Evil 4

I know, I know. I kinda said already last year that I would finally debut Leon but hey, better now than even more late, right? :') This will be like an early try-out, as in I don't have all the props and stuff done that I want to have for this cosplay – and I'm not entirely sure if I'm missing any minor parts still but anyways, it should be near complete. I will hopefully wear Leon on Sunday but, umm, just a heads up that most of my work hours are slotted into Sunday so I might not be seen much as I will be watching over the green room! There is a slight risk that I might still go casual on Sunday (if my face explodes or something) but I will try to cosplay if at all feasible!

There ya have it folks, see you over at Matsucon!
Shiro Samurai out.

RE4 Leon Kennedy costest update

 Hello!

What is this, a cosplay post? You bet! :'D No but really, I know it's been literal years since I last made any cosplay progress post or anything that's not a circle lens review lol but I promise I'm getting back on track! The past weeks I've been really getting back into the cosplay groove and I actually have regained motivation to do stuff, wow! I have some moderately ambitious plans for the future and I should start cranking out more costuming content towards the summer, if everything goes as planned.

But anygays, back to the topic at hand. So yeah, a part of this reignited cosplay hype transferred over to me wanting to fix some almost-completed cosplays so that I can debut them at future conventions. I have quite a bunch of undebuted cosplays that need some small fixing before they're show-worthy. My Leon cosplay is one of them – I'm only missing props. That, and that I've wanted to slightly modify the wig a bit more as it started to bother me over the years. 

So what do I do? Well, last weekend I headed over to spend some quality time with Sallukka and their boyfriend. Sallukka slightly tinted the wig by using brown markers to color some fibers by hand and after that was done I put it on my head and we trimmed it a bit shorter on the sides and thinned down the front because it was quite front-heavy (although it didn't look like it!). The wig felt so much nicer and breezier to wear after shedding some excess fibers! It feels like it sits better on my head now and doesn't look as bulky on the front as before.

I was a derp and forgot to take any wig styling photos (sorry!) but how the wig looked before can be seen on this post from... half a decade ago, omegayikes. Jesus Christ time flies. 

 

But what I did do was a quick makeup test late yesterday just for fun and to test out the updated wig. I'm quite excited for this costume not gonna lie, it's fun to finally get around to do a bit more video game characters as I've been a major gamer all my life!

I intend to debut Leon somewhere this year but I'm just gonna make sure I have some kind of props to use before then as I find it kinda awkward to pose if I don't have anything to pose with lol. I'd prefer to make the rocket launcher if I get a chance to do that, but if not I'll try to make at least a knife, grenades or any other small props that he uses in the game. I want to fill my pouches with stuff. :D I actually scouted Ikea for fake flowers that I could paint red for a Red Herb prop to carry around but of course with my luck there wasn't anything that fit the bill in terms of leaf shapes etc ffuu ffuu. Oh well, the search continues!

I think that's about all I had to say for this round. Stay nerdy out there!

[Sponsored] CosplaySky review: Resident Evil 4 Leon Kennedy cosplay jacket!

Good day everyone!

As I said in the Leon costest previously I would review his jacket and here it now is! You see, I got contacted by CosplaySky last year and they asked if I wanted to do a little collaboration with them – my answer was of course positive as I know people who have dealt with them before and been happy with the products and besides, their store is one of the better known online cosplay stores out there anyway. I love to review stuff and help the cosplay community out and that's what I'll do today!

For those unaware of CosplaySky it's a big and well-known online cosplay shop that has been around for years. They mainly sell cosplay costumes but also accessories, wigs and the like. Prices are generally affordable and the costumes tend to be accurate to what is shown on the site's stock images.

My reviews are always 100% my genuine opinion, no matter if the items were sponsored or bought with my own money. I never compromise my honesty and true thoughts to my readers. 

