Northern Lights Anime Party 2024 cosplans!

 Hello fellow geeks!

I gotta admit, I honestly thought that Gingacon would have been my last con for this year but alas – that wasn't the case. A little bird whispered to me that there's a small-scale anime event in Rovaniemi coming up soon and of course that got me interested! I've never heard of it before but it's called Northern Lights Anime Party and apparently it debuted last year so yeah, it's still very new!
In my opinion the name seems to be a bit misleading though because, based on the information I can find, it seems to not be a party at all in the typical sense of the word but rather another anime convention, especially if we use the confirmed activites as measuring tools (cosplay competition, Artist's Alley etc). Not saying that I'm disappointed – I totally get why they'd go with a funky, unconventional name because obviously that brings attention and makes you stand out from the others.

The event is held on 14th December, which is next weekend. It wasn't too difficult to figure out what to wear at NLAP (yeah, I'll just shorten it koska nimihirviö) because I don't have a lot that I can currently choose from – even less when we factor in what costumes are even moderately winter-suitable. So yeah, it didn't take long before I had made up my mind. After all, I really don't have time to repair nor make anything new with such short notice so yes, I'm shamelessly reusing a costume that's ready-to-wear in its current state!

(art and © by me, KaamosWolf, aka Shiro Samurai)

Character: Yuuto
Series: Original Character

I finally bothered to draw a character art reference of Yuuto's current design. He's one of my many OCs although not related to my bigger project. I originally made the first version of him already in 2011 but remade his design in 2023. I'll avoid info-dumping for now and will just say that Yuuto is a benevolent youkai.
Yes, I omitted his shoes completely despite what I said at Matsucon, it felt more fitting tbh. This also means that I will just wear whatever weather-appropriate or style-appropriate shoes I have, depending on time of year.
I want to note here, to clear any confusion, that KaamosWolf is the handle I go by for all my other main hobbies (gaming, arts and crafts etc) that aren't cosplay. Shiro Samurai is exclusively my cosplayer identity. There might be moments when there's some overlap (OCs I end up cosplaying being one of the more obvious cases) but art stuff will always be signed under the KaamosWolf name. 

Oh and by the way, I do accept art commissions. I just don't have the information up yet but you're welcome to email me if interested! 

I think that's all I had to disclose for now, see you maybe at Rollo Rovaniemi? :D

Bye bye~

Gingacon 2024 cosplay plans!

 Hello woofers!

I've decided to cram in one more con trip into this year and that's going to be Gingacon in Tampere, Finland. This is an event especially aimed at fans of the 80s anime and manga series Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, also known as Silver Fang abroad and, for the Finnish public, Hopeanuoli (lit. 'silver arrow').
I've never been to Gingacon before myself but I'm always interested in checking out new experiences! While I might not be their primary target demographic as I only watched the original anime (uncut version) as an adult, and thus didn't grow up with it like most other fans my age, which means the series has no nostalgic value for me. I can nonetheless appreciate it for the phenomenon and pioneer status it has in Finland with shaping the anime culture and interest back in the days, not to mention the profound impact on the furry (aka 'turri') community. I'll admit I own a couple Ginga plushies hehe.

Gingacon will be held on 23rd November and I will be traveling with Firith. Our friend Gure will provide sleeping accommodation, which made the decision to attend a lot easier because traveling to Tampere from Kemi is not exactly cheap lol. *sadge*
I have also applied to volunteer a few hours to take care of the green room so yeah, I will be a part of the work force. This also means that I had to consider my cosplay choice carefully because I don't want to wear something that would be in the way – but still I'd want something that, at least somewhat, fits the canine theme.

(recolor by ExoticPoke)

Character: Mightyena (shiny)
Series: Pokémon

I started thinking and realized that I could rewear my old shiny Mightyena gijinka outfit from 2018 if I just reworked the ears because yeah, I've never been happy with them. It's basically a closet cosplay from things I already own but I plan to add a tail as a new addition! I've worn this costume once before at Okamicon ages ago, but basically no photos exist of it to this day. Rewearing Mightyena at Gingacon is a chance to bring the doggo back out again with some slight alterations to make it better. I don't know if there will be an opportunity for a photoshoot but at least I shouldn't be freezing my butt off since I will have layers to keep me warm; we're essentially in the winter months now so let's be smart this time with costume choices. Ennakoi, tiedät kyllä miksi~

That's it for this time, I will have a WIP post coming up before the con summary so if you're interested in the making of ears and a fluffy tail then stay tuned!
~ Shiro Samurai

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.

Mericon 2024 cosplans!

Hello nerds and bookworms!

I've barely had time to settle since the blast that was Nekocon but soon I'll be on the road again towards Rauma and the return of Mericon! The first ever Mericon was a success against all odds last year so of course I'll be there to help keep it afloat this year too! Yes, I'll be part of the work force just like last time and, to be more exact, I might have been asked to fill in as one of the cosplay competition judges. I'm quite nervous about this role but hopefully it'll go well since Mericon's cosplay competition is a relaxed entry-level event aimed at first-timers. 

Last year some might remember that I wore a pirate-themed outfit to match the naval vibes of the con, but this time I plan to wear an actual cosplay. Seeing how I'm one of the cosplay judges I want to be in a character costume idk it feels more proper lol. My issue is that I don't have a lot of costumes currently that are in wearable condition so my pool to draw from is very limited. But then I thought that why not, I could rewear that one old costume... or could I? It's far from perfect (I'm ashamed of some parts but fuck it, it's 10 years old so I can cut myself some slack lol) but it's easy to wear, quick to put on the con morning will be stressful and comfortable.

