Honchkrow & Emboar (C) Champions of Cosplay

Honchkrow Gijinka (C) Zinkyufox

Kyurem Gijinka (C) Dramaya

(L to R gijinka) Absol, Flygon, Latios and Latias (C) Solstis

Houndoom Gijinka w/ half goatee (C) ~Y0-Mama

Chinchou (C) Gogorowboat

Darumakka! (C) Champions of Cosplay

This was only a fraction of the incredible gijinka costumes made and worn at Otakon 2011.  The level of dedication, creativity and hard work is astounding.  The costumes are authentic, they use good fabric, they have great patterns, and they’re so elaborate.  This is what I always hoped and dreamed I would see develop in the gijinka community.  I can only hope to match this level of quality and commitment in my own gijinka projects.

To the makers of any and all gijinka costumes at Otakon this year, my hat is off to you. Congrats and thank you for keeping the gijinka fandom going.

-Schuenator

Hey gijinka fans and loyal readers, one of my friends and interviewees is selling one of her incredible gijinka cosplays.  Yuffie_Suzume, who I interviewed about her Flygon and Entei costumes, is selling her Meganium gijinka.  She actually posted photos of this costume after I had done the interview so I didn’t get to post any here on this blog.  Hit the bump for more info and pics

As you may have seen in my last interview with Yuffie_Suzume, she’s a very good costume designer.  This Meganium, like all her other ones, is hand made.  The flower skirt is pretty spot on especially when you look at the original critter and the drawing she based it off of.  I would probably sew down the pleats a little because they look like they can get a little revealing (Meganium used Flash! Super effective?).  She did use the yellow string to tie up her hair but that ribbon doesn’t quite stand out enough.  You could tie it closer to the top of your head.  Or, what you might actually want to do is glue gun some yellow fabric around a wire so it has that anti-gravity effect like in the drawing.

For those of you who don’t want to do too much grunt work but still have a great gijinka, I think this is a great find.  Also, if you think you can get this for $50 or less, it’s a steal.  But, if it was me buying it, I would ask her to throw in the wig, shoes and Chikorita plushie (to complete the look ).  If you want to check more of her cosplay portfolio (which you should, especially if you like Espeon gijinka) or any of the other pokemon related items she has on sale, head over to her Cosplay.com page or check out her DeviantArt page.

Today we’re talking with Nikki (aka Piggynukka), listening to her cosplaying experience and how she put together one of the most popular gijinka costumes on the ‘net, Victreebel.

I’m pretty sure many of you have seen Nikki’s cosplay before, especially if you’re into gijinka cosplay.  I’ll let the audio interview do most of the talking but you’ll get to hear about specifically, where the costume idea came from, dealing with the fandom around it, and other cosplay interests.  Credit for the intro song is 100% (C) WillRock at OCremix.org.  Hit the bump for more photos and links.

BUMP!

(C) of all these photos belongs their respective owners.  The first one belonging to whoever that genius Japanese artist is who started this whole gijinka craze.  And the rest are (C) to Nikki (Piggynukka) and her Cosplay.com profile.

Also, check out her Cosplay.com profile, as well as her DeviantArt page for many more incredible pieces of art and cosplay.

Check out http://www.instructables.com/id/Gengar-Pokemon-Costume/ to see how it was made

Kirlia with Neon hair (C) girl_kitty

(C)PattrenKate. I can't help but laugh at this Kyogre, poor little guy can hardly breathe in there. Also can be found at http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Kyogre-Pokemon-Costume/

(C) echaltraw - Nice little Bulbasaur onesy for the toddler

And last but not least….

(C)Heather Martin - Ah! So cute! Mom and son.

These were definitely my favorites, but there are plenty more amazing constructed and amazingly cute Pokemon costumes out there for the little ones.  Sorry to anyone who got left out, but feel free to supplant this list with some of your own favorites.

Keep ‘em costuming!

(C) Dart:DenseBoy

This is Guilmon, the best Pokemon gijinka ever.  The costume is based on Guilmon, the Fire Rock Dinosaur from Pokemon Zirconia.  Guilmon’s moveset includes Throw Rock, Powerancient, Spin Fire, and Stormsand.  With a whopping 2,500 base stats, he’s ultra rare and can only be found by beating the game 16 times without a single Pokemon in your inventory ever fainting.

Click the bump for more details.
What’s the matter? Problem?

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!!

Hey, it’s April Fools.  We all have to have a little fun. Guilmon is not from the Pokemon series and is instead from those oh so spectacular knock-offs, Digimon.  I know almost nothing about Digimon and don’t really want to rag on it because, even though it’s not Pokemon-related, this costume is incredible. I think there’s plenty here that we can take away from and learn.

A lot of what I’m about to describe to you is described in more detail and with plenty of photos on the creator’s Cosplay.com page.  Pop on by if you want more of the photos and descriptions.

(C) Dart:Dense Boy

This person made the entire thing by hand.  It’s a combination of fabric, upholstery foam, mesh, and a lot of hot glue.  I’m actually impressed that they didn’t sew a lot of the fabric around the foam and used hot glue instead.  My guess is that they tried that and it looked too loose.  The hot glue keeps the fabric taught (though you better make sure your fabric ain’t cheap).

(C)Dart:Dense Boy

In the image above, you can see all the foam pieces.  The artist says that the foam is ordinary cushion foam but of a very dense variety.  The tail, arms, and head look especially solid.

(C)Dart:Dense Boy

In the image above, you can definitely see the flex in the feet, but otherwise this foam does not look too pliable.  This may be for the best because otherwise the fabric would not have wrapped around as well as it did.   The head is actually multiple piece hot glued together.

(C)Dart:Dense Boy

Now here’s the kicker.  As seamless as this all looks, there are so many different pieces to this costume.  The costumer is actually wearing red pants and a red shirt that match perfectly with the fabric picked out for the foam pieces.  They attach to each other via sewn on zipper.  The toes and fingers are made of a dough mixture she concocted.  Perhaps it’s paper mache.

(C)Dart: Dense Boy

Here’s the final product.  You can see the costumer added one big padded piece of fabric to form the chest.  It looks like it was also either hot glued or sewn on.  There is a piece of mesh fabric below the creature’s mouth that covers the face.  Though it looks tough to move around in, the costumer actually says they had little to no problem with mobility.  These two videos ((C)-gaurdiansandi) actually give a great demonstration of how easy it is for the costumer to walk around (and even run).

and this…

You can also tell in the skipping video that the tail is actually softer than it looks in the previous pictures.  It has a little bit of a bounce to it.

I think this is a really neat costume.  The artist didn’t have too much to work with.  No existing pattern, testing what worked and what didn’t, hot glue and couch foam.  And look what she made!  Guilmon is a great costume and I’m sure it was a huge hit at conventions.  All the commentary on the Cosplay.com page is so supportive and it looks like they got a lot of respect for the hard work.  This costume even inspired another cosplayer to build something similar but with the Pokemon Scyther (see below)

(C) PsychoPharoah & Instrumental Photography

Nice.  Come check us out next time readers.  We’ll be sharing more tips, interviews, and crazy costume ideas.  Til then, have a wonderful April Fool’s!

Throh (Nageki Jp.).  This guy, whoever he is, had some serious guts to not only dress up as a pokemon, but he also picked one with a generally unpopular character design among fans.  Throh is from Black and White so he’s not too popular except to those really into the series (yes, “me”, I know).  But this cosplayer brought a lot to the table.

Hit the bump to hear my comments.

Alright.  No question this was the gijinka I enjoyed seeing most at MegaCon.  I’m totally into Pokemon Black and White right now.  It’s an uncharted territory for a lot of gijinka.  I’m glad (and maybe a little jealous) to see somebody breaking ground with this Pokemon generation.  But I’m ready to give it the same treatment I’ve been giving other costumes lately, so let’s dive in to try and understand how it was made!

Whatever this guy used for his face, body, and arm paint was fantastic.  I’m guessing latex paint because it has an incredible shine.  He chose a great dark red color.  The color is noticeably darker than the Throh characters texture but I think it’s actually an improvement.  The vibrancy of the color almost punches you when he first walks near you.  The black facepaint is applied very skillfully too.  He even captured all the dark lines on Throh’s face and head.  I’m not too big of a fan of bald caps and this one throws off the color scheme slightly.  If you’re very hardcore (like me) about capturing a smooth head effect, shaving is the way to go.

I am always thrilled when costumers get something ordinary and use it to make their costume more effective.  In this case, a typical karate gi was used to make Throh’s gi.  Makes sense.  To capture the black striping, it looks like the lapels were either painted or fabric was sewn on.  He used a black belt too.  There is excellent black striping on the arms which looks like it was done either with a Sharpie or with paint.   I did notice after looking at the photos later that there is some red smudging on the gi.  The paint on his body must have been very hard to seal.

If there was one really big thing I would gripe about, it’s the hands.  The poor guy has them rolled up in red tape or red fabric.  I imagine that must have been painful.  They still work and capture the design of the pokemon.  Someone going to the extreme could use a foam mold (only one is needed because Throh’s fingers all look identical), place it around the fingers and then use spirit gum and makeup to blend them in.

I don’t think there’s anything to gripe about here.  The fabric pieces sewn on the knees look great.  I’m not going to bully on the slip-on shoes he’s wearing.  The red color and the two black lines are actually an attention to detail that got me so excited about this costume in the first place.  This cosplayer went the extra mile to capture as many features of Throh as he could.  He receives the official Pokemon Gijinka Nation seal of approval!

1st MegaCon ever and I walked away impressed. Yesterday I traveled south to Orlando to visit the Orange County Convention Center where the largest anime, sci-fi, all-around-nerdtastic convention in Florida takes place. My girlfriend and I left at 5AM to get to Orlando by 7 (per the advice of a friend). We waited in line very briefly for the tickets but they didn’t open the doors until 10AM. A lot of people stood in line to get into the main convention hall, but we aren’t saps! We waited til the doors were open and then people flushed in like a corral of bulls. Panels, exhibits, comic artists and writers, and oh the costuming NERDS!

Read on for costuming tales and photos galore!

MEGACON GIJINKA

The pokemon gijinka here did not let me down!

I was shocked and surprised at how much pokemon gijinka was here. I thought I would only see 1 or 2 gijinka costumes. Not counting the non-gijinka pokemon related costumes, there were at least 2 dozen costumes. Unfortunately, not all of them were documented here but what we have here is very impressive. Before we go further and examine each one, I want to thank all the gijinka cosplayers and pokemon fans at MegaCon who are keeping this fandom alive. You all showed a lot of excitement and were really great models for my photos. On with the show!

Ok, good start. A simple Pikachu gijinka.  It’ a small yellow dress over a brown shirt and maybe a mesh skirt.  Pikachu hat w/ ears. Little paint on the cheeks and done! You have an easily recognizable gijinka.

This was the first Legendary gijinka I saw there.  A pretty bold move for Ho-Oh.  Looks like she took a shawl pattern and used satin or velvet to make the wings/sleeves.  She got the color scheme right on, making it easily recognizable.   Pretty brave doing a legendary considering how complex their design usually is.  Props to this cosplayer. My personal suggestions:

1. Consider making an elaborate headdress using techniques similar to what Ryoko-demon did for this Team Rocket Jesse Wig.
2. Apply more gold lining to the skirt, Ho-oh has a lot of gold feathers near his/her underbelly
3. The mask could use a splash of red, or if you’re super bold, get red contacts and then paint a mask around the face
4. Talons on the left boot look decent, right boot less so

This was the largest collective group of gijinka I got together.  My photo skills are terrible so I really don’t do justice to all of them here. Umbreon on the top left (what’s he all frowny face about?) had a really good Umbreon hat.  Not sure if he made that himself but it looked great.  The rest of the costume was…ok.  Umbreon on the top right was the same way.  This is why I’m generally not a fan of Umbreon gijinka.  Everyone likes to do it basically because it’s so easy.  Black shirt, black pants, a few sewn-on yellow circles and it’s done.  However, when someone takes a pokemon that could have an easy construction and then goes the extra mile for it, that’s awesome.  The Eevee on the bottom had a huge bushy tail and these wonderful fabric pads around her neck.  Raichu on the right had a great little ensemble as well.  More on the Ditto…

Ditto was the first gijinka I saw at the con and I was very happy to see it.  The fact that someone had been brave enough to tackle the least-gijinkable (new word, yay) pokemon was uplifting.  She took the only rout she really had available to her: Lots of pink and two pieces of fabric-covered cardboard.  If somebody were to do it again, I’d like to see a giant body sock with some sad empty dots for eyes and a weak grin veiling the horrible reality that you are only good at poorly copying others.

Ditto’s a sad pokemon…

Luxray gijinka!  Alright, I’ve been hoping to see an actual one.  This one was pretty great.  The neck scarf needs work, though.  In fact, I’m not even sure what that is around her neck.  The blue shirt, while it is exactly the color of the critter (matching clothing with same exact color is tough) still has an existing pattern on it.  Otherwise, the tail, the ears, and the little tuft on the top of the head are fantastic.

Aaaand…we follow it right up with a Shinx gijinka.  This one’s also pretty simple but also effective.  It has the look down nicely. Great color-matching especially with the ears, the eyes on the hoodie and even the yellow used.  The yellow armbands are definitely [edit: fabric sewn on].  While that seems cheap, it still works.  Sometimes….ok, everytime!…cosplayers need to go for the cheapest route possible while still getting the best effect.  In this case, the foam used to make the ears works perfectly.

