5000 HITS GIVEAWAY!!!

Guys, this is actually happening!  We have reached our first giveaway point of 5000 HITS!!!  This is a pretty exciting moment for us ^^.  The prize will be a $20 gift certificate to Arda-wigs, one of the best resources for your cosplay wigs!  Remember the pony tails I got from them some time ago?

Well, I liked it so much that we have decided to go with Arda.  The quality of wigs really makes a huge difference in your cosplay!

Some details regarding the giveaway:
1. We are using Rafflecopter to manage the giveaway.  The winner will be selected by a random algorithm used by Rafflecopter.
2. One person can only enter once, but you can increase your chances by completing the tasks listed on Rafflecopter.
3. Anyone can enter, as long as you complete the mandatory task of becoming a follower to our blog.
4. This is not a sponsored giveaway, we chose Arda wigs because we love the store.
5. It is rude to become a follower to this blog for the giveaway and then just un-follow, so please don't enter if you are not interested in the blog at all.
6. The winner must claim the prize within 48hours, or a new winner will be selected.
7. The giveaway starts from Thursday 3/29/2012 and ends at the end of Friday 4/6/2012

It would helps us out a ton if you could blog/share this giveaway with your friends and family!

Thank you so much for your support, and may the odds be ever in your favor!  (Hunger Games reference..derp)

Sneak peak at our cosplay contacts

Stuey and I have received our contacts from Pinkyparadise for a while now (about a week or two), here are some sneak peaks at them before we do a review (we don't want to open them too soon):

The pink one is for IBRS and the red one is for MZMA!

Hopefully more exciting posts are coming soon~ whenever we stop procrastinating and get to work >.>

Mimi

Soul Eater Photoshoot - Complete!

After a torturous wait of many moons (okay, it was barely a month), we have our completed Soul Eater photoshoot from Katsucon 18! Thanks so much to the wonderful Elysia of Fenyx Design, the pictures are fantastic!

Eruka perched atop Tadpole Jackson, who is looking rather well in this photograph, considering that at this point his face was falling off.

Eruka and Tadpole Jackson, a.k.a. the very best chair there ever was. Rest in Peace, Tadpole Jackson.

Dr. Stein turnin' the screw.

Stein, don't you know cigarettes are bad for you?

Medusa in what looks to be a sea of blood, how fitting. Oh good, my freaky backwards-bending elbow made an appearance.

Them's fightin' words! Stein and Medusa prepare for epic pose battle to end all pose battles.

Pretty sure this is Stein disemboweling Medusa. Either that or I am having a seizure.

Vogue poses, with Eruka looking decidedly fashionable, and Medusa looking oddly pensive for a manipulative psychopath.

Medusa choking Eruka, again. Now, now, Medusa, that's not a very nice way to treat your peons.

Our trio poses dramatically and hopes not to get stepped on by passers-by. Also, glasses lens flare ftw.

The rest of the album can be viewed HERE. Thanks again to Elysia of Fenyx Design and to the Gaylord National Convention Center (snrk) for having what is likely the most photogenic venue ever.

~Kathryn

ahh, I have not posted for a while

Stuey and I went to his sister's wedding this weekend and hence have not had anytime to either work on our cosplay or blog Q__Q.  I do, however, have some new pictures of Gachapin to share with you guys.  This is basically a wig review.

Remember this wig?  It's the wig I bought from ebay for my Eruka cosplay.  It was a very cheap wig ($24) and definitely lived up to its price.  The wig itself was thin and tangled very easily. However, it works with Eruka because she wears a big hat that covers up the very thin part of the wig.  Now, I have to somehow transform this sucker into Murumuru's hair.

I know for sure that the volume of this wig is not nearly enough and that it will be hard to make ponytails with one wig, so I ordered two LONG ponytails from Arda wigs in silver to match my current wig.

As you can see, the pony tail I got is a little big lighter than the wig I have in this picture, but in reality, they are pretty darn close.  The biggest difference is probably the quality of the ebay wig compared to Arda's.  Well, there's no comparison.  Arda's ponytail is not only silky, but also very easy to brush.  The volume of the ponytail is amazingly full but also makes it super heavy.  I might have to somehow dye the wig a little bit with a lavender colored sharpie...but we will see.