Character: Team Aqua Grunt

Series: Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire 

Not one of my best cosplays by a long shot but whatevs, it fits the con's theme close enough (I mean the design looks kinda pirate-y) and well, it's Team Aqua. Hopefully I can get a photoshoot of this costume before or after the con because this is also one of my many costumes that I quite literally have no photos of. :'D Oh and yeah, because the grunts are just, well, grunts, I will wear a random wig and lenses with it to make it 20% cooler. Besides, in the anime they have varying hairstyles and such so yeah, it's fine lol. 

That's it for this public announcement, see you at Mericon soon!

Nekocon 2024 cosplans – took so long to decide!

 Hello hello!

I'm heading to Nekocon in Kuopio this upcoming weekend and I'm so excited! Last year I went to my first Nekocon and I had such a blast that it was almost immediately decided that a revisit was in order. It's such a comfy summer con and Kuopio feels weirdly cozy and inviting to me.

It took me ages to decide on what to cosplay, hence why this post is very late I dunno if anyone will even see it in time lol but I had difficulties okay? :'D I did consider at first rewearing my Kisuke Urahara cosplay from last year but I don't know, it feels a bit awkward to wear the same cosplay to the same con twice in a row (whiplash to my early weeb cosplay years hits hard xD) and so I had to brainstorm for another heatwave-friendly costume that was in wearable condition or wearable with some small tweaks that I could recycle. And yes, this is the kind of bizarre moments when you realize you've done 50+ cosplays and still somehow have nothing to wear?!

Eventually I came to realize I had one candidate that stood out from the rest...
*drumroll*

Character: Hotaru (Keikoku)

Series: Samurai Deeper Kyo

It's legit been 12 years since I read the manga. I honestly don't remember much at all of the plot at this point but I do remember really enjoying the series (because of its unpredictable twists and turns) and I also remember liking some of the characters like Hotaru and Akira particularly much of the lot. I still plan to cosplay Akira too at some point but currently I only have Hotaru completed. I plan to wear Hotaru on Saturday.

I made this cosplay way back in 2016 and I've only worn it once, which I'm very much not fine with lol. I honestly don't want cosplay to be like fast fashion for myself and thus I'm very positive to reusing my older costumes and fixing them up if needed. Hotaru did need a quick update because, originally, I had missed to consider the way how loosely in front he wears his outermost kimono (a simple oversight on my part) and I made it according to normal kimono width when I should have made it narrower to avoid excessive fabric bunching at the sides. This is something I've done a temporary fix on for now and will re-estimate the need for further, permanent, corrections after the con.

Oh and yes, I'm bringing his suicide shoes tengu geta although I'll only use them for photos – I will walk around the con in replacement shoes that are more convenient and safe to walk in. As badass as the tengu geta look they're not suitable for normal walking, at least not on my feet because I have slowly come to accept that I have chronic knee issues. This is also why you will likely see me having at least one of my knees wrapped in bandages (Hotaru has shorts so I can't hide it) although it's not a part of the cosplay; it's a stabilization precaution I do to prevent issues from walking up and down stairs (and Kuopio Music Centre has a lot of stairs ffuu ffuu) which, without any kind of knee support, is the worst pain trigger for me.

I did dabble on-and-off with the idea of a Sunday cosplay but I'm almost certain at this point that I will just go in alt fashion. This means that Hotaru is the only cosplay I will bring. I'm still kind of trying to ease myself back into active congoing ngl and wearing costumes in public, trying not to go too fast and overwhelm myself because I still have a lot of mental health difficulties I'm dealing with.

That's all for now nerds, stay safe and see you soon at Nekocon~!

Nekocon 2023 cosplans!

Hello everyone!

I will be attending my first Nekocon this year. The decision to go started rather spontaneously but after Kummacon I've had that convention spark reignited and yeah, I'm trying to catch up with this old passion and get back in the weeb crafting groove!

Nekocon is a two-day con in Kuopio, Finland. I had quite the struggle bus experience trying to come up with what to cosplay at first because few of my older cosplays are currently wearable without repairs and I'm not in the mood to fix anything up right now. Besides, after all these years I kinda wanted to make a new costume. So yeah, after a lot of flip-flopping between cosplay candidates I ran out of gas and turned to my friends for some hivemind activation! I was then reminded by Nekocon's cosplay theme, 'nostalgy'. That's such a good theme, would be a shame not to use it!

So what is my cosplay then? 

– It's the sus hat guy. 

Character: Kisuke Urahara

Series: Bleach

This started as a half-assed suggestion, kinda. Yet it hit the right requirement buttons and thus it stuck. I mean, I'm far from updated on Bleach (I've read up to maybe the middle of the Arrancar arc, don't judge) but a lot of my first cosplays when I started were Bleach characters and yeah, the series is nostalgic to me and probably for many others too. :) And Urahara is a pretty cool guy so why not? Especially because I remembered that aeons ago I bought his hat from I think Närcon, just for fun, and now I could use it for an actual cosplay! I also wanted to make something easy (to ease back into sewing after a long break) and, most importantly, something heatwave friendly. And on top of all that I needed a costume that I could complete in a week, at most, because that's the time I had available.

Spoiler alert — the cosplay is finished but I'm going to be away from home until the Nekocon weekend so yeah, the WIP post will be posted after the con summary! 

I thought about a second cosplay too but due to my long traveling and other reasons I felt like nahh, not worth the hassle as I likely won't be at the con for many hours on Sunday before the trip back up north starts. So yeah, only one cosplay for me this time boo but at least it's something new and something I won't be stir-fried alive in! Hopefully, hehe...

That's all folks! See you at Nekocon~

Genshin Impact potential future cosplans!

 Hello world!

It's been literal years since I last did any post on characters I'd want to cosplay in the future so I figured I might as well do one now, for a change of pace. Last time I did one such post appears to have been in 2016 so yeah, not exactly yesterday. xD 

 

But first I gotta admit that, just like everyone else, I'm deep inside the Genshin Impact hellhole currently and I've been playing daily since the later half of 2020 with no signs of franchise burnout. In fact my investment into the lore, characters etc keeps getting stronger! I'm not normally the person to play whatever is hyper popular at the moment but Genshin is different to me, it's just sooooo damn good in almost every possible way and the character designs are so aesthetically pleasing! I've always been a fan of anime-styled games and open-world exploration – Genshin's got pretty much everything I could ask for. I wouldn't be lying if I said that, out of all the games that I'm currently playing actively, that Genshin is my favorite game.

So yeah, I totally wanted to dedicate a whole post to all the currently released Genshin Impact characters that I've considered cosplaying more or less seriously. Obviously I can't guarantee that I will do all of these down the line but they are all currently on my list and yeah, it's fun to have plans~

Without further ado, let's get down to it!

*Minor spoiler warning ahead!*

Characters are in descending order.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

 

 

Character: Zhongli

 Geo daddy! Hands down my current favorite Genshin husbando by quite a long shot. I loved him from the second I saw his design and that love only got stronger the more I learned about his story and personality. Zhongli is a deeply interesting character to me, I don't want to go into spoilers why for those that haven't finished the Liyue main storyline yet but Zhongli is definitely the number one character that I currently want to cosplay from Genshin and also the one I for sure will do. I was over the moon when I managed to pull him the first time, he's currently C2 on my main team and my most used character hehe. I adore his color scheme, overall design, even his English voice. Heck, he could step on me any day and I'd pay him for it lmao.

Character: Kaedehara Kazuha

Who is surprised to see Kazuha on this list? Definitely not me. Everything about him screams that he's my type of character – he's a wandering samurai, he's a temporary member of Beidou's pirate crew, he's poetic and calm but carries a lot of burdens in his heart that he does not speak much about. He ticks all the boxes, he's basically me if I was in Genshin lol. I've always been drawn to white-haired characters and if they have red or golden eyes then that's a major bonus. :D Not to mention I love color schemes with red, black and white together along with traditional Japanese elements. Yup, I will definitely cosplay Kazuha at some point. Watch me!

 

Character: Diluc

Ah, Master Diluc. Probably the first character in Genshin that I took any affinity to. My youngest cousin Toni taught me to play Genshin when I first started and was very lost with how to upgrade etc and he mained Diluc at that time. I remember thinking that I definitely wanted that red-haired edgy guy in my team and I spent a long time trying to wish for him later. RNGesus blessed me eventually and Diluc is currently my main team's DPS unit. I do enjoy his design too and again we have the red, black and white combo that I'm particularly fond of. Diluc might appear to be that one rich bastard above everyone else, the anti-hero type with attitude problems yet he's so wholesome at the same time, single-handedly defeating evil and protecting Mondstadt when no one is looking. I will definitely cosplay the Darknight Hero at some point.

 

Character: Venti

 This little rascal is not the typical character type that I fall for. Usually this kind of character is more likely to get on my nerves lmao. But there's something with Venti that really speaks to me and I can't really put my finger on what exactly it is. I do like his design a lot (and the fact that he's androgynous to the point of being a genderfuck lolol) although wearing his costume is probably gonna put me a bit outside my comfort zone. He's a funny character, he's carefree and playful but at the same time clever and he says some stuff that really puts you thinking. Of course there's some spoiler reasons why I like him too but I'll refrain from mentioning those in case there's any new players reading this. I do consider cosplaying this prankster bard seriously but I'm not 100% whether it will happen. Probably will though.

Character: Xiao

Xiao is so precious. ;_; He's the distant and intimidating emo guy sitting at rooftops with a tragic past. He's not human, he's an adeptus (for those unknown about Genshin lore it's a kind of godlike being, basically) and more exactly one of the five major Yakshas. I don't want to spoil his background story but it did touch me on an emotional level and I can understand why he acts the way he does. And also why he's so popular with fans. I would really like to cosplay him eventually but he's not going to be among the first ones as tbh I'm super intimidated by how to tackle his tattoo lol. One day...

 

Character: Xingqiu

 Another precious boy. He's very chivalrous and has a great sense of justice. Xingqiu is a bookworm and a martial arts prodigy and although he's not the typical character that I'd be drawn towards I do like him a lot. He grew on me slowly and now he's a part of my team, whoops. He's so genuine and pure and his design is gorgeous, especially the sleeves! I really want to cosplay him at some point but the only thing holding me back is that I know I'm gonna feel so uncomfortable with those tiny shorts rip. But I want to do him anyway, sometimes you gotta challenge yourself.

 

Character: Gorou

 Gorou is in a weird spot for me. I don't know so much yet about his story but the moment I saw him I was like "fuck, I want him in one of my other teams!" but then I was so disappointed cuz you need to build a Geo team around him to get the most use out of his kit as he's a support unit. So I like him based on what I do know about him but especially because of his design, it's gorgeous. And I like characters with animal features so that's a plus! If I do cosplay him one day it's gonna take a while as I need to lose weight to feel comfortable doing a costume with a bare midriff; currently it's a big no-no as I'm extremely self-conscious about my body.

Character: Razor

One of my early favorite characters when I started playing Genshin back in the days. I like Razor's story quite a lot but that's somewhat dampened by the fact that I don't find him very fun to play, although he is a stupidly strong 4-star character. He has to be a main DPS or not be in your team at all cuz Razor's whole kit focuses only on buffing himself, which makes sense when you think about his story but it feels very limiting at the same time. I do toy with the idea of cosplaying the Wolf Boy at some point but I'm kinda hoping he would get another outfit that I'd like more than the current one. Maybe one day.

Character: Aether (Male Traveler)

This one is a big maybe. The Traveler (and Paimon) are the faces of Genshin Impact, the most iconic characters. I do enjoy the story of the twins trying to find each other and I'm very curious about how it will continue. I like the designs of both the male and the female Traveler and I would consider cosplaying Aether if one of my friends did Lumine as there would be some fun photoshoot possibilities! And I do genuinely like Aether's design anyway, although this one has the same problem as Gorou does in terms of cosplaying lol. So yeah, not gonna happen in the nearest future at least.

 

Character: Dainsleif

This dude is a very intriguing character. There's not much information out about him yet, he's super mysterious and appears to have vast knowledge about the past. I doubt he's even human. It's hard to say how much I'd like to cosplay him at this point as so much about him is still shrouded in mystery but from what we do know, based on that one main story chapter, I can't wait to learn more about who he is! His design is super badass too, almost half his face is covered by an eyepatch that looks like a half mask and he has some weird veiny shit going on around parts of his body. I am tempted to cosplay him currently but time will tell.

 

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...

 And that's it for now. I'm probably gonna do another Genshin cosplay dream list along the way as new characters get added (I doubt we even have one third of all characters released yet). I still want to do some other cosplays too but ngl Genshin is my biggest fandom currently and I can't wait to cosplay from it!

Until next time, stay cool!
~ Shiro Samurai out.

Matsucon 2019 plans – likely no cosplay

Hello guys!

So Matsucon is fast approaching (too fast, I panicked when I realized it's this coming weekend already!) and I have got the train tickets ready this past Saturday. Matsucon is held on 3-4 August in Oulu, Finland. Pohjankartano serves as the con building again, just as usual.

I decided to go as a con worker, just like last time. They seemed to have a shortage of volunteers so why not and besides, I'm not sure if I can live without access to the green room anymore. xD

I will be at the entrance selling tickets on Saturday at 11-13 and 15-17 local time, and on Sunday during 11-15 – unless last minute changes happen. Come say hi and entertain me as I will travel alone! I had a nightmare last night, the con anxiety is real lololol

Regarding costuming I am not sure yet what to wear, if anything. It will depend on the weather and my mood but my current plans are to most likely either go casual or wear some lesser effort alternative fashion lol. I did think about maybe going as a random Jedi from Star Wars again, just like at Kummacon. I have to wear something that I can still easily work in and that doesn't hinder movement in any way so, uh, that's why I'm so unsure about how suitable cosplaying is and honestly, if the weather is warm I don't want to get roasted alive. :D
On Sunday I will go casual as I don't want to stress with getting to the train station on time... and I'm past those weeb days when I could easily sit in a train, in full costume, and not care that people were hardcore staring at me for half the trip.

My main reason to go to Matsucon is actually to see the Valitut Lapset (lit. chosen children) play. Matsucon is the only con in northern Finland that it's coming to and thus my only chance to see this fan-made Digimon spectacle and as a big Digimon fan this is a must for me to experience! I am so excited and happy that the supervisor for the con workers gave me my break time from work to go see it, woop! But this play is also one of the reasons I'm highly considering not cosplaying and another reason is that Pokémon Go's long awaited Ralts Community Day falls on Matsucon's Saturday and this means that I'll be roaming the streets of Oulu and I'd rather be as comfortable as possible.

See you there, whoever is going!

Kummacon 2019 plans??

Hello guys!

It seems like Kummacon will be my first convention for 2019 and I am quite excited to be honest, it's been half a year since my last convention (Skecon) so any chance to get to geek it out is appreciated. Kummacon is held during 11-12 May in Oulu, Finland, but I will only be there on the first day on a day trip as my stepdad will drive me and Frozen Angel there and check out some stores meanwhile we are at the con. I am quite curious about the new location Kastellin Monitoimitalo though, my aunt said that it's about 3-4 km away from centrum. 

I must admit that when the con revealed that the theme this year is "seikkailu" (adventure in Finnish) I started thinking that maybe I should cosplay and not just be lazy and go casual again. But then I remembered that almost all my cosplays are currently unwearable for one reason or another and so I started brainstorming if I could throw something fitting together in time. Sadly I realized way too late that what I feel the most like cosplaying from right now is Sea of Thieves, my latest video game addiction – and the problem is that I have nothing in my closet that I could use to even do the most basic, starter pirate outfit with; I feel so disappointed in meself, lol. No I'm not doing just the underwear, even though that would be even easier. xD And I want a gunpowder barrel as a prop but that ain't happening in less than a week either. *sniff* So I have to postpone my pirate dreams for a later convention (Närcon maybe, idk?) but I feel like I'm missing such a fun opportunity as it would fit the con's adventure theme so well.

No pirate's life for me this time. I don't really have sewing equipment
at home and don't want to stress either as results would 100% be ugly af.

Oh well, I stared at my cosplay list for a while and thought that I know for a fact that I want to do a movie or a video game character. I haven't felt any hype for anime/manga in a while to be honest (except that I still want photos of my costumes, Hotaru from SDK in particular right now) and I have thought about writing a blog post about this dilemma but I'll save that for a later date.
But whatever the case I feel like just doing a random Jedi would be comfy and easy enough – and with May the 4th recently passed and a new movie in the makings it feels very relevant... and fits the theme! Now to hope that me and my anxious ass keeps to it and doesn't bail out at the last moment.

Kummacon cosplay plan for Saturday:

tl;dr - I want to be a Sea of Thieves pirate but as I'm Matti Myöhäinen again I'll just be a random Jedi knight (without lightsaber cuz I'm a poorfag) on Saturday, to fit in with Kummacon's adventure theme. 

Anyone else going to Kummacon this upcoming weekend? See ya there!

~ Shiro Samurai

Närcon 2018 (potential) cosplay plans!

Hello folks!

I haven't mentioned it in here yet (I think) but I am going to Närcon this year too! I've bought a ticket second-hand a while ago and I'll be camping again, höhöhöööh~

I'm pretty sure everyone who is going is aware of one little detail and that is that even Närcon itself has officially gone out with a warning about the massive heat wave that is likely to be during the con, some sites even claiming it to be the warmest week of the year. Needless to say I'm pretty sure that this information made a lot of people change their cosplay plans last minute, me included.

Super-mega-viktigt att göra:
- Ta med en vattenflaska. Fyll på den varje gång du går från en aktivitet till en ny. Drick ca 2 liter vatten per dag.
- Ta med solskyddsfaktor, vätskeersättning och annat som hjälper dig tackla värmen. Ha gärna keps eller annan hatt som skyddar mot solen.
- Lämna din varma cosplay hemma. Det kan vara riktigt trist att inte få visa upp sin fina cosplay, men det är ännu mer trist att svimma i solen.
- Det är direkt farligt att ha varm cosplay i år. Lämna den hemma. Ta inte med den. Ja, det gäller även din fursuit, din plåtrustning eller din John Snow-rock.

The text above was posted by Närcon at their event page and it states, in Swedish, that it is directly dangerous to have a warm cosplay this year and they urge you to leave it at home and not take it with you. I'm heeding the advice. I'm not a person who copes with heat very well and I'd rather be comfy than faint so yeah, my original planned cosplay went into the bin and I had to think of what I ~could~ actually bring with me...

...

...

Which proved to be incredibly tough as I realized that 99% of my wearable cosplays consists of multiple layers. Fuck my life. :))

Buuuuuuuuuuuut I think I came up with something. At least ~potential~ cosplay plans! This means that I'll most likely bring these cosplays with me but when and if I wear them remains a mystery and will depend on the weather and my mood. I'm more likely to wear these out after the worst heat has passed, aka during the evening. Better safe than sorry!

~~~~~~~

Main cosplay

Series: Samurai Deeper Kyo

Character: Hotaru

I am not giving up on Hotaru again as I've been postponing his debut way too long already! I really want to wear him out and I feel like Närcon is the best place to do so as SDK was published in Sweden for a while and thus I have a chance of stumbling upon other fans who'd recognize me. :'D Ironically enough Hotaru is one of my "cooler cosplays" and yet wearing him means three layers of clothing on the upper body... when will I do something actually cool?? At least he has shorts to balance it out somewhat. *shrugs* I will hopefully wear him on either Friday or Saturday evening, perhaps both.

Secondary cosplay??

I might or might not bring a second cosplay but if I do (I'll know when I get home later today and can check what cosplays have all their parts where I can find them lol) it's probably gonna be either a random character from Hetalia in casual gear, Souji Okita from Hakuouki in his yukata, a generic Jedi or perhaps even a Team Aqua Grunt from Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire. I'm really unsure where the gloves and shoes for the Grunt are but if I can find them I am leaning towards bringing him right now and yes, his debut is also very long due, just like with Hotaru. xD I'm in a Pokémon mood right now!

~~~~~~~

Närcon has always been infamous for being either really warm or rainy as it's always at the exact same time of year (last full weekend of July) and often on heat waves but yeah, this year is gonna be worse than usual. Weather forecasts promise pretty much 30 degrees for the whole duration of the con so we're all gonna die. Period. 
If anyone's curious my original plans included to take part in the Touken Ranbu cosplay group as uchiban Kashuu Kiyomitsu but yeah, with this heat I'm leaving him home without a second thought as that cosplay is WAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY TOO HOT.

I think that's about it. Tomorrow early-as-shit I'm leaving for Linköping so wish me luck and see ya there!

Shiro Samurai out.

Okamicon 2018 cosplay plans!

Hello people!

My first con for the year is closing in and it will be something refreshing! I will go to the new Okamicon in Sundsvall, Sweden, which will be held for the first time on 9-11 March. 

I'm pretty excited as I've never been to a convention in Sundsvall before! Also, it has a LGBT focus and I'm pretty happy about that too, hence why I want to support this con. Speaking of supporting – I'll go there as a con worker and, more specifically, I'll work at the entrance! Come and say hi to me~

When it comes to cosplay plans I decided on only taking one costume with me and that's simply because I feel like I will not have time for two. While I am technicaĺly allowed to cosplay during working hours I have to wear my work shirt, which won't look good on top of a costume that isn't very casual to begin with. xD So yeah, one costume it is and this time it's gonna be a new one!

Character: Mightyena (shiny)
Series: Pokémon

More pocket monsters! I'm in a Pokémon mood right now, thanks to Pokémon Go, hehe. I want to do a lot more gijinkas in the future and I realized that I had stuff in my closet that I could use for a cool shiny Mightyena outfit, so why the hell not? I'll just have to make the ears to make it extra recognizable. Hello con crush my old friend...

My con company will consist of Therese and Sabine, just like at Skecon last year. We'll be staying at a hotel and that's gonna feel like such luxury since I haven't had a con hotel for years! ;^;

I don't know yet when I'll be in costume but most likely it's gonna be on Saturday. Truth is that I still don't know my working times and that feels pretty ehh, considering that the con is only two days away...

Here's to hoping that Okamicon will be worth the long car trip down. See you there!

~ Shiro Samurai out.

My to-this-day undebuted cosplays

Hello folks!

