Kenshin cosplay ramblings and herpderp sword

Hello everyone!

I've kinda semi-promised earlier on at least my Facebook Page that I would cosplay Kenshin this summer but, well, I didn't. Sorryyyy. Some of you maybe wonder why and today I thought that I'll show you guys what made it so that Kenshin got pushed back!

You see, several years back or so I got a sword from Hitsu, a very good friend of mine.
It's a sakabatou (reverse bladed sword) that she had originally planned to use for her Kenshin cosplay but, well, when the sword arrived she was very disappointed in the quality. :/ She didn't want to use it and so it had just been lying around at her place. Later on I mentioned having an interest in cosplaying Kenshin as well – and she just gave me the blade for free. 
I wondered if it was really as shitty as she said and so I pulled it out of the sheath. It probably didn't take more than a few seconds until it became obvious that this sword was so crappily made that I didn't know if I should laugh or cry; it looks so cheap that I don't even have words for it, seriously. I still thought that I could use it as a base and modify it to be usable for my cosplay, so I kept it with that in mind.
This sword was lying around in my apartment for a couple years before I figured out what to do with it. At one point, earlier this year, I unsheathed it to check if it was really as bad as I remembered and yes, it still was. But this time I saw that some random brownish spots had appeared on the blade – they hadn't been there before!

Brown spots...

Still the brown spots but shown in a different light.

I'm unsure if these spots were rust or whatnot; they seemed to be only on the very surface (on both sides) and they just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, even though the sword had been in the same room for years. I have no idea what the blade is made out of; if it's stainless steel it shouldn't be able to rust...?
Whatever it was I did some quick research – I read somewhere online that rubbing it with some iron wool should get rid off it. I didn't give a shit if the blade would get scratched because this thing looks like shit to begin with and well, some scratches would just make it look a little bit cooler. Battle damage, heheh...
Some iron wool rubbings later the brownish color had gone but you could still tell where the spots had been. It was as if I had only rubbed the surface color away and you could still see, on the damaged area, where the spots had been because the contours of their placements were intact. Err? I don't know how to explain.
I should maybe mention that the only area of the blade that got affected was the part that's the closest to the habaki (blade collar) and like, maybe 15 cm into the blade.

But that brown surprise problem was the smallest of my issues with this sword. The thing is that this sword is so poorly constructed that it doesn't even deserve to be called a sword – it's a wall hanger at best. But yeah, as soon as you pull it out you'll notice that something will do a moving/rattling sound as soon as the blade part is out of the sheath and not supported by it. I don't really know how to explain all the things that are wrong with this waste of metal – but I'll at least try.
The most notable problem is that the tsuba (guard) can be turned and spun around at least one quarter around itself. The habaki jumps around and you have to "click" it in place by pressing on its side every time it jumps out of its proper position. The tsuba is doomed to always be off-centered too and well, it looks retarded to say the least...

But instead of trying to explain every single thing that's wrong I'll just show some photos now! I hope that the whole "a picture tells more than a thousand words" is true in this case... x)

Off-centered tsuba. It's easy to notice if you look at the non-detailed
oval golden part in the middle. You can see where the hole is and how much
the habaki part is off the mark.

This is what almost always automatically happened as soon as you took the sword
out of the sheath; everything would just go out of their proper positions.
This thing is not solid...

This photo and the photo below it shows me turning the tsuba with my thumb.

Notice how much it turns out of position!
(the blade part turns a bit with it but not the handle itself)

The blade also turns ridiculously much! Compare the blade's position
with the handle. It's waaaay off.

Seeing the sword doing all of these derpy moves made me wonder how the heck I'm supposed to work with this thing. I then started wondering what it actually looked like under it all...
And so I decided to take this sucker apart! Solve the mystery!

First I took off the kashira, the end pommel, by hitting it with a hammer. It came off by itself after a few strikes. I just lifted it off and was met by the sight of the photo above.
I rolled off the hex nut thingy with my bare hands and lifted the ring under it after that. I then just pulled out the tsuka (handle) and I was greeted by an underwhelming view... to say the least.

Hello, rat tail.

I was expecting to find a rat tail and that's what I found. Poor quality decoration swords like this one are pretty much never full tang. These "rat tail swords" are outright dangerous if you swing them around. I cringe every time I see an obvious wall hanger being sold as a "battle-ready sword", by the way. And I cringe even more when some uneducated person buys a shitty sword like this and starts swinging it around, thinking that it's gonna hold up to the action, and then the blade breaks and just flies off in whatever random direction it feels like flying off to and, well, fucks someone up.

