Showing posts with label photoshoot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photoshoot. Show all posts

July 27, 2025

Nekocon 2025 – Team Rocket can't capture Digimons!

Hello peeps!

I was at Nekocon last weekend and now it's time to write my con summary about how this year's trip went. So yeah, Nekocon was held during 19-20 July in the Music Centre (Musiikkikeskus) building in Kuopio, Finland. This is my third Nekocon experience to date, I've been attending it annually since my first one in 2023. :)

Let's get to the summary~


Mine and Firith's con journey started on Friday morning. We had planned to drive down because it suited our plans better this year as we would stay in the south after Nekocon and continue towards Eura and Mericon in two weeks – no point in driving all the way back up and then soon drive down again. 
The car trip down went well and this time we were spared from tractor meetups and other road rage inducing experiences. I did have to handsew the elastic belt loops of Gaogamon's tail in the car though so yeah, the classic last minute fixing happened haha. Somehow I managed to lose my seam ripper in the car and I'm still sad about it; maybe it fell out of the car during one of our many stops because I had it in my lap last time I saw it. It sucks to lose things you've had for a long time no matter how inexpensive it was because it still had some emotional value... and this is the kind of shit I beat myself up over.

We were laughing at silly and dirty town and street names like Alapitkä (hard to translate but if you're dirty-minded it means that you're long down there lol) and Makkaramäentie (lit. sausage hill road)... xD I mean that's how you entertain yourself while on a long road trip, right? Another one is counting yellow cars and coming up with meanings for register plates on passing cars...

You know when everything becomes Pöljä (means something like dimwit) that Kuopio is close. :'D

We arrived at Kuopio somewhere between late afternoon and evening and before we went to our hotel for the night we drove to Kuopio's centrum and grabbed our con tickets in advance from the booth outside the Lumit building, which is part of where Nekocon would be hosted the next day. We had also been tasked with retrieving Sallukka's and Dongrieg's tickets because they would arrive (also by car) much later than us and would thus miss the chance to grab their tickets. I mean no one wants to queue on the actual con day unless you absolutely have to, right?

After we got the tickets we headed to Rauhalahti spa hotel, just like on the two previous Nekocons. We might have cemented this as a Nekocon must-have package because yeah, the spa is included in the hotel price (which is reasonable and comparable to a standard hotel) and nothing is as refreshing as jumping into the spa after a sweaty summer con day lol. And yes, this year's Nekocon was just as hot as last year's and we were positively dying.
We checked in at the hotel and, as cosplayers usually do, our belongings spread across the hotel room like wildfire. We had an unholy amount of luggage with us which required multiple trips to the car to empty it so yeah, there was a lot of stuff. xD I unpacked my cosplay parts and put them on hangers etc on the balcony – I mean we didn't have access to an ironing board so you gotta do what you can to minimize wrinkles lol. We were lucky to have a room with a balcony this time because it meant we had a functioning AC. 
Because we arrived before 9 PM it meant we had time to jump into the spa on our arrival day, which was quite nice after that long trip down. The rest of the night was spent relaxing and preparing for the con morning by going through skincare routines, ditching the beard etc.

Kuopio's Music Centre, aka Nekocon main building.

We had mutually agreed on a no-stress Saturday and that's because there wasn't really any activities that piqued our interests enough to warrant an early morning lol. Although in hindsight we might have been a bit too sluggish to get going. XD We woke up respectably early at around 9 in the morning for being millenials at least and immediately went to the breakfast buffet. Rauhalahti hotel buffet is not as large as on the Sokos hotels we've frequented but it has the necessities eli karjalanpiirakat
After we were done eating our fills we went back to the hotel room and we, uhh, were supposed to put on our cosplays, which... well, we eventually did. We just took a reaaaaally long time getting into gear because we were tired and hovering in lazybum territory lmao. I did struggle with Gaogamon's makeup because I had not been able to do any practicing beforehand so yeah, caking my face up took a stupid amount of time. To make it worse I had forgotten my matte eyeshadow palette at home and both my liquid eyeliners decided to be unreliable and randomly start showing signs of dying just now because why wouldn't they? :)) Needless to say I wasn't happy with my eye makeup at all and I will do it differently next time lol. Firith didn't need nearly as much time as me to finish Tanemon's makeup, aside from some false eyelash rage. xD Putting on all my cosplay parts was quite the struggle too because I had so many moving parts (the floofy pelt, long scarf, bandages, boxing wraps etc) and my tail didn't stay secured as well as I had hoped. Had to use a safety pin to stabilize it and even despite that it was still a bit too floppy to my liking. I will have to rethink the attachment method for future use.

Once we finally had our costumes on the clock was something around 3 in the afternoon. Honestly we've probably never arrived to a con this late before, this has got to be a new record. xD It was a very hot summer day and before we did anything else we quickly walked past Lumit to take some proof photos before our faces melted off. Despite our efforts to do more summer-friendly cosplays we were still overheating lol. 

Lumit, the secondary Nekocon building.

Despite the super warm day it was fun to be in costume and we got a couple adorable interactions by the younger congoers. I just wish I wasn't so socially awkward and could manage to say something else than just a 'thank you' when someone comes up to me. :') I always come up with replies in hindsight and after the occasion has passed – one of my useless superpowers lol.

Taisteluturri vauhtikorvilla.

After the minimal camera session behind Lumit we decided to check out the Artist's Alley, especially because we knew that some of the sellers were only there on Saturday and others only on Sunday. Just like on previous years the Artist's Alley was located inside Lumit and inside Lumit were also the video game room, the flea market and probably something else I'm forgetting. Lumit is a separate building from the Music Centre but they're just next to one another so it's easy to navigate from one to the other.

I had one fun encounter as Gaogamon when near Lumit – I spotted a pair of Team Rocket Grunt cosplayers and asked for their picture because they were super cool. While I was grabbing my phone I said something silly along the lines of "I'm a Digimon so I can safely snap a photo without being stolen by Team Rocket!" which made everyone laugh. :'D For once my social anxiety gave way to be a goof around strangers.

View towards Lumit's entrance, general area and AA.

One of the Artist's Alley corridors.

There were quite a lot of artists this year too and some I don't remember having seen before, which is always nice. There was a good variety of items for sale but of course when I'm in the market for pins to decorate my ita bag with that's when most booths don't have pins. How come my luck is always like this? xD I remember years ago pins were super common but now it felt like only a few tables had pins for sale. *sniff* Oh well, I still ended up with a loot haul bigger than what I expected I would find!

View of the general area and AA from another angle.

I quickly checked out the video game room and there was some kind of game tournament running on the big scene I think? I didn't stay to watch though because a new intrusive thought had entered both mine and Firith's brains – what if the Aina Kesä bubble tea stand is out there in the town square this year too? There had been no marketing nor mentions about it on Nekocon's social media channels at this point and so we decided to enter detective mode and go check it out ourselves. 

The video game room. My eyes spy Double Dash...

We left Lumit and walked up the road towards the market square; it looked very similar to the previous years and there were normies everywhere staring just like previous years too lol. It didn't take long before we spotted the boba stand and the next thing that happened was a beeline straight towards it! We also saw some other colorful people who were clearly Nekocon attendants so we definitely weren't the only ones needy of cooling drinks!

The milkshake that brings all boys to the yard.

The sellers were super friendly and the drinks were yummy! Apparently this year there was a 10% discount for everyone who had the Nekocon ticket (which is a band on your wrist) instead of last year's version that had the discount for those who were dressed up. I mean this year's is more fair because not everyone cosplays or dressed up all fancy at cons so why should the casually dressed be excluded from a Nekocon collaboration? 

After we had finished our drinks we decided to go back to the hotel so that we would have time to invade the spa before it closes at 9 PM. 
This day was a rather quick run at the con but that's mainly because we arrived so late and only checked out Lumit and the town square; we had agreed on saving the Music Centre for Sunday instead. No need to rush when it's a 2-day event and especially because Nekocon had little to no must-see activities and so we were free to schedule our time how we saw fit. This chill approach allowed us to make sure we had time to make use of the spa facilities which, truth be told, is probably 50% of the reason why we attend Nekocon at this point. x) And the bubble tea stand is probably 30% and the rest is Nekocon itself lmaoooo.

Höpsöt päänahat roikkumaan feat. Wario-lippis.

We yeeted ourselves out of our costumes, showered and then hurried to the spa. We cut it a bit late but still had roughly one hour of pool time so yeah, it worked out. Might have consumed a hamburger at some point too. That was in fact my second chicken burger in a row, I couldn't stomach the thought of a third one for the remainder of the trip lol.
The rest of the night I think we lazily watched the first Lord of the Rings on television and inhaled a bag of chips.

On Sunday morning we did better. Or well, we woke up roughly the same time as the day before but we didn't idle for as long in the hotel room after breakfast. My cosplay for the day was also a lot easier to put on so that played a part too lol. I debuted my Revolutionary War America cosplay from Hetalia that I've had near-completed for years, oops. I was expecting this costume to be breezier to wear than Gaogamon but in hindsight I'm not sure if it was any lighter at all. xD Well at least there were less moving parts so I had an easier time moving around without constantly having to adjust something!
This time we didn't have same series cosplays like our Digimon gijinkas on Saturday – Firith did an Espeon gijinka and borrowed my old ears and the red forehead gem. I was a bit nervous before the trip because in my bathroom cabinet I have a bunch of unmarked sfx liquids and I wasn't entirely sure which one of the bottles was the spirit gum but yeah, luckily I picked the right one to take with me and so we could glue the gem without having to use eyelash glue as a substitute or some shit.

Once we both had our costumes on we, once again, drove to Nekocon. Firith's car was parked in a shadeless spot on the hotel's parking lot so you can imagine that boiling hot out-in-the-sun-all-day car smell when one opened the doors, it was like stepping into a sauna on wheels. xD The AC couldn't start up any sooner!
We arrived at the con in a much more reasonable hour of the day than on the day before. But before we entered the main building we pulled out my trusty old camera and did a quick mini photoshoot near the vegetation. Because there's only two photos I'm not going to post them separately but instead add them to this summary. 

Cosplayer: Shiro Samurai (America)
Photographer: Firith
Photo editor: Shiro Samurai



I'm somewhat relieved I managed to repair the ahoge because it had been crushed during transport. For once it was useful that I had packed with me all kinds of repair kits just in case, hah.

Once we had taken turns photographing each other's costumes we finally were ready to step inside the main con building. The Music Centre held within it the Dealer's Hall, Artesan's Alley, organization booths, panel rooms and cafeteria and basically everything else that wasn't in Lumit. We did not explore every corner but from what we could see it seemed like almost everything was placed in the same way as on previous years – as in the layout was super familiar. I'd say it works so why change it? What I don't like though is how horrible the indoors air quality is in the Music Centre, it has always been bad (even during the old Animecon days) so I've come to expect it but yeah, it very quickly becomes suffocating and especially upstairs in the Artesan's Alley where there's massive glass windows.

Artesan's Alley upstairs.

Cutest birbs made by momomaumau!

I was quite surprised to have some people come up to me and recognize that I'm from Hetalia, especially as its glory days are long past. The interactions were wholesome and lowkey adorable and I was so relieved to have nice interactions because I was mentally prepared to get cancelled lmao.

I bought a few more things from a couple artesan tables (artesan's and artist's alleys are separated in Finland because the former are seen as more professional, they usually are entrepreneurs and have higher selling volumes and experience than the standard artists) and we also browsed the dealers both in the upper floor and on the main floor.

Merchandise seller upstairs.

There were some Nekocon promotions. That Blastoise thou.

We didn't attend any activities or panels today either and so we mainly just browsed all the shops. If I had unlimited money I would have bought a lot more stuff but I don't and so I had to limit my spending sprees. That Blastoise plush made me feel hyper nostalgic though because I have a very similar one but the old-school version from the late 90s or early 00s when it had leather cannons; I still have it somewhere and it's super precious to me (Blastoise was my very first favorite Pokémon) but the leather has degraded a bit over the years. :'< I was tempted to buy the new one so I could have tortoise twins from the past and future lol. Maybe next time!

Dealer's Hall main area.

This seller had a lot of retro stuff that made my geeky heart tingle. ;_;

There was a kimono/wafuku shop in the Dealer's Hall too!

I don't think I have so much more to say about Nekocon, I mean I didn't really spend that much time at the con itself and what time I did spend was spent browsing and buying stuff. :'D I don't feel like a con trip has to be filled with activities to be worth it, I'm very much content just supporting some artists etc and seeing all the wonderful cosplayers while enjoying the atmosphere. Of course if there hadn't been such a summer heatwave I probably would have spent more time indoors or well, at least in the video game room hahah. 

During the con's final hour we went to get more boba!

All in all I'm happy with this year's Nekocon and I would definitely return next year, unless something unforeseen happens like Firith's car dies for good. The weather was perhaps a bit too hot for my liking but hey, we Finns from the far north shouldn't complain because half the year is winter and darkness! 


Thanks for reading! Mericon is coming up soon so that's where I'll be heading next~

May 25, 2025

Mini photoshoot: Captain Ukitake returns!

 Hello there~

As mentioned in my Kummacon summary I had a small-scale photoshoot of my good old Ukitake cosplay that I've finally repaired since the last outing in 2013. Or well, partially repaired because I have yet to fix the Sogyo no Kotowari twin swords.

For those who don't know this costume's history it's actually my fourth cosplay that I made (out of 50+ characters to date, including different versions) so yeah, it's definitely old by now. Yet I'm still quite proud of it. This was an ambitious cosplay back then to make but it was so worth it because the memories I've made with this costume at cons have been defining for me in so many ways. I have a deeply personal connection to this particular character and, although I might not be up to date on the Bleach series, Ukitake will always have a special place in my heart; cosplaying him has always carried with it a certain feeling that I can't quite put into words – he's more than just a character to me. And getting to wear this cosplay out and mend it after 12 years of neglect was nothing short of emotional.

Cosplayer: Shiro Samurai (Jushiro Ukitake)
Photographer: Firith
Photo editor: Shiro Samurai





I'm so happy with how these photos turned out despite how much of a struggle it was to get the natural lights to work! I only have the very barebones camera gear so we were completely at the mercy of the harsh noon sun; we had to find shade under this big spruce with hanging branches. I kept getting my wig entangled in the barbs too and had to be freed a couple times. xD

I do have Ukitake's sealed form zanpakuto somewhere but that one also needs some alterations and repair before I can use it again, hence why I have no props this time. I just went for a leisurely moment kind of vibe and carrying props around would have hindered me from doing my work tasks at the con so yeah, there was that factor too.

Oh and yeah, some people might notice that I'm wearing brown contact lenses although canonically in the manga his eyes are green. I'm well aware of the eye color discrepancies in the anime and manga (Ukitake's not the only character affected lol) and I would have preferred to use green lenses, but due to the short notice on which I decided to cosplay Ukitake I simply didn't have time to order new lenses – and I only had a brown pair already available at home, so brown it was. For my next outing as Ukitake I will get green lenses for him because I deem the manga to be the more correct one because it came first.

Thanks for viewing, next up is the repair post about the captain's coat~
Do you have a favorite character in Bleach? :D

July 22, 2024

Hotaru of the Shiseiten – Samurai Deeper Kyo cosplay photoshoot!

Hello there! 

As I mentioned over at my Nekocon summary, I had a proper photoshoot for my Hotaru (also known as Keikoku) cosplay from Samurai Deeper Kyo while in Kuopio! I've wanted to get this costume photographed for so long since it's one of my favorite mangas and Hotaru is a character that I feel suits me. I'm really happy with how these turned out and I can't thank my photographer enough for being so patient with me. ;_;

Cosplayer: Shiro Samurai (Hotaru)
Photographer: Firith
Photo editor: Shiro Samurai
 






This costume is entirely made by me, the tengu geta and sword included. I wear the shoes only for photos because, while they're made of solid wood and carry my body weight no problem (I've tested this and yes, standing is possible), they are tall and require an exceptionally good sense of balance –and even ground– to walk in. As much as I love cosplay accuracy I'm not going to risk breaking a leg for it, I'm not that hardcore. xD

Keen-eyed observers might also have noticed that I changed my watermark on these photos and yes, this is my new stamp that I will be using from now on in this blog! I've wanted to update my watermark for a long time but just haven't had the energy to do it before. There will be a transition period where most new content will have the new watermark but some might still have the old one – this mainly concerns circle lens reviews and some unfinished and obviously still unpublished cosplay WIPs that I have lying around.

I do plan to cosplay other characters from Samurai Deeper Kyo in the future, maybe already next year I might have bought some fabric on sale recently *cough* but I won't promise anything just yet! What I can promise though is that Hotaru will be seen in another con before the end of this year. ;) I might or might not try to get together a second photoshoot also~

Thanks for viewing~
Have a great summer wherever you are, stay safe and hydrated!

July 24, 2023

Kisuke Urahara mini photoshoot

 Hello hello!

Back when I was at Nekocon I had a quick photoshoot of my new Urahara cosplay from Bleach, which I threw together in panic like a week before departure. xD All things considered it turned out decently and, more importantly, it was comfortable to wear at a summer con. I'm so over the days of sweating to death for the sake of cosplay – I'm getting too old for that shit lol, I just want to be comfortable.
 
I know, I have yet to write the WIP post about this costume but I will do that when I got the time, right now there's a lot going on. But anyways, let's get over to the photoshoot results!

Cosplayer: Shiro Samurai (Kisuke Urahara)
Photographer: Firith
Photo editor: Shiro Samurai
 





I didn't have time before the con to make any kind of props as this cosplay was very last-minute and spontaneous. It would have been cool to have Benihime or at least a fan, a walking cane or any recognizable item that Urahara sells in his shop. Oh well, maybe someday I'll add something extra to this costume.

That's all, stay fresh cheesebags!

February 21, 2021

[Sponsored] Cosgeeker Hetalia Revolutionary War America mini photoshoot!

Hello again!
 
Back when I dressed up to get the costume review photos done I hadn't counted on there being enough time to get a few photoshoot-esque pictures taken on the same go but... surprise surprise. :D It was a bit too cold for my liking (you ever had that thing when you're outside in winter, without gloves, and after a while your fingers cramp up and you can't hold anything without dropping it?) but as the Finnish saying goes, "cosplay without pain is pretending".
 
So this costume is sponsored by Cosgeeker, a Shanghai-based online cosplay shop. It's a quite newly launched store, at the time of writing, but they are expanding by the minute. I'm always super honest about anything I review, sponsored or not, but I want to confirm that I am indeed pretty damn satisfied with this costume and definitely plan to wear it more times in the future.
Oh and yeah, this outfit is not actually called a Hetalia cosplay on their store (heck, Hetalia's glory days are long over but the fanbase is very alive still) but in fact an Alexander Hamilton uniform from the Hamilton musical. That didn't stop me from making the observation that the suit looks like a revolutionary war soldier's uniform and thus I clocked the idea to cosplay said version of America!

I will include some links after the photos on where you can get your own cosplay like this – or any other costume you desire! Be sure to take a peep~ 
 
Photo time!
 
Cosplayer: Shiro Samurai (America)
Photographer: Sacchan
Photo editor: Shiro Samurai
 



Link to Cosgeeker main page: Cosgeeker Online Cosplay Store

BONUS: USE DISCOUNT CODE CGSS129 TO GET 12% OFF~
(using the code doesn't benefit* me, it just saves you money!)
 
At the time of writing the red version of the Hamilton costume that I'm wearing is selling for $69.99 excluding shipping and handling fees. It's a steal – I can't recommend it enough if this is a costume that you're interested in wearing. It's not historically accurate by any means if you're deep into re-enacting history but if you just want it for geek conventions, Halloween, themed events, theater, school plays, bachelor parties or the like then it surely gets the job done. :) 
The costume looks quite impressive, it's comfortable to wear and you will immediately feel important and fancy with all those ruffles and shiny buttons everywhere lol. I can't wait to get my hands on some props to make a proper, more gritty photoshoot later!
Cosgeeker didn't disappoint me, in other words. My contact person spoke very good English (considering the store is based in China) and everything was produced and arrived in a timely manner. There were no weird chemical smells, sewing and fabric quality is good for the price and it's just overall great value if you want a costume ready-made and are on a budget. Of course they sell more than just Hamilton costumes though – there's the currently popular anime series, some evergreens like Star Wars and Marvel superheroes etc.

