Oh hi cosplay journal that I never touch! Let's actually use you!

So Anime Expo. I am finally, for the first time in literally years, doing a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with my cosplay group Angel Hearts. Hahaha. I love being in Angel Hearts and doing our IDOLM@STER (and occasionally J-pop and Para Para) performances. But for a while now it's basically taken over my cosplay plans. It's starting to get stressful, worrying about not just costumes but new dance moves. AX is going to be my break before the end of the year gets eaten up by idol dancing again.

I originally had 3 new costumes, technically 4, planned for this con. One is looking like the universe just doesn't want me to find the fabric for it, but I'm still clinging on to hope. Another is literally my dream remake costume, and I really don't want to rush it. With two weeks left, I think it may need to be delayed. And the last one? DEFINITELY HAPPENING, woo!! Hahahaha. Oh, and the last one is mostly a trip to the thrift store.

I want to re-wear some IDOLM@STER stuff too, but I won't be doing any dancing! I was also thinking of bringing Asuka back out since it's been a couple of years. :)

Costume plans!

Bianca (Dragon Quest V) - This is my costume for my masq group. I am so incredibly stoked to have a Dragon Quest group. I am a huge fan of DQ and I've only cosplayed from it once, which is silly. So it's about time!

Juuhachi-Gou (Dragonball Z) - A new outfit of a character I cosplayed 8 years ago. :3

Female Hero (Dragon Quest IV) - This... is in the works, but might not happen. I am having serious trouble finding the right material and it bums me out. I'm looking into maybe dyeing some fabric but who knows. :(

Kuja (Final Fantasy IX) - ...is probably going to get pushed back to who knows when. The above 3 have a much better chance of getting done if I'm not focused with this, so yeah. Sigh! You'll have your time, Kuja!

Haruka Amami (THE IDOLM@STER) - I am bringing at least one, maybe two Haruka outfits with me. Hehe. If I magically pull extra time out of my butt, there's a 3rd costume I'd like to fix up too.

Asuka Langley (Evangelion) - Because I got new shoes two years ago for this costume and got pics just once! Still hoping to do the school uniform someday, but not yet.

And yeah. I am working on making a new cosplay website. I got new business cards that I'll be passing out again at AX, which is exciting. :D For now, my ACP is the most updated out of anything: http://www.acparadise.com/loves/michi

Whee!

...I should make some new icons for this journal when I get home.

It's been over a year since I made a public post in this journal, so here goes! I've basically taken a year+ hiatus from cosplay, it seems. I went to Anime Expo this year but didn't have any costumes, and the last time I wore anything was at Tokyo Game Show 2007 last September. But I'm already making plans for 2009, so here's hoping I can get back into full cosplay swing in the new year.

Current Plans:
- SakuraCon (April 10-12 in Seattle, WA)
- Cherry Blossom Festival Parade (April 19 in San Francisco, CA)
- FanimeCon (May 22-25 in San Jose, CA)
- Anime Expo (July 2-5 in Los Angeles, CA)

And the 2nd half of the year is as of yet undecided because that's just too far ahead to plan! And when I made plans this year post-AX they all died. 8D I'd like to finally go to SacAnime since every other attempt has failed and I'm not going to Anime Los Angeles as it's too soon. We'll see.

I guess that's it for now. It's the day after Christmas and I've been sick all week, so I'll delve into actual cosplay plans some other time. :)

久しぶり！ It's been a while! I'm in Japan now. I'm temporarily living here for a study abroad program. I've been here for about a month now. I brought three costumes with me so I could get a little cosplaying out of my system, and wore two of them to the Tokyo Game Show last weekend. :)

I wore Haruka from The IDOLM@STER on Saturday and met up with two girls in the same style costumes from the game! I was so happy~ They seemed really happy too, and especially surprised to find another character from the game that was American. :) The picture in my icon is from one of their cell phones. Hee!

My favorite trio picture:
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=1269534

And my favorite solo pic so far:
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=1273692

On Sunday I wore Shingo from KOF. My favorite (and only pic) is in my TGS gallery anyway.

Here is my gallery of cosplayers from Tokyo Game Show:
http://images.cosplay.com/gallery.php?cat=90945&member=31

Enjoy! The event was very fun. Cosplaying in Japan is so very different, but it was exciting and I can't wait to attend another one!

I... have been back! for like a week! Oops.

Here's basically a copy of what I posted in my regular LJ because I'm bad and neglect this one a lot...

I was really happy to be back at Long Beach, though now I'm super bummed that it's not gonna be there OR Anaheim next year. I dunno if I'm going in 2008 or not yet. Anyway.

My AX photos are here:
http://images.cosplay.com/gallery.php?cat=80193&member=31

I got to participate in the Anime Expo masquerade for the first time, which was pretty neat. Lucky 7 for my 7th time at the con? :P I dunno. Now that I think of it, our group had 7 people too! Heehee. We performed "Go My Way!!" from THE iDOLM@STER. The video is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh68P_Ic37M (I'm the one on the left side with big ribbons in my hair, hehe.)

My only new costume was the masq one. I have never worn so much pink in my life. You can see a closeup here: http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=1158380

and a pic of our group here: http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=1152239

I also finally had a sword for Yohko thanks to David. :)
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=1162190 <-- I hope to get more pics this weekend at Sac-Anime (which I will be at on Saturday!! please come say hi~~)

Otherwise I wore Shingo and my Pocky Girls Nozomi costume. Here and here are cute new Pocky Girls group photos. I didn't get any cool solo shots of Shingo at this con, but that's okay 'cause I got awesome ones at Fanime.

I'd like to write a report on AX... we'll see. I had a pretty good time. I think it was better than last year in terms of what I got done, but last year I think I got to spend more time with people.


~~ And even though it's related to Fanime which was back in May, I did promise a picture of me as Jessica with my Slime Knight plushie and that can be found here: http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=1161253 :D

...Wow, what a big Cosplay.com gallery pimp spam this was. Sorry!

[edit] This was actually my 8th time at the con... 2000-2007.. haha. XD; The 7 in the year threw me off!

I caved and posted a picture of Meg.

Here: http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=1114019

Only because Andy takes amazing photos. ;~;

Still can't decide if she's coming to AX or not. A million other costumes ARE coming to AX, like a return of Pocky Girls (despite me chopping off my hair). Prolly can't wear Jessica since I can't attach a thing to my super short hair, so ponytail extensions are out... A wig is unlikely. :( It's sorta a shame if I can't wear it, since I figured out an amazing way to rig my boobs at Fanime. Stupid impossible Toriyama cleavage!
...Also means no Kasumi. I sorta wanna vow to not wear a single ninja costume this year. It is working so far!

I'm supposed to finish Touga this weekend, but my wig hasn't even shipped yet so I'm beginning to get worried. We'll see. At least he'd be set for AX? Whine.

Blah, I ran out of steam. I was totally gonna write more. Sorry, the end!

(P.S. Teehee Shingo icon~)

I'm trying to sell this wig:

Roni guy-style wig, color 6 - Brown from CosWorx. It's a very dark brown, but is obviously so outside in the sun. Inside with flash/out in the dark, not so obvious and more black looking.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/tofuchi/forsale/IMG_0156.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/tofuchi/forsale/IMG_0155.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/tofuchi/forsale/IMG_0153.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/tofuchi/forsale/IMG_0152.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/tofuchi/forsale/IMG_0151.jpg

$25 and $5 shipping in the U.S.; I'll ship elsewhere for a bit more. :)

It is basically a shade darker of the exact same wig I wore for Shingo. It was too dark for me, which is why I later ordered the lighter one for him. I've only worn this darker wig once, and it's only been taken out the second time for these photos.


Also trying to sell this hair extension:

Black ponytail, about 22" in length.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/tofuchi/forsale/IMG_0157.jpg
Pics of it on me: http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=874206
http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=862273

Sorry that the pics suck. It's a lovely high quality ponytail that attaches to a bun with a clip and tie. Only worn once; I don't need it because my hair isn't black anymore. XD

$10 and $5 shipping in the U.S.; I'll ship elsewhere for a bit more.

Thanks!

...Or have been for a few days. XD

My convention pictures:
http://images.cosplay.com/gallery.php?cat=75859&member=31

Costumes worn:
- Shingo Yabuki (The King of Fighters '97) <-- NEW!
- Megara (Hercules / Kingdom Hearts II) <-- NEW!
- Jessica Albert (Dragon Quest VIII)

I had Misuzu (GaoGao ver.) and Yohko with me but never wore them. D: Oops. I was kinda sick. Again.

I AM SO HAPPY TO COSPLAY SHINGO. It's like Zell only even better! I was destined to be a hyper, dorky boy. Yes.