With all of that said I want to welcome you to a detailed, full and honest review of a product by CosplaySky! I hope you will find this review helpful and hey, feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions after you're done reading. :)

~ "Forewords" ~ 

It should be mentioned that I am quite picky when I browse online cosplay costume stores; I have a habit of always scrutinizing even the smallest details (I'm a perfectionist) and comparing them with official reference photos to see how accurate they really are. I do often try to find the most accurately made costume possible but I also keep realistic expectations in mind – you can't get something that's 100% accurate, well-made and with high-end quality fabrics for cheap. "You get what you pay for" is something that I always keep in mind when I shop around.

Most cosplayers do agree on that quality generally goes before price, meaning that they are willing to pay more for a nicer costume – I roll by that too. I do believe though that CosplaySky has a fair price versus quality standard, meaning that considering the price you pay you do get a decent costume. There might be a few small flaws but it's normally nothing that detracts from the cosplay as a whole. 

~ Contact, packaging and shipping ~

CosplaySky contacted me somewhere during the later half of last year. I'm sorry but I can't remember the details exactly as this was during a really stressful period of my life. ^^" As I've mentioned above I ended up choosing Leon Kennedy's jacket from the game series Resident Evil. There were two different versions of his jacket available and, after a lot of thinking I picked the darker version. 

The processing of the jacket (or costume, if you may) took anywhere between 1-3 weeks I think, I'm not sure as I don't have exact dates mentioned in my contact emails to go by. Shipping took a little over a month, which is pretty normal considering it came from China. I have no complaints as I wasn't in a hurry.

The costume arrived in this green plastic bag. Nothing fancy but it did what it was supposed to do, namely get the product safe to my door. I guess that if the costume had any breakable parts it would have been protected better but yeah, since in my case it's just a pleather jacket it can't really get ruined easily. Inside the plastic bag was the costume bag itself, which is this convenient bag with a plastic zipper for secure closing. With the costume also came a costume information paper sheet (in Chinese) that had a stock photo of the chosen costume and your measurements on it. I got mine custom-sized as I don't fit into any generic sizes.

Green shipping bag.

Costume bag.

I'm sorry for the poor light conditions but all photos were taken during the winter and thus we who live so high in the north have this wonderful (not) natural phenomenon called polar night, which means severely limited sunlight hours for many months. In other words the sun barely rises above the horizon line and a majority of the day is spent in complete darkness. It makes it really hard to photograph.

~ Costume thoughts, fabrics and sewing quality ~

I remember my first impression being positive. I took the jacket out of the bag and it is indeed pleather – a light to mid-weight type I think. I'm not too experienced with leather/pleather and so I can't say so much about the quality of the fabric itself (because I can't really compare it with much), but it has some weight to it and seems pretty good. It's of a really dark brown shade and is a tiny bit stiff to move in, which is pretty usual with (p)leather jackets.

It fits me and I can even close the zipper without a problem. It's actually pretty nice to wear, although it feels a bit "boxy" and I must admit that this is a summer or autumn costume – I wore it out on a winter day and the cold goes right through it in no time! 

Oh and yeah, regarding the zipper I should mention that it's your usual plastic zipper. If I'm honest I would have wished for a more sturdy zipper (metallic) as a plastic zipper feels a bit flimsy and out of place on a leather jacket, even if it's a cosplay jacket. But I can't really complain about it since on the stock photos it indeed showed a white plastic zipper and that's exactly what I got – the little difference though is that on my received jacket the zipper is much more visible than what it is on the stock images, as on those it's sewn on so that only the "teeth" of the zipper are showing, while as on mine almost the whole zipper is visible. But hey, it's a minor thing and I can live with it. I guess I'm just nitpicking at this point, lol. It would also have looked better if the zipper matched the color of the jacket because yeah, white really stands out and makes it look costume-y.

Sewing quality is good and consistent. Every seam is straight and professional-looking and there were only a few loose threads that I had to cut off (mainly from the lining). The jacket's inside is lined with this shiny brown fabric that feels really smooth to the touch and it's pleasant to have against your body. 

The pockets are fully functional (always a big plus!) and all the belt strap thingy details are there. The details are pretty accurate to the character and thus makes the jacket recognizable. Also, as I mentioned earlier there were two different versions of this same jacket available and I picked the single-color darker one in the end, mainly because I felt like on the other version the colors were perhaps a bit too bright – although it boils down to personal preference. I remember thinking though that, if I wanted, I could just paint the details (pocket openings etc) with a lighter brown to make them stand out more against the dark main color and thus the darker jacket would be more easily customized.

If there's anything that doesn't quite match the stock photos it's the fur. Don't get me wrong here, the fur I got is not bad but I was really hoping to get that creamy, almost luxury-looking smooth fur that was pictured on the site – it was actually the main reason that made me lean over and pick this darker jacket, haha. I'm not sure how to describe the actual fur that I got, except that it reminds me of cartoon sheep fur. It still works for the look but it's notably whiter than the pictured cream-colored fur with a completely different texture. I was neutral to it at first but now I have already started to grown to like it – it's not the end of the world, in other words. :D

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Detail photos ahead!
All photos taken by Frozen Angel.

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Upper back details.

The pockets are fully functional!

One of many belt strap thingy decorations.

Shoulder close-up.

Lining. The inside of the collar is furred.

Sleeve close-up.

This particular costume is about 85% accurate to the stock photos on the site, which is pretty good. Make sure to study the stock photos closely as you are likely to get something really similar to it if you buy from CosplaySky. I can recommend them as an online costume store.

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Please note that this review is for the JACKET ONLY.
Photos taken by Frozen Angel.
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Front view.

Side view.

Back view.

Want to get your own Leon Kennedy cosplay jacket? Check links below!

Link to CosplaySky main page: CosplaySky Online Cosplay Store

Jacket link: CosplaySky Resident Evil 4 Leon Kennedy Cosplay Jacket

Jacket link (alternative version): CosplaySky Resident Evil 4 Leon Kennedy Cosplay Jacket (Version B)

CosplaySky store & Leon Kennedy jacket rundown – Pros and cons:

+ Decent pleather fabric
 + Custom size actually fits me
+ Mostly accurate to store's stock photos
+ Attention to detail
+ Sewing quality
+ Fully functional pockets
+ The costume came in a convenient clothing bag

- The fur fabric is different from what was shown on the photos
- The zipper is more visible and not as "hidden" as on the photos

~ Sizing ~

I got my jacket custom sized and thus I can't speak for the pre-made sizes as I never fit into any of those, lmao. But the custom size fits me and it's easy to move around in. Of course it's a bit "boxy" and stiff as (p)leather behaves differently than, say cotton, but it's still comfortable to wear. It doesn't pull at any weird places and the sleeves look long when my arms are relaxed at my sides, but as soon as I move around they are the perfect length! 

If you are willing to pay extra to have it custom made I would recommend it, that's what I always do and so far I haven't gotten anything that didn't fit me.

Leon S. Kennedy reference image.

~ Conclusion and final thoughts ~

Okay, so to wrap up this review I want to make it clear that, contrary to what it perhaps might sound like, I am indeed overall greatly pleased with the costume jacket that I received and with CosplaySky's service. ♡ I'm truly sorry that this review is so so late but I really enjoyed this collaboration with them and I'd look at their store for cosplay shopping in the future.

Overall I'd feel safe recommending CosplaySky to all cosplayers –both beginners and more seasoned peeps– who are looking for a reputable online costume store with a huge costume selection and decent quality. They are also pretty fast with the turn-around times, but as with any online purchases from overseas you should plan in advance and order at least a couple months prior to the event you need the costume for; it's always better to be too early than too late!

Final Grade (from A-F): B

Recommend to others: Yes

I think that's about all that I had to say. I hope you found this review helpful and hey, do hit that "follower" button if you aren't reading my blog yet, there's a lot more content coming up soon ~

Also, don't forget to check out CosplaySky if you want to buy a costume or know someone else who does. ^_^ They constantly expand their repertoire with new costumes from the current popular shows!