* = as in I don't get any monetary benefits from any sales. But if many people use the code it can help me get to do more reviews in the future which is a win-win situation, you save money and I can help the cosplay community even more~
 

That's all I have to say for this time! Thanks for reading my blog!
A big thank you also goes to Cosgeeker for this opportunity!
Shiro Samurai says bye bye.

July 6, 2020

Touken Ranbu Kashuu Kiyomitsu mini photoshoot!

Good day beans~

I promised a mini photoshoot after the Kashuu Kiyomitsu cosplay costume review I did recently and here it now is! Fun fact about this photoshoot is that we actually took these photos at midnight. Yes, we have midnight sun up here where I live and it means that the sun never sets during the summer. And yes, you get used to it. I would have loved to get more photos but we got so bombed by uninvited guests that it got unbearable fairly fast... namely a metric fuckton of mosquitos that assaulted both me and my friend at all times. I don't know why but my whole life I've been a literal mosquito magnet, it's horrible, I can barely go outside during summers without getting at least half a dozen bites within minutes. ;_; I AM THE UNDISPUTED KING OF MOSQUITO BITES LOLOLOL. And summer nights are the worst but our only option was to take the photos on this one day because the weather was clear (it rained the other days) and well, we just had to endure getting eaten alive. No joke but I swear we had at least fifty flying suckers buzzing around us at all times – we were swatting them and cursing profanities every second because you literally could not take a pose without having at least ten of the fuckers somewhere on your costume. Tbh it wasn't as graceful as the photos make you believe. xD I have pictures on my camera where I have three on my forehead alone and I just can't. Just looking at some of the unused photos makes me feel the itch. D:

But now it's photo time!

Cosplayer: Shiro Samurai (Kashuu Kiyomitsu)
Photographer: Heesman
Photo editor: Shiro Samurai
 



Kashuu is definitely a character that I will revisit more times in the future; I really like his overall design and color scheme! I want to do a few minor changes to the costume though before I officially debut him so yeah, will probably take a while before I wear this to an event as I want to make it a tiny bit easier to wear for extended durations.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading my blog!
Shiro Samurai says goodbye.

July 5, 2018

[Sponsored] Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi photoshoot!

Good day everyone!

To better showcase my new Star Wars costume from CosplaySky I wanted to have a photoshoot with it! This is my first time cosplaying a non-anime character, aka a movie/real-life actor/face character, which is a huge step out of my comfort zone. Obi-Wan was my first favorite character when I watched all Star Wars movies for the first time last year (yes, I'm late to the party) and I felt like I wanted to do him, despite the challenge it would provide as I feel like I'm too young to pull him off realistically. I wish I had darker crepe wool for the facial hair (as I can't grow my own in the same shape as his) but all of the darker colors were out of stock when I ordered, rip. ;_;

I will include some links after the photos on where you can get Jedi tunics like this – or any other costume you desire! Be sure to check them out~

But now it's time to indulge in a galaxy far, far away.. enjoy!

Cosplayer: Shiro Samurai (Obi-Wan Kenobi)
Photographer and stylist: Sacchan
Photo editor: Shiro Samurai










Want to be one with the Force too? Check out the links below!

Link to CosplaySky main page: CosplaySky Online Cosplay Store


I just want to say a few words about this costume as well. ^^
It's nice, easy and comfortable to wear, except that the tabards like to fall off my shoulders if I move around a lot but that makes sense as they're only secured in place by the belt. x) This is great even as a generic Jedi outfit (you don't have to be Obi-Wan) if you want to dress up for the next Star Wars movie marathon or something! Fans who don't have super high accuracy standards will surely enjoy it, just like I do. Overall I'm really pleased with this costume and I'd warmly recommend CosplaySky to my fellow geeks and costuming fans alike.
Pssst, be sure to check out my detailed and 100% honest review about them here ~

~ Bonus photos ~

One does not simply oppose the high ground.
Jedi frog dance. Remember to serious-face.

That's all I have to say for this time!
Thanks for reading my blog and may the Force be with you.

A big thank you also goes to CosplaySky for sponsoring me!
Shiro Samurai says farewell.