But yeah, as I mentioned earlier I was aware all along that this was a bad quality sword and the reason I took it apart was so that I could possibly fix whatever was wrong with it. I would just keep the main blade part itself and then modify the rest of the pieces – or make new ones from scratch since, well, the tsuba for example doesn't look anything like Kenshin's.

This is just to show that the tsukamaki ends were just... glued in place, randomly. Eh.

The hole that the rat tail was in...

The main issue became obvious as soon as I had separated all the pieces and saw the naked blade – I mean, just look at this weird asymmetrical disaster from hell!

WHAT THE HECK IS THIS SHIT??

That explains why the habaki was living its own life and why the tsuba could spin as it did!
I need to somehow come up with a way to make the whole thing at the very least symmetrical. But I don't have any tools that makes it possible for me to work with metal and, well, currently I'm a bit at a loss with how to do this whole thing anyway. I need to think what options I have and yes, when I found this out it was also decided that Kenshin would have to be postponed to possibly next year; going as Kenshin without his signature sword is a no-no for me – I need to solve this crap first.
I do wonder if I could possibly use something to build on top of the metal, to make it symmetrical... but I'm unsure what material would be a good choice. Hrmm...

But if we detach ourselves from the sword project for a while I do have almost everything else ready for my Kenshin cosplay; I only need to fix the wig (add wefts and style it) –besides the sword– and I'll be done!
I did a super quick outfit test-run just to see what it looked like. I'm not wearing the wig because it's not done and well, I couldn't find it lol. I might wear a different white juban under for the actual cosplay, it depends.

This doesn't show the real color of the kimono, but close enough...

I didn't want to go with the anime's cerise pink kimono; I wanted something a bit calmer. I've seen that Kenshin's kimono changes colors a lot, depending on what picture you're looking at – it can be anything from the aforementioned cerise pink to a deep red. My fabric is some mix between coral pink and watermelon pink... I guess. xD It's really hard to describe colors!
I wanted to have a light colored kimono since my wig is a light-ish orange. I'm gonna be pastel!Kenshin lol.

That's all I have for now!

Shiro Samurai out.

[Sponsored] Lens review: TheDollyEye Lathae BD20 Blue

Hello everybody! ~

I have a new circle lens review up in store today! ^_^
It's time to review the TheDollyEye Lathae BD20 Blue lenses! This pair was sponsored by the ever-so-lovely LensVillage, be sure to check them out – they're one of my favorite lens stores online and they have a wide array of circle lenses to choose from! ♡ 

My reviews are always 100% my honest opinion.

You can use my discount code "SAMURAI15" to get 15% OFF on your purchase from LensVillage!

Base curve: 8.6 mm
Diameter: 14.5 mm

Water content: 38%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

This might sound silly but ever since the first time I saw the Lathae series I dubbed them the "fish lenses", hahah. The reason for this is because every time I look at the design of the lenses I always think that it looks like there's small fishes drawn in that are swimming around the lens. x) Or it's just my imagination powered by my love for fishes...

LensVillage sends their shipments in those plastic Flexipack bags, by the way. The lenses are always wrapped safely in foam and for every lens you buy you get a free lens case with your purchase. This time I got an animal lens case – but I've gotten other types of cases too. :) With every order you also get one of those social media contact/business cards with; the card currently advertises for the Instagram selfie contest but on the back there's also a discount code for returning customers. ^_^ Don't throw it away, it's useful!

This is what came in the mail!

Okay so, as per usual, I put the lenses to soak for the recommended time before wearing them.

The first time I wore these they went on without any big problems. Once they settled into my eyes I didn't feel them much. I wore them for 3,5 hours while playing video games non-stop, aka staring at a screen; at times the lenses would irritate my eyes and twice or so my eyes got watery. The lenses occasionally stung a little and after around 2 hours I considered taking them off, but as soon as I went to the bathroom they miraculously felt good again. These lenses seem kinda random when it comes to comfort! Sometimes they will irritate my eyes or do the whole "temporarily dry lens feeling" but then, out of nowhere, it would just switch over to me barely noticing the lenses for the next 30 minutes.

One lens in, notice enlargement.

It's a bit hard to see on the photo but my real eye color is a light blue-gray with a greenish tint.
But seriously, these lenses are gorgeous! owo I remember having wanted to try the Lathae series for a while and it feels great to finally get to do it! I was expecting them to look amazing and they surely do! When worn the lens design looks a bit like a swirl and it's so cool ~
The blue color is amazing too! It appears as a nice medium to darkish blue, depending on the light, and it's wonderful. *_* Oh, and the enlargement effect is great too! These lenses actually appear a bit bigger than what I first thought they would.

Lens photos ahead!

All photos are taken by me, during a September evening with a semi-cloudy sky. There's no color filters or such and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.

Facing the window in my apartment. (always sunside)

Apartment room light, natural. (lamps off)

Flash photo indoors.

Bathroom light.

Bathroom light again.

White corridor light.

Yellow staircase light.

Outdoors, facing the wall. (back against sun)

Outdoors sitting under the roof's shadow, facing the sun.

Outdoors facing the sun directly.

Outdoors facing the building's corner. (back against sun)

Facing the little window on the door leading outside (staircase).

The second time I wore these lenses they were comfortable for the first hour and then I started feeling them in my eyes and the dry feeling kept going on and off. I wore the lenses for about three hours this time, but I could have worn them for maybe one hour more or so. Eyedrops are your friend with these if you plan to wear them for a longer period!

In other words – comfort is not the best ever (at least for me), but they are wearable.

I'm finding myself really liking the Lathae Blue and I would recommend lovers of blue circle lenses to give them a try! These should work wonders for cosplayers and others who like to use colored lenses to enhance their looks!

Lastly a couple distance photos!

Want to see more Lathae lens reviews?

Check these out: Brown

Psst, discount code "SAMURAI15" saves you 15% OFF on your purchase from LensVillage!

Short summary:

Color: 9/10
I love the blue color, it's one of my favorite blue shades! Looks really good!
Design: 8/10
Amazing pattern that stands out and gives depth to your gaze. Looks almost a bit magical with its swirly "swimming fishes" design, haha.
Opacity: 8/10
I would say that the colored area on these lenses is opaque. Towards the pupil hole it fades off a little.
Enlargement: 6/10
These appear bigger than I thought!
Comfort: 5/10
Comfort seems to be average, although very random. At times the lenses irritate and temporarily feel dry on my eyes and then a bit later it feels like I don't even have contacts on.
Naturalness: 2/10
The print and color are too obvious for these to look realistic but hey, I love these lenses just for that.

That's all! If you have any questions about the lenses just leave a comment ~
 
Thank you so much, LensVillage! ♡
Shiro Samurai out.

Photoshoot: Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th series!

Hello guys!

Before Närcon this year I asked around online if some cosplayers were interested in having a free photoshoot with me; I'm currently trying to improve my (newbie) photography skills and, because of this, I'm offering free photoshoots so that I'd get both the experience and some portfolio examples for the future of different photos I've taken. :) I got some response pre-Närcon but most fell through in the end, mainly because of bad weather but also a few because of no contact. One of the guys I did get a hold of during the con was Stefan, aka Bygg Cosplay, who actively kept in touch with me both before and after the photoshoot he even called me while I was eating at McDonald's close to midnight before the con, that's saying a lot about how much he wanted the photoshoot. xD
Stefan cosplayed the shady Jason Voorhess and we had decided already in advance to wait for nightfall before I took the camera in hand. Shooting at night didn't come without difficulties though, but we managed by being creative and looking for light sources that we could use.
We took a few photos the following morning too, but the main part of our photoshoot was on the first night.

I must admit that I'm normally not a fan of scary/horror movies and games etc but I still had a blast photoshooting Stefan as Jason. He was kind, easy to work with and even suggested what kind of photos he wanted – which helped me a lot because I had no prior knowledge of his character.
It was a great learning experience to figure out how to get a creepy touch to the photos etc and I definitely enjoyed it! Sometimes it's good to go a bit outside your usual comfort zone just to learn something new and open up yourself for more possibilities and variety! Thank you Stefan!

So now –with Halloween slowly creeping closer– I present to you my second part of the hey-I'm-doing-cosplay-photography-as-well series! Enjoy!

The first part of my photoshooting journey you can see here ~

Cosplayer: Bygg Cosplay
Photographer & photo editor: Shiro Samurai

I'm sorry I don't know the name of the first guy who volunteered to be "Jason's victim". :( The second guy who's being strangled on the daytime photos is Hjallecalibur.

I would really appreciate to hear if you folks out there would like me to keep up with these kind of cosplay photography posts? Is it something you want to see on my blog in the future as well?

Thanks for viewing! ^_^

Shiro Samurai says bye bye ~

[Sponsored] Lens review: GEO Xtra Diamond Violet

Hello hello ~

I am here today to share another lens review with all of you out there! ^_^

This time it's the GEO Xtra Diamond Violet circle lenses! They can also be identified by their number code: WT-B31.

This pair was sponsored by the lovely LensVillage – I really do recommend their store! Go and check them out, they're wonderful to deal with and have a big variety of lenses available! ♡

This review is 100% my honest opinion.

You can use my discount code "SAMURAI15" to get 15% OFF on your purchase from LensVillage!

Base curve: 8.8 mm
Diameter: 14.8 mm

Water content: 40±2%

Life span: 1 year (I recommend 6 months)

The lens to the right is "wrong" side out.

So I got this pair of violet authentic GEO lenses with an amazing diamond print design! I fell in love with them at first sight, haha. ;u; I'm a sucker for more unique and artistic lens patterns, hrrm... ~
The design is really eye-catching and I'm hoping that it will look just as good on my eyes as it does in the vials! Now to try them on!

One lens in.

My first thought when I had finally gotten both lenses in was "these are thiiiiiiiin". I had problems getting them to "set" on my eyes – this could be a mix of base curve difference (my base curve is around 8.6 mm) and the thinness itself, I assume. When I put the lens in and then blinked my eyelid would take the lens up with it and then the lens would kinda just, err, fold itself out of my eye. Hard to explain! x) I also experienced the lenses literally wrinkling on top of my eye while it was trying to adjust itself in place; I had to force my eyelid not to blink or the lens would have gone off with the upward movement – or wrinkled even more.

When I had both lenses on I noticed that my eyes did the whole watery blur thing, aka that my vision blurs while my eyes moisten immediately after putting in contact lenses. This disappeared after a few minutes and the lenses settled properly.
The first 30 minutes the lenses were surprisingly comfortable – I barely felt them in my eyes! But that didn't last long, sadly. :c After about 1-1,5 hours I started feeling the lenses in my eyes and especially so when I moved my gaze around. At around the same time the left lens suddenly stung in my eye (which forced me to close my eye tightly in discomfort) and somewhere before or after that my eyes got really watery; I also got especially blurry vision on the left eye too, although both my eyes got the blur effect. Around the 2 hour mark the lenses felt rather dry and already after 2,5 hours I just wanted to take them off.
My eyes felt soooo dry after I took the lenses off and the dryness lingered on for pretty long – then again, take this whole comfort thing with a grain of salt since I've had sensitive/dry eyes lately. It's a bother. OTL I was mostly indoors while wearing the lenses and I did look at a computer screen, but the air conditioner was off.
I'm surprised that a GEO lens wasn't comfortable for me..? o.o I maybe just had a bad eye day – or this is an unlucky pair? I don't know what but it's a bummer, mreh.

Lens photos incoming!

All photos taken by me during a September evening with a semi-cloudy sky!

There's no color filters or such and that's so that the colors would be as true to real life as possible.

In my apartment, facing the window. (always sun side)

In my apartment with only light from the window coming in, aka lamps off.

Same as above, aka natural light in the apartment.

Flash photo indoors.

Bathroom light.

White-ish corridor light.

Yellow corridor light.

Shitty yellow light in the staircase.

Light at the bottom of the staircase, aka cellar/basement lamp light.

Outdoors facing the sun.

Outdoors with my back against the sun.

Outdoors in the building's shadow.

The color is nice and yes, I really like violet lenses. The diamond design makes the purple color look darker from a distance though, because of the black areas in the print itself. The design is stylish and very likeable, although you can't really claim it to be natural... x)

These lenses are really big-looking too! The enlargement effect is enough to give dolly eye look, if that's what you're going for!

Lastly, distance photo!

The Xtra Diamond series are definitely circle lenses that make an impact. I believe that these would be great for people who like unique designs that stand out and that you don't bump into everyday!
I would assume though that these lenses would look a bit better on dark-eyed people, mainly because at least the violet ones does, err, "clash", a bit with my real eye color because of the big pupil hole – by this I mean that it doesn't give the smoothest transition effect where the lens meets the light-colored iris. It appears a bit harsh and sudden because of the design of the lens, but it's not bad either. I'm sorry if my explanation makes no sense... ._.

The only thing that brings me from really loving this pair is the disappointing comfort in my case; I don't think that I could wear these for much longer than a photoshoot before it would get uncomfortable. :( I don't feel like I could wear these for a full-day event or anything – not without eyedrops at least.

Remember, discount code "SAMURAI15" cuts 15% OFF on your purchase from LensVillage!

Short summary:

Color: 7/10
Nice violet shade that shows up well. The color appears darker from a distance though, because of the lens design.
Design: 7/10
The diamond pattern is eye-catching (especially up close!) with all its details and black inner shades.
Opacity: 7/10
I would say that the printed part of the lenses is opaque – it doesn't let through my real eye color, save for the pupil hole.
Enlargement: 7/10
Definitely big circle lenses.
Comfort: 3/10
Comfort was the bummer for me – these dry out very fast (approx. 2 hours) and they also seem to randomly make my eyes watery and blur my vision. :(
Naturalness: 1/10
These are violet, diamond-patterned and huuuge – totally realistic in other words, right? Riiiiiiiight?

That's all for this time! Thanks for reading! ヽ(・ω・)ﾉ

Thank you LensVillage! ♡