Here it now is – the list of all my yet-to-be-debuted cosplays, as of now. I think every cosplayer is guilty of this one and what I mean is that we all start cosplays and then life happens and we just don't... finish them, for whatever reason. Sometimes we lose interest, sometimes we get other costumes in the way (that we want to finish first) and sometimes we just get lazy. Or something. :D

Regarding my own list I want to say that fear not, all the characters on the image below I still have an intent to finish and wear to a con. I haven't forgotten them! It's just that, for various reasons, all of these guys have ended up on the backburner – finished or not. I will detail below the status of each listed character.

From top left to bottom right:

Sanosuke Harada (Hakuouki, western outfit): Mostly finished. Looking for the right wig.
Team Aqua Grunt (Pokémon, RSE version): Finished, I might have lost my gloves though. Waiting for the right summer con because this is a very light costume.
Invoker (DOTA 2): In progress. Currently on a break.
Rentarou Satomi (Black Bullet): Need new shoes, otherwise finished. Hoping for a group/pair cosplay as I'm not too interested in doing him alone...
Leon S. Kennedy (Resident Evil 4): In progress. Hoping to get him finished early next year.
Mikazuki Munechika (Touken Ranbu): In progress but on a break. I have the wig and headband.
Tsurumaru Kuninaga (Touken Ranbu): In need of upgrading/repairs. Making the sword. Currently on a break.
Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin): Need to style the wig and fix the sword, otherwise ready. Currently on a break but plan to get back to him soon.
Hotaru (Samurai Deeper Kyo): Finished. Just need to learn to walk without faceplanting with his tengu geta. Waiting for a summer con.
Cheshire Cat (Yume Oukoku to Nemureru 100 nin no Ouji-sama): Needs some small fixing. Currently on a break.
Hajime Saitou (Hakuouki, rasetsu): Finished, except that I kind of want to find an even better wig for him. The juban needs some repairing before wear and the waraji shoes need to be strengthened.
Masamune Date (Sengoku Basara): My eternity project. ::DD Seeing how I last worked on him in 2014-2015 I might want to remake most of the armor parts by now, seeing how some of them aren't even comfortable/possible to wear. Currently on a break.
Shin Kazama (Area 88): In progress. Working on his flight suit. Hopefully finished for next summer.

There you have it. :) Although I must admit that I did not add all characters in there, mainly because either a lack of reference images of the particular version or because I'm highly considering scrapping them from my cosplay list altogether. Look at the list below to get an idea of what characters I left out and what their fate looks like.

Here's the "invisible list" of the second-grade cosplays:

Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan, casual): I actually started making this costume in January 2015 and got like halfway done before I suddenly lost interest. Don't get me wrong – I still think that the show is good but because of bad experiences I don't think that I want to cosplay from it anymore.
Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan, suit): I still kinda like the character but I just can't look at this cosplay the same as before. The costume is finished but I doubt I could ever get past the mental barrier to actually wear him out, seeing how this very cosplay worsened my already existing insecurities. I know that my friends would tell me to not let anonymous hate stop me from cosplaying him but honestly, I don't want to risk getting bullied for wearing a cosplay again. Especially one that is not important to me anyway... 
Masamune Date (Brave 10): I did actually do a wig test in like 2012 but haven't started working on this cosplay. I later sold the wig but I still plan to cosplay this guy eventually – especially if I could get a group together.
Rokuro Unno (Brave 10, kimono): I was about to wear him to Desucon 2013 but just did a quick photoshoot outside the hotel and skipped actually debuting him. On hindsight I'm happy about that because the costume needs some updating, aka a better wig and eyewrap. Still plan to cosplay him one day, hopefully.
Yuuto (Original Character): One of my early OCs. I wore him for a home photoshoot in 2010 (holy shit that's old!) but since then I've been wanting to improve this costume and rewear him.
Jushiro Ukitake (Bleach, original suit): Did this for Valentine's Day 2012 and for Desucon Frostbite's "iltabileet" the same year. I kind of want to have a proper photoshoot of this costume one day.
Chikage Kazama (Hakuouki): I think I bought a sayagata patterned collar to use for his haori in 2012 and then just... forgot about it. xD I still want to do him but it's probably gonna take a while.

