Name: Erika Blanche E. Gocuan

Cosplay Name: Erihime

Cosplay Character: Pocahontas

“Growing up inspired by the wonder Disney characters ignited, I’ve always wanted to dress up as one. Pocahontas is special to me because she was one of the first strong female princesses, and her struggle between duty and adventure is super relatable!” - Erika

How did you make your costume?

“Being a working professional, I have little time to spare to work on my costumes, so this project took a while to finish, and I even had to enlist help! I wanted to sew everything myself, but in the end I had someone work on the base of the dress for me and simply added the embellishments. Born of a friend’s genius idea, he and I both made the necklace out of recycled rubber tiles and spray paint!”

Cosplay Tip:

“I think the most important tip in cosplay is to pick characters that you love! Passion always shows. A more practical tip is that cosplaying is also a lot about creativity—something lying around at home could fill in for that missing piece in your costume!”

Social Media Handles

Instagram: erihime.cosu

Twitter: erihimeblanche

FB: facebook.com/erihime.cosu

People who aren’t into cosplay see it as a mere hobby where people doll themselves up in costumes and wear them outside of the Halloween season, but what the mainstream public doesn’t see is the artistry-turned-profession that happens in the back end of what seems to be the act of simply throwing on an outfit.

A lot of care, calculation and love takes place in concocting the perfect cosplay ensemble. Apart from the costume, accessories, hair, and makeup, a good cosplayer also studies the character and portrays the essence of that character outward—sometimes to the point that even a picture can show exactly who that character is.

At its core, it seems that cosplay isn’t just about wearing a costume. It involves high-quality costumes and accessories as well as realistic role play. At some gatherings, a group of serious cosplayers might even interact with each other purely in character the entire time—which makes for a challenge, but definitely a lot of fun.

Here at our “Cosplay of the Day” section, we celebrate our local Cