(joyful dance music)
(woosh)
(dramatic music)
- I'm a cosplayer.
(dramatic music)
(buzz)
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- My first cosplay was Leonardo from "Ninja Turtles",
and that took place on Halloween, almost 30 years ago.
(laughter)
- Oh!
- Yeah, so I've been cosplaying
for quite some time.
- My first cosplay was Mikan from "Gakuen Alice",
and I've been cosplaying for about 10 years now.
- I've been cosplaying for about three years,
and my first cosplay was Mercy from "Overwatch".
- Nice, nice.
I've been cosplaying since, it must have been AX 2011.
My first cosplay was Pokemon Trainer, Red.
- I've been cosplaying for about eight years,
my first convention was Cosplay Con.
I cosplayed as Zatanna Zatara.
( bells chime)
- Been cosplaying for two years,
my first cosplay was Yuki from "Vampire Knight".
I joined the military. I was stationed in Japan.
Plenty of cosplayers and uh,
now I'm here doing this full-time.
- I've been cosplaying for about 12 years.
I'm cosplaying Bernard today.
(bells jingle)
From the Santa Clause.
- I thought so!
- Yeah.
- I love that movie. (laughter)
- Um, my first cosplay, sorry,
was Fiona from "Adventure Time".
- Oh, nice, nice.
- Oh!
- May I ask why you guys didn't do cosplay?
- Yeah I walk in, I see that myself
and another gentleman are the only two guys
and we're out of cosplay,
and I said, we're (beep).
- Have my Spider Man mask with me.
I do cosplay as Miles Morales all the time.
I'm actually in my cosplay too as well,
because I do have THE Miles Morales civilian suit on,
with the Miles Morales shoes right here.
- Okay, yeah, I can see it.
- So you know I got the hoodie going on.
- You know he had a mask and I feel like
you could easily buy a mask,
and you can easily be a fan of this character,
but not necessarily be a cosplayer.
- But my first cosplay was Captain America.
And I um, made a shield, got it signed by Stan Lee.
- Oh.
- Yep.
- He said he started cosplaying as Leonardo,
but then he said his first cosplay was Captain America.
So, things just don't really seem to be adding up.
- I'm in the military too, Army.
- Oh, wow.
- Um, so I'm an officer as well,
so that inspired me to be Captain America.
But everyone thought I was uh, uh, his partner,
um, I can't remember his name right now.
- Oh no.
(laughter)
- Falcon?
- Yeah, Falcon. Yeah. (laughter)
- There you go.
- I have a storage unit near here
where I keep all my stuff when I'm not using it.
Cause of Covid I haven't been
to anything except for ALA this year.
- Okay.
- Um, so I, I'm repping the ALA badge.
I go to pick it--
- Okay!
- I go to pick it up- storage flooded.
So in the tub I pull out moldy, wet cosplays.
- No!
But in general I cosplay like every "Persona" character,
I used to run the "Persona" cosplay gatherings.
- You make your cosplay?
- I do sometimes but generally I like just
order them on Ali Express.
- Okay.
for like the more simple stuff.
I don't really go extra,
I've been like oh I just want to be comfy.
Ya know?
- That's very rare.
(laughter)
- Yeah
- There is like a common hairspray
that we use in the cosplay community.
1, 2, 3, okay, Got 2b glued.
(laughter)
- Yep, hairspray. And it's yellow.
- I just use baby oil so.
- Oh!
(laughter)
(timer chimes)
(woosh)
(upbeat music)
(click)
- I was thinking maybe he's a convention organizer,
and that's why he knows the community really well.
(click)
- I noticed that the "Samus" player had gloves on,
which means that she could not use her phone.
Anybody at a convention doesn't want to
have to deal with that.
(click)
(upbeat music)
(click)
(upbeat music)
(buzzer)
- Oh!
- Bye Ryan, sorry!
- Sorry Ryan.
- So what's your method of cosplay?
Do you like make your stuff?
Do you buy your stuff?
Do you thrift your stuff?
- I'm actually trying to learn how to make, uh,
my own cosplay.
Sometimes I go to my local, uh, stores.
Like I went to Ross one time
and bought a onesie,
and I did a cosplay of uh, um, hold on sorry.
(laughter)
I'm like having a brain fart.
Um, I did Poison Ivy.
- What about this?
Is this all store bought, or is it...
- Oh this, yeah, this is from Miccostumes.
- Yeah, right.
- I made this shirt, and the bag.
And then I use my own hair,
cause I happen to have brown hair right now.
- Oh cool.
- Dope.
- For myself, I mean yeah I did make this one.
I made it with my dad.
- Wow!
- Aw!
- Actually we are a cosplay duo.
It's all neoprene and uh, we used a heat gun,
- Gosh!
ladles to like shape it.
- So I'm definitely a little bit of a combination,
like I'm newer-ish to cosplay.
So I made the wristbands and the shoes,
and then I like somewhat styled up the wig,
and then I had just bought the, the spandex.
- Ah.
- When I started actually I wasn't very good at sewing
- It's so hard!
- Or like making. Yeah!
I make quite a lot of my cosplay now.
Like, unfortunately this one I bought.
- Nathen, what about you?
- I refer to my Captain America suit from
my ACU's from the military.
- [Rose] Okay, really.
- And I made my shield out of a sled,
but I only paid like 45 dollars for
all the equipment, everything.
Sanded it down. Used my jigsaw to cut it out and...
- So you make and buy, or...
- No I just made it out of stuff
I had in the house already.
- What about the...
- You said your first cosplay was like 30 years ago,
was Donatello, Leonardo...
- Well that was "Ninja Turtles", Leonardo yeah.
- Right.
- Yeah, so.
- And in between there you've kind of just been like...
- Yeah my first actual cosplay experience was uh,
in Wizcon in Chicago.
- How often are you cosplaying?
- Every year.
- [Madie] Okay.
- I just did Anime Expo this year.
- [Madie] Okay, nice.
(timer chimes)
(record skips)
- You just did Anime Expo this year?
- Wait, it hasn't passed.
- Yep, in the convention center.
- Oh wait, isn't it not until July?
- It hasn't passed yet.
- Anime Expo?
- Yeah that's at the beginning of the month.
- There was one that came a few months ago.
- Oh wait a minute?
- I think you're thinking of a different anime con.
(woosh)
(dramatic music)
(pulse)
(click)
(buzzer)
- Alright, thank you.
- Sorry.
- It's all right.
My spidey-sense was tingling anyway.
(laughter)
- I got jumped on by all the women.
No mercy for me I knew I was gonna be out.
Kind of saddened, but you know, it is what it is.
(woosh)
- [Interviewer] If you think the mole is still in the box,
and you wish to continue playing the game,
please raise your hand.
- What are some things that you guys really love about
the community and might not like?
Cause I mean, for myself, it's made me so confident
in myself, thankfully,
but somethings I don't like about the cosplay community.
Cosplay is not consent, do not...
- Yeah, oh my gosh.
- Do not touch me.
Do not say nasty things.
I'm a real person, but I don't know. What...
- Yeah a hundred percent.
- For me it's people always have a issue with
my skin tone.
- Mm.
- You know, it's I have,
I get nasty comments all the time.
It's like, I don't have representation already
as is, like there's not a lot of characters
that look like me.
- Mhm.
- At the end of the day like I'm
gonna stand firm in this,
I'm gonna keep doing it no matter what, you know?
- [Rose] Yeah.
- Other than that I just love the fact that
people stand up for each other,
you know when they're doing...
- Yeah, mhm.
- I really love that about the community.
- Kind of on the air of gate keeping,
people will be like do you even watch anime?
Do you even know the character?
Like, and it's like oh my god.
First of all yes, second, does it really matter?
Like, if you're interested in something
for whatever it might be, like aesthetics or whatever,
- [Amber] Yeah, exactly.
- Like just live your life that's why we're all here.
- [Rose] Yeah, right.
- I do like that there can be, yeah there's people,
it's a very niche kind of community
that you can find people where
you can like walk into a room
- [Amber] Yeah.
- And know exactly what to talk about.
- [Amber] Yeah.
- And just start a conversation.
- [Amber] Exactly.
- I would say that over here in the U.S.
It's not as bad like, online,
like there are more like, open.
But like, like, uh,
when I post my stuff like when
it goes to the Asia like community,
cause I'm from there,
it's like everyone's always saying
like oh you're so fat and stuff, so it's like...
(gasps)
- [Rose] Oh my god.
- Yeah.
- What got you into cosplay?
- Me or her?
- You.
- Me. Um, I've always been super into like video games,
and I'm starting to get more into anime,
and so it just seemed like a fun natural thing to do
to start dressing up as the characters
that I like so much. And it's so fun.
(bell rings)
(woosh)
(click)
- I felt like she was insistent on ending the round,
and I still wasn't quite ready to end.
(click)
- I don't know, I just, I felt bad choosing her.
(click)
(upbeat music)
- [Interviewer] Turns out it's a tie.
- Oh god, oh lord.
(dramatic music)
- [Interviewer] The tie is between Ai and Samantha.
- Ooh.
- [Interviewer] I'm gonna give each of you
30 seconds to state your case
of why you're not the mole.
- I'm from Indonesia and I came here
about like few years ago.
I don't know what to say.
My worst con crunch was when I did Harley Quinn
and then I did this character from "Azur Lane"
and I was like crying cause all of a sudden
my sewing machine like broke down and everything.
Ended up having to drop one of them
because I didn't end up finishing the cosplay.
So I cried a lot that night but. Yeah.
(laughter)
- Um, I guess I'll start with my worst con crunch,
um it was actually this cosplay.
I was definitely painting the shoes,
putting like my finishing touches on the lines,
in the car, on the way.
And I'm like drive faster um, but it was fine.
I've been cosplaying for only about three years.
I'm still kind of learning how to get a little bit
better at my craftsmanship, um.
It's been a fun journey so far.
(chuckles)
(woosh)
- I feel like AI was official.
The only thing I'm worried about
is maybe she might be, like,
a commissioner or something like that.
- Oh, okay I see.
- But that's the only thing,
like she might be the one fabricating it.
- Oh I see.
- Samantha's kinda like, newer.
You know, I never want to like, gate keep that.
- [Amber] Oh, yeah.
- So I'm always worried, like maybe she might not know.
- [Amber] Same.
- She also makes her own things too.
- Yeah exactly.
- So it's like...
- But then again she was saying that she was making it.
Was she making it here?
Because then she might have just tried to get it here.
And I don't know if she does like other modeling.
- There's more to talk about.
I feel like AI had a lot she wanted to say.
- Yeah.
Ooh I feel so bad.
(laughter)
(woosh)
- [Interviewer] And the person who is eliminated is...
(buzzer)
- Sorry.
- Bye guys, it's okay. Good luck.
- You look so pretty.
- Thank you.
(laughter)
- You look really good.
(woosh)
- [Interviewer] If you think the mole is still in the box,
and you wish to continue playing the game,
please raise your hand.
- I trust you guys, right?
(laughter)
- I feel so bad already eliminating Samantha.
- Yeah, I feel like we should have
just not done the last round.
- I know.
Oh my gosh.
- [Interviewer] If the lights turn red,
that means the mole is still in the box,
and you lose.
If the lights turn green,
that means you have voted the mole out,
and you win.
(dramatic music)
(girls cheering)
(laughter)
- Okay, so who was it?
(woosh)
- [Interviewer] Will the mole please reveal themselves.
(upbeat music)
(woosh)
(contestants cheering)
- I knew it, I knew it!
I knew it, I knew it.
- I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!
- I knew it, I already knew!
- Anybody who has cosplayed long enough
would never want to walk around in those heels
for an entire convention day.
- So like, did you just buy this for this?
- How what, how do you know?
- I wore for Halloween like five years ago,
and I did not have these shoes.
I did just make these shoes,
con crunched 'em right before I came here.
- Yeah!
- There you go.
- I sniffed right through that.
My spidey-senses, it was a spider sense.
I can tell you right now that's what it was.
- There's a lot of work that goes into
cosplay that even with all of my research
on the topic I really never would have known about.
- I was one of the people who would put together online
groups where we would all get together,
take big group photos,
and it was a great way to like, meet people
that were like minded and like loved
and obsessed the same thing's that I did.
- We're all nerds.
We're all just geeking out.
- You could be a doctor, you could be in the military,
you could be a firefighter.
You meet a cosplayer anywhere.
- When you can go to a place where you
can immediately jump into something
you are very, very into.
Have you seen the most recent update?
Are you excited for this new season?
Whereas, with normal conversation,
it's, it's painful sometimes to kind of do the small talk.
That's kind of like the good part of cosplay for me.
(contestants giggling)
- Whoa, the grabbies.
- A little stacky stack here.
(contestants cheering)
- Wee.
- You get a dollar, you get a dollar, you get a dollar.
- Fan, fan.
(contestants laughing)