I might be forgetting someone but I left out a few new (or old-new) cosplays that I will soon start working on and want to keep secret for a lil' while longer. x) Also, I chose to skip adding all the different versions of Hakuouki's Souji Okita and rasetsu versions of other characters that I have more or less started working on because yeah, they would quickly take up a lot of space – I only added Saitou and western Harada on the list because those I actually got far enough to costest, haha. I bought perfect red fabric for Okita's regular version in 2014 and it has been waiting for its day since then. I also have red leather fabric for his gloves etc.

~~~

There ya go. I hope you found this little post of interest, hehe. ^_^

Thanks for reading and see you!

~ Shiro Samurai

Skecon 2017 preliminary plans!

Hello!

So it seems like Skecon will be my last convention for 2017 and I will go there as a worker this year too. For those not in the know, Skecon will be held on 3-5 November in Skellefteå's Campus, just like last year. I honestly liked Folkparken better but oh well. I still don't know who exactly I will be traveling with (like what?!) because there's been some complications with the "car or bus" issue. Oh well, I hope that it will get sorted out tomorrow because yeah, the con starts on Friday for heaven's sake! It's stressing me out that we still don't know if we'll have a driver or not but yeah, I know for sure that Sabine and Therese are going with me. I'll be the con senpai again! x)

A problem though is that I really don't know if I will cosplay or not. ^^" I kind of want to but I'm dealing with so many insecurities right now and the weather will be too cold for the cosplays that I would otherwise consider taking with me so yeah, I'm at a loss. Another issue is that I only have like green, red and blue circle lenses opened right now (that are wearable for a full con day) and well, not really any cosplays with those eye colors that I'd want to do or can do right now. Uggggh.

But after some thinking my brain came up with at least one candidate that I haven't worn for years and that would be quite fun to do again! Truth is, I haven't worn him since 2014 and, while this particular cosplay is in need of some updating to be photoshoot-worthy, it's still wearable unlike most of my other costumes that need some serious repairs and/or updates before I can even look at them, lol. 

*drumroll*

Saturday

Series: Bleach

Character: Gin Ichimaru

Right now Gin feels like my best and most comfortable cosplay choice and I feel nostalgic. I went to check the condition of my old character wig for him and yeah, I put it on my head and my immediate thought was "oh hell to the no!" – it looked horrible after having been years in a plastic bag, no joke and I don't have time to fix it. I asked Frozen Angel if he had any suitable wigs but after digging through all my own wigs I found one that will have to do for this emergency. I do plan to get another proper wig for him but that will have to wait until next time since I'm not gonna shoot him at the con anyway. His sword also needs some fixing (and a sheath) but I'm not even sure where it is right now so I don't know if I will have it with me.

I will bring Gin with me but it will depend on my mood etc for how long I'll wear him on Friday since I have free time from 07:00-16:00 and then I work 16:00-21:00, assuming that the schedule doesn't change, that is.

I won't bring a second cosplay because it's pointless since, as a con worker, I'm not allowed to cosplay during my working hours anyway – I have to wear a specific work t-shirt, just like last year. I know that on Friday I can't cosplay because of how my working hours are placed and on Sunday I just can't be bothered since it's such a short day... and I have work on Sunday anyway (during the possible hours).

I guess that's all I had to say. See you guys at Skecon!

~ Shiro Samurai

Närcon 2017 preliminary cosplay plans!

Hello guys!

Närcon is closing in like a storm (27-30 July) and I've decided to go there this year too! I've been rather quiet about it on social media and such but it's just simply because there's been a lot of planning involved to make it possible. ^^" I'll be carpooling with a good friend from the north and staying the night at my big sister's place, for the last time. She's moving away from Linköping very soon.
I've got myself a ticket for not so long ago (bought it second-hand and thus got it a bit cheaper, fuck yeah!) and everything seems set now... except that I'm still fretting over my cosplay plans. xD You see, I'm still not 100% sure of what I will bring but I'll still go ahead and post my preliminary plans!

Thursday

Series: ???

Character: ???

I swear my Thursday cosplay is still a great mystery to me and yes, even with the con less than a week away. -_- I've been going through a lot of potential candidates but I just can't decide on what to bring – a lot of my costume options are also restricted because of being either in need of upgrading or repairing, not suitable for high heat and/or rain or I just don't want to (re)wear it yet for whatever reason. In other words: almost everything gets ruled out by one reason or another (even though I have 50+ costumes, lol) and I just don't fucking know. :)) I'm not even sure if I'll cosplay on Thursday because I mostly spend that day checking out what the con has to offer and thus I don't want to wear a cumbersome cosplay. We'll see.

Friday

Series: Touken Ranbu

Character: Yamato no Kami Yasusada

Finally I can rewear Yasusada now that I have better hakama for him! I'm hoping for a photoshoot (I have like no proper photos of this cosplay!) and it would be nice to find other sword boys too, hehe. I'm just crossing my thumbs that it won't be too hot because yeah, the blue kimono that I use for Yasusada is actually made of wool... xD Then again, Närcon is pretty much infamous for either heat waves or a shitlot of rain.

Saturday

Series: Touken Ranbu

Character: Kashuu Kiyomitsu

Aaaand Kashuu for the next day! I want to photoshoot him as well so I'm hoping that Firith will give me a helping hand with this one too. Kashuu might also be a borderline too hot cosplay for Närcon's weather –just like Yasusada– but as they say in Finnish "cosplay without pain is pretending". :DD But, then again, pretty much all my cosplays are too hot for summer anyway, lmao.

 _______

On Sunday I won't be cosplaying – heck, I might not even be at the con at all. It's such a short day anyway and I have a long way home so I might just go by a quickie on the morning and grab food or something and then leave, I don't know. 

Also, regarding Kashuu's and Yasusada's days – they are not set and I might very well swap the boys around, depending on my mood and the weather. If it's raining on one of the days I'll wear Yasusada on the rainy day because yeah, that costume likely won't take damage from rain the same way as Kashuu's silk outfit might. ^^; Yes, both cosplays consist of vintage kimono and hakama.

That's my preliminary cosplay line-up for Närcon! See ya there!

Shiro Samurai says byebye ~

Euran mangapäivä 2017 – Plans!

Hello peeps!

So I got asked by my friend Firith –on short notice– if I could come and help him out with arranging the second Eura's manga day (Euran mangapäivä, in Finnish) or, more accurately, come as part of the work force. The first one was held way back in 2013 and, sadly, kind of fell into oblivion until Firith managed to bring it back into the light again. I figured why not help out a friend, and a budding Japanese culture event, in need? ♥

Event schedule & information.
Made by Firith.