( Shingo! )

My uploaded Shingo pics are here: http://members.cosplay.com/costume/91583/

Meg pics to come. The wig was heavy and I think styled a bit small for my giant head (no fault of the stylist's, for sure!).. So I'm gonna be picky with what I share. u_u;

I also had a whip for Jessica...? http://images.cosplay.com/showphoto.php?photo=1105418 and a Slime Knight plushie that I'll upload pics of later.

I hope I actually write a report at some point. D: Now to prepare for AX! I'll write up a con schedule for that soon. Omg it's in less than a month what GIVES! ...Also I want a Shingo cosplay icon. I shall work on that!

So I might as well say something here.

I am pulling out of all cosplay plans for 2007.

I was recently accepted to study in Japan for the fall semester, and I need to save as much money as possible for it. I may do 1-2 costumes per con, mostly for myself, but nothing like the tons of plans I had before. It's just not worth it to me right now, when I am busy with work and falling behind in classes and losing money. I was really looking forward to many projects, believe me. I was practicing dances and getting ready for the last few months, and so forth. But I can't spend all this money anymore.
It is incredibly depressing when I was so excited and determined to go all-out this year, but then I seemed to have forgotten how expensive and draining the hobby is. It's not as fun to me anymore, even when my skills have improved so much!

I'm very sorry, but please understand. My education is important to me, and studying in Japan this fall is basically a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Revised costume list has been posted, and I'll be making another friends only post soon.

Thank you.

My site is currently being revamped right now and is basically offline, so all of my updates get to go on this journal. :x

I updated the convention schedule in my userinfo now that I know where I'll be for the rest of the year. That place is Japan. XD; I've figured out three major events that I intend to attend (durhur that sounds funny) so far. I know that cosplay is becoming more popular there and there are some smaller "Layers" (short for cosplayers, haha) events that I wanna look into. It's just I won't be in Japan until the end of August, so there aren't many dates available yet. Also, unless I somehow have a sewing machine, I'll only have one or two costumes with me anyway and won't actually be cosplaying at all of the events.

Right now I'm focusing on my costume for Cherry Blossom this Sunday. I've been working on this costume for a year, as it was meant to be for last year's CBF until I got really sick. I'm making my costume and a costume for my younger brother. He turns 13 in June, which is when I'll be making him join Cosplay.com. >D He previously cosplayed with me at the parade in 2005.

It's nice to be sewing again this year, as I haven't since January when I made two new costumes for ALA. :9 It's calming when I still have at least a week until the outfit needs to be done. XD; I hope I can keep up this trend with the 3-4 costumes I make for Fanime! Hehe.

Okay, I guess that's long enough for an update. Back to work!

Haha, maybe I should remember to update this when cons end.

Anime Los Angeles was quite the experience; Friday was full of stress and unhappiness, but Saturday was an absolute blast that reminded me why I love this hobby! I have no photos as I just.. never took photos, haha, but my boyfriend took a lot and he may upload some of those later.
I finished both new costumes I intended to premiere, which is great, and borrowed a costume from a friend for my group's masquerade skit. It was my first masquerade since last May and my first new costumes since June! I didn't wear any old costumes -- I decided to hold off until AX on fixing Misuzu, and I just never got around to wearing Kasumi due to not feeling well and the rain at the convention.

New Costumes:
- Yohko Mano (Devil Hunter Yohko)
This costume is up on my site, but there aren't many photos yet. Instead, I'll link you to the photoshoot gallery my friend Andy took of my costume: Link! <-- A lot of these will be going up on my website anyway.

- Rinali Li (D.gray-man inspired New Year's cheongsam)
For a special photoshoot with dgraymyu; my first official "appearance" with the group~ Excerpts from the photoshoot can be found here, and I'll have more photos later. One is up in my Cosplay.com gallery.

Other Costumes:
- Renge Houshakuji (Ouran High School Host Club)
I was brought into dgraymyu's Ouran skit very last minute, so I borrowed the Renge costume I wore from my friend utenatai. It was a lot of fun prancing around in a big floofy yellow dress. One photo is in my gallery, linked above, and I may have more up soon. I'm thinking of putting a 'borrowed costumes' section on my site, heehee. Our skit was the last of ALA's masquerade, "Be a Man" using the song from Mulan.

The con left me feeling pretty accomplished. :) I'll write a report very soon, I hope. Now work will begin on AniZona costumes, including a regular uniform Rinali Li costume. :D!

...I need new icons, haha.