I definitely recommend ordering from Arda, however, they are a lot more expensive compared to the cheap ebay wigs.  (The ponytails were about $20 a piece with shipping)  I have also received my black rock shooter wig from Cosplaywigsusa, however, it's ponytails are not nearly as full as the ones from Arda.  I also need to figure out something in order to add some blue highlights to my black wig...any suggestions?

- Mimi -

Updated Soul Eater Photoshoot!

Elysia of Fenyx Design posted a couple of new pictures of our Soul Eater cosplay photoshoot! Here they are:

Eruka being choked by the sinister Medusa :O

Mimi as her ultra cute Eruka~

Here's the link to our previous Soul Eater photoshoot photos with Elysia. We will update everyone when she posts the rest :D.

-Stuart-

Cosplay-vania is now on Facebook and Google+

Today is Pi Day!!!!!  Woot!  AND, I have finally finished making a very simple logo for us!

If you haven't got the idea yet, we were inspired by Castlevania when we came up with the name for our blog.  To go along with the same concept, I designed our logo with a creepy castle.  I know it's not perfect or cool like some other logos, but this is a temporary solution until I cross paths with better ones.

With the completion of our logo, we have also officially launched our Facebook page HERE, please "like" us *puppy eyes*
A Google+ page also exists but it is rather confusing, if you are a G+ user, you could follow us by clicking on the button on the right.

That's all for now, Animazement finally announced some more of their guests!  I'm pretty excited about KOTOKO and Masao Maruyama.  If you are curious, check AZ's guest list out HERE.

More exciting things soon to come!
Mimi

Cosplay Progress - Mask Construction and Gloves

Ahh progress, it is nice to finally post you again, hehe.  Since my last update, I've added plenty more craft foam and hot glue to continue the formation of Deus Ex Machina's mask.  At this point, the task is a little more strategic than just gluing foam everywhere I could.   I am still constantly looking back at the reference photos to make sure I am accurate with my shapes, but through this process I am getting a better sense of how to make the angles work for me.  Mimi has offered plenty of her help in creating this mask in the form of advice and some hot gluing (even acquiring some burns in the process Q_Q).  

Anyways, here's my updated progress gallery:

Created the upper eye framework.

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Built the cheek and chin frame work. Also replaced his "tooth" under the eye framework and bent the chin.

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Also in progress news, I received some hockey gloves that I will use as a base material for my MZMA gloves.  I got the idea for using hockey gloves from this Instructables tutorial on how to make Hell Boy's RHoD. These things are HUGE on my hands, so they will work perfectly for MZMA.  I plan to cover the tops in red fun foam and maybe spray paint an orange gradient on to it afterwards, but that's just me thinking.

We cut off the BAUER logo part to make room for the craft foam that  we will use.  

The most pressing issue for these used hockey gloves is to remove their intense smell of sweat.  If anyone has any good ideas on a deodorant for these, let me know (THEY REALLY STINK!!!! X___X)

Thanks, I will keep you guys updated! :D

-Stuart-

[[[Here's a link to the next update]]]

[[[For reference, here's a link to the last update]]]

Distant Worlds Concert

I spent the past few days visiting a friend in Boston, and the fact that Distant Worlds, a concert comprised solely of Final Fantasy music, was playing at the Boston Symphony Hall was actually the catalyst for the impromptu vacation.

If you are a fan of video game music and Nobuo Uematsu in particular, I urge you to attend at least one of these concerts. The Video Game Orchestra was absolutely fabulous, as was the conductor, Arnie Roth. I'm not too proud to admit that I started crying during the Opening - Bombing Mission song from Final Fantasy VII. And again during the Opera "Maria and Draco" (Aria di Mezzo Caraterre) from FF VI. The waves of nostalgia were overwhelming. I was also not prepared for how amazing Dancing Mad would sound on a massive pipe organ, and the clips of Terra fighting Kefka from Dissidia Final Fantasy playing in the background only made it that much more fantastic (and made me really wish I had a PSP).

Kefka, you singularly crazy bastard.

There is something to be said for live music - recordings just cannot compare. I have to say, the screen behind the orchestra playing clips from the games added to the performance - and not just because some of them were almost like inside jokes for the audience. Remember that obnoxious tapping noise when your characters walked around in Final Fantasy VIII? Yeah. Now imagine hearing that in a concert hall. And, of course, what Final Fantasy concert is complete without a rousing chorus of One Winged Angel a la Final Fantasy VII?