This was the other legendary I saw at MegaCon.  The best thing about seeing this was that I had seen art similar to this before on Tumblr and on DeviantArt.  Compared to the art, it looks like the cosplayer tried for a less skimpy outfit.  There is nothing wrong with being modest when there are 20,000 people all around you with their clothes on.  The pillow hat on her head looked very tough to keep on.  She was straining when I took the photo to keep it balanced.  The ink and paint she used were already rubbing off.  Next time use a sharpie or makeup paint, and castor sealer to retain the color.

But all in all, this lady proves even the most elaborate gijinka art can be done!

Here’s another Pikachu gijinka.  There were a lot like these at the con.  They’re like pajama-hoodies with the features of the poke-critter on them.  I suppose they could be considered gijinka.  Especially if there’s more like this next one…

Excellent Dragonite. This was one of the most well-crafted gijinka costumes at the convention especially in terms of fabric.  He had all the details of the tail and wings very down pat.  The best thing was that there were no loose seems and it looked very professional.  Wynaut gets an A for enthusiasm.

SUMMARY OF THE CON

MegaCon is a unique mix for me.  There are parts of it that take me back to my old anime days: lots of younger people spouting internet jokes or laughing and running around.  Then there are the pieces that remind me more of Dragoncon: the celebrities and discussion panels.  It definitely leans to the former.  At this point in my life, I’ve really grown out of that.  I just don’t enjoy drama anymore.  My partiality to Dragoncon definitely shows up in this manner.  But here are my cons and pros, my downs and ups with my MegaCon experience this year.

DOWNS:

1. The convention center was so big and yet it still felt so cramped around the vendors.
2. Food courts are mostly junk food
3. Obnoxious high schoolers who whine.  A lot.
4. So many cos-fails.

UPS

1. Pretty cheap compared to other huge cons.  Only $25 for us to get in.
2. Unless you were there for Stan Lee and Shatner, the panels were pretty tight knit and the comic author booths were open making it feel very inviting and close to the stars (I got to ask Geoff Johns a question!)
3. Great pokemon/gijinka following there. Bring your DS if you go.
4. Good costumes start coming out around mid-day
5. Observation Deck. There is nothing like looking out over the con floor and seeing thousands of fans milling around

In the end, I had a good experience with MegaCon and I definitely recommend it if you live within 2 hours of Orlando.  It’s a great introduction to con culture and the pro’s definitely outweigh the cons.  If you want to check out more photos visit my Flickr photostream.  Also, we’ll have a video up of the con experience on my YouTube channel.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokemongijinka/

(C) www.thespeedgamers.com

This is the first time I’ve seen anything like this.  On a whole bunch of the live-stream websites right now like justin.tv and ustream.tv, this group is pulling a massive marathon.  They’re already near hour 70 and they’ve raised almost $12,000 for the ALS Association.  Hopefully you’ll see more of these kinds of events taking place especially with the release Black & White.  Perhaps you’ll see more game marathons trying to reach out for aid and assistance to Japan following the earthquake.

Check out the speedgamers website for the weekend playthrough. Here’s a link to their channel on Justin.tv

http://www.justin.tv/widgets/live_embed_player.swf
Watch live video from thespeedgamers on Justin.tv

and their website: http://www.thespeedgamers.com/category/marathon-news

(C) Groktheha Youtube Channel

Japan, the originating home of Pokemon and gijinka has been hit by a devastating earthquake.  The shockwaves have caused a tsunami that is now spreading across the Pacific.  As I’m writing this to you, Hawaii has reported the first expected high-surf (which thankfully wasn’t as bad as expected) and California is expecting the waves in a few minutes.

Hundreds are feared dead in the city of Sendai, which is located about 200 miles northeast of Tokyo.  According to LA Times, the is the 5th largest earthquake since 1900 and the biggest in Japan in 140 years.  In the same article, Prime Minister Naoto Kan encouraged his people to remain calm.  He also said that the nation’s many nuclear facilities were reported unharmed, but currently Fukushima (the location of one of the largets nuclear facilities in nation) is trending on Twitter as a concern due to a reported abnormality.  Here is a Google Maps locator to see its location in relation to some of Japan’s major cities.

While earthquakes are a common occurrence in Japan, this latest disaster takes place at an ill time, especially following only weeks after the earthquake in New Zealand.  In August of 2009, a 6.5 earthquake struck near Tokyo but caused minimal damage.

In regards to Nintendo, Kotaku.com was reporting on tweets from leading game developers such as Masahiro Sakurai (Smash Bros.).  All are reporting to be fine and encouraging their staff to remain in a safe location or at home.

For more video on the tsunami effects on Japan and surrounding areas, please visit
Io9.com’s collection of all the videos posted so far.

Our hearts go out to those affected in Japan.
If you want to help in the relief, please donate to the Red Cross