A huge thank you goes out to CosplaySky for making this possible and to you for reading this post! ♡
~  Shiro Samurai says sayonara.

Leon Kennedy cosplay makeup test

Hello folks!

Since the later half of last year I've been silently collecting the gear needed for cosplaying Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil 4. I'm not sure if I've mentioned too much about cosplaying him on this blog but he's been in progress for a while.

Leon is not a character I would typically cosplay as I really can't stand to play any kind of horror games myself (I get too easily scared...) but watching my friend Sacchan play through the whole thing was a different deal and, quite honestly, a lot of fun! I ended up liking the storyline, the characters and the overall feel of the game – despite it being just the kind of game that I'd normally have very limited interest in as I'm not a fan of shooting nor horror games in general. ^^" I liked playing all the shooting target minigames though, lol. I must admit that I've been enjoying playing the later Resident Evil installments in the co-op mode with friends though, although I am aware that RE4 is considered one of the best ones and I can totally see why – but the newer ones I played with friends were easier on me as there wasn't that tension of a horror game and instead it was just a mash-buttons-to-kill-as-many-zombies-you-can-before-the-time-runs-out type of thing. xD

But yeah, Leon clicked with me and so I decided that "hey, why not do something different and go out of my comfort zone?". Said and done.

I think I started gathering materials for this cosplay around August something last year. About everything is purchased from various eBay sellers, except for the jacket which I got from CosplaySky (I will review it soon!) and the pants that I already had. At this point in life I didn't have the time nor energy to make the costume myself and, frankly, making all those gun holsters etc would have been really annoying and pointless seeing how cheap I could get them online. I'm lazy sometimes... and out of cash all the time.

I did a makeup test for Leon yesterday and I must say that it was a bit of a different experience. You see, I'm so used to doing the heavier "anime makeup" that when I did Leon I had to do the makeup more subtle and realistic, which proved to be a challenge! I'm so used to the black liquid eyeliners that when I had to do a more natural approach –since Leon is a video game character– it felt weird. I had to avoid covering up "too much" (Leon wouldn't have perfect 2D anime skin) and for the eyes I just went with dark brown pencil eyeliner.

I'm not wearing any contact lenses for Leon on the costest photos above, although I do have gray lenses especially bought for him. I want to save those for a later time as I kind of want to make a rocket launcher prop before I have any kind of proper photoshoot.

Also, I'm still not too sure if I really suit this character but oh well, who cares? :) I want to cosplay him and so I do. Fight me bro. I might still experiment further with the makeup (especially the eyes, as it feels like just pencil eyeliner doesn't stand out enough) and I have some ideas on trying to "grease it down" or what-to-call-it – like doing this kind of look that you've been out blowing zombies up for a while and there's dust and dirt all over...

Regarding the wig it was a bitch to find a suitable one, not gonna lie. The only character wig on eBay didn't look like I wanted mine to look and so I had to resort to searching for generic fashion wigs instead.. and pray for decent quality. Thankfully eBay is full of those but oh fucking boy, how hard it was to find one with a parting that is not a middle-part. >_> I eventually found a base wig that would work, although I had to compromise on color a bit as Leon's hair tends to generally be portrayed as this kind of dark brownish-blonde shade, although it is really inconsistent (I've seen cosplayers doing everything from blonde to brown and even black) and so I deemed that the wig's color wouldn't be that big of a deal. I went with blonde.

Leon's wig before cutting it...

... and after cutting.

Sacchan did the cutting while I had the wig on my head. I have a larger head than average and so it was safer that I wore the wig during the cutting process so that we'd get it to be the right length. It was really important that we didn't end up cutting it too short, as that would have looked really unflattering on me. I might eventually trim it a bit more but yeah, I can't say for sure until I've straightened it and wore the wig to a photoshoot or such, to see how it behaves.

I think that's about all I had to say for this round. The review for Leon's jacket will come up soon so stay tuned for that!

Shiro Samurai out.