Man, I wish my seats had been that good. Note to self: order tickets many months in advance.

- Song List -

(because I couldn't find one online and it was driving me crazy)

-Prelude

- Liberi Fatali -VIII

-Victory Fanfare

-Don't Be Afraid - VIII

-Distant Worlds - XI

-Dear Friends- V

-Vamo' alla Flamenco - IX

-Zanarkand - X

- Aeris' / Aerith's Theme - VII

-Chocobo song from XIV + Swing de Chocobo

Intermission

-Opening- Bombing Mission - VII

-Dancing Mad - VI

-Blinded by Light - XIII

-Fisherman's Horizon - VIII

-Opera "Maria and Draco" - VI

-Terra's Theme - VI

-One Winged Angel - VII

I do have one complaint, however...Why only one song from FF IX?!

What is the relevance to this blog, you wonder? Well. It came as no surprise to me that there were a handful of cosplayers scattered among the audience. My tally was as follows: Aeris - 2 ; Squall - 1 ; Generic red mage - 1 ; Moogle - 2

Now out of a crowd of over 2,000 that might not seem significant, but keep in mind that this is a formal concert situation. However, I noticed a wide range of outfits- from people in jeans and hoodies to people in their finest formal wear. Most orchestral concerts I have attended were in Europe, and I can't tell if people in the US don't dress as formally for concerts or whether this was a result of it being a video game orchestra rather than a more traditional concert.

Now pretend this is a dude in a hoodie with ears.

So I pose a question to all of you - is it appropriate to cosplay at a formal concert? Even though this was a video game concert, should cosplaying be considered an appropriate, respectful homage to the composer and the series, or is it too outlandish or informal for an orchestral performance?

In other news, I apologize for my absence. Cosplay updates will start as soon as the MCAT has been vanquished. Less than two weeks. I am beyond terrified.

~Kathryn

Details on the MZMA costume

I'm posting some screencaps from the Black Rock Shooter PSP game for Stuart and others are are thinking about doing MZMA cosplay.  The quality of the pictures are low, but hopefully it shows enough details for people to understand the motifs on his jacket.

Front view

Details on the collar and head piece

Details on the glove

Details on the sword and glove

Back view

Back view

Front motif detail

Leg pouch detail

Back of head

That's that!  Hopefully this can be useful for the people out there planning to cosplay MZMA.  I'm still having difficulties understanding his coat (is it a long coat + skirt or a short coat + skirt?).

Anyways, here's a preview of upcoming wig review from Gachapin!

Don't forget to subscribe/follow our blog!!!  We also added a new fish feature on the side for you to play with.  Thank you!

Mimi

Wig Review - Red Wig for MZMA

Wig review?!  I've never done one of those before, but I might as well give it a shot.  I mean, I'll be working with it for the next couple of months anyways.  Here goes nothing! :P

I ordered the Short Medium Layered Cosplay Shag - True Red from CosplayWigsUSA as a suitable match for MZMA from Black Rock Shooter: The Game.  It arrived in a wonderful manila colored, bubble wrap lined envelope and included the wig and a wig cap.

This wig is perfectly colored for MZMA's hair.  The length at the moment is a little long, but we will shorten and style it eventually to be more appropriate. The tips of the hair are feathered out nicely, and the wig itself is pretty full.  The wig cap that came with the package is pretty nice quality as well.  I think I'll be happy with this wig :) 

**The following pictures highlight both the wig and our amazing new wig model Gachapin :D (he's a dinosaur in case you were wondering).  **

Gachapin, the wig, and the CosplayWigsUSA card.

Back view of the wig

Side view of the wig, and Gachapin looking forlorn.

Gachapin in his "I'm a sexy model" pose.  He has a bright future ahead of him :P

Gachapin modeling the wig cap.  Very nice.

We will most likely have pictures of ourselves with the wigs on at some point, but for now Gachapin works very nicely.  We may feature him modeling some of our other wigs and cosplay apparel as well.  Comment if you have any other pose suggestions for him in the future XD.

Thanks!

-Stuart-