So yeah, just like Kemi's manga day (Kemin mangapäivä) this is a small one-day event with free entrance. It's held on Saturday, 22nd April 2017, in Eura's main library. I got asked to come work as the con/event photographer, although I might have some other jobs to do as well, I don't know yet. :'D I'll know better once I get there! There was some talk that, if we get enough participants, I'll maybe join Firith as a second cosplay judge...

Oh and yeah, regarding what I'll cosplay it seems like I'll bring out my latest costume again – Itachi Uchiha from Naruto, kimono version. ^_^ Yes, the same one I wore at Matsucon where I, coincidentally, also worked as a con photographer.
I'm really hoping that lots of people will show up to this little 4-hour event! Come come ~

This is gonna be fun and yet another work experience under my belt. Early tomorrow morning I'll leave for the south so now it's high time that I start to pack my stuff! Good thing that the municipality will compensate my traveling expenses because otherwise it wouldn't be possible for me to go and help them with the event, seeing how far away I live. ^^" I'm really thankful for this opportunity ~

For more information about the event, check out Firith's blog post (in Finnish): http://shinigamiuchiha.blogspot.com/2017/03/euran-mangapaiva-ensimmaista-kertaa.html

Let's roll! inb4 sitting countless hours in a bus, lol.

~ Shiro Samurai out.

Game characters I want to cosplay someday! [pt.2]

Hello people!

With the end of this year approaching I thought it could be a nice idea to go through some more cosplay candidates that I want to do in the future – from different kinds of games, just like in the previous post with the same name. ^_^ This post is not a guarantee that all of these characters will eventually happen but it's a fairly good indicator that I want to do them because yeah, most of these have been on my mind and on my cosplay list for a longer time already and haven't fallen out yet. I admit that there is a higher chance of me doing any of the following characters earlier if some of my friends etc are interested in the same series and/or plan a cosplay group! So yeah, comment if you are hyped about any of the characters/series and we could get something together!

Now let's go, roll out the list ~

Characters are in no particular order.

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Game: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

Character: Ace Commander

I'm a huuuuuge Monster Hunter fanboy and of course I want to cosplay some armor sets etc but yeah, I also want to cosplay some actual characters that you interact with in the games. I really enjoy playing MH4U (1500+ hours and still going!) and I took a big liking to the Ace Commander. I just love how awkward he is with small talk and showing compassion and yet he's the cool leader type who values the other Ace hunters like family and protects them when it's needed. He's pretty relatable and I love his design, color scheme and... well... I have a bias for males with long silver hair, haha. One day I swear to God I will cosplay this guy, it needs to happen.

Game: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Character: Argosy Captain

This one started of as a joke between me and Sacchan but quickly grew to be a real candidate on my cosplay list. I just love this trade captain in MH3U who keeps mixing Japanese words into his sentences and he's just really funny! I also of course like his design and he wouldn't be too hard to do as a first MonHun cosplay, except that the wig will be a challenge and I need to make monobrows to be accurate.... oh shit!

Game: Resident Evil 4

Character: Leon Scott Kennedy

If you had asked me a couple years ago I would probably never consider playing nor cosplaying from a horror game – I just don't like anything that might give me nightmares. But then there's my friend Sacchan, who loves survival horror games and is a big fan of Resident Evil and once she brought her PS2 to my place and proceeded to play RE4, from the very beginning, while I watched her play. Turns out I found the game interesting (although I'm still too much of a scaredy cat to play it myself) and ended up liking Leon surprisingly much. Besides, Sacchan want to cosplay some characters from the series anyway so why not join my best friend in the fun? And now I finally get a reason to go to an unsettling, possibly abandoned building after nightfall and have a photoshoot in there...

Game: World of Warcraft

Character: Malfurion Stormrage

Before anyone inserts a pitchfork up my ass I must confess that I've never played WoW (yet) but I've always been drawn to the character designs and I really liked Warcraft: The Beginning. But despite not playing WoW it does have some nostalgic connections with me, mainly because one of my childhood friend's brother played it a lot and that I remember at my first big con I saw some really amazing WoW cosplayers that made me think "oh man, I want to be purple and badass one day too!". Later it turned out that Sacchan had been wanting to cosplay Tyrande Whisperwind for years and she asked me if I wanted to join in as Malfurion. I checked him up and my eyes jumped out of my sockets – OMG, this guy has everything that I've been wanting to create in a cosplay! Wings, huge horns, bodypaint, fur details, a long beard, those famous WoW-eyebrows, huge ears, leatherwork, making a realistic muscle suit etc. This will be one hell of a challenge but I'm gonna do it!

Game: Touken Ranbu

Character: Taroutachi

I think most people know by now that I'm a fan of sword boys. I have already cosplayed a few characters from this online web browser game but there's so many more that I still want to do – and Taroutachi is one of them. He's actually one of my dream cosplays from Touken Ranbu and one of the very first ones I decided that I definitely want to cosplay one day. His design just speaks volumes to me and I can't wait to make a huge-ass sword!

Game: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Character: Oscar

Ah, good old Nintendo Gamecube age. I'm still there. Path of Radiance is, so far, the only Fire Emblem game that I've played but I really like it even though it's really frustrating at times. Oscar is one of my favorite characters in the game and I want to cosplay him someday when I'm good enough at armormaking and when... I can get to borrow a horse from somewhere. :D No but really, he's a cavalry knight in the game so yeah, it would be really awesome if I ever got the chance to photoshoot with a real "oat motorcycle", as my father always said. *dreaming*

Game: Umikaze

Character: Kantai Collection

What is this, a female character on my list? Yes, you saw right. Although I'm not into crossplay I will do an exception for KanColle ship girls because yeah, I have a big interest in ships and history etc and hey, why not do something different every once in a blue moon? I really like the color scheme of Umikaze and I thought that "why not? :D". It would be a challenge in itself and way out of my comfort zone. I'm still not 100% sure if I want to do an actual crossplay or a genderbend but I think I'm leaning a bit more towards doing Umikaze as she is because it just makes more sense to not genderbend her since ships have always been referred to as feminine.

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...

I would have a couple more characters to list but I think I'll save those for a third reveal so stay tuned for that. ^^ Thanks for your time and I'm looking forward to hear if any of these characters caught your interest! I'm often up for pair and group cosplays if it's possible to arrange, the more the merrier ~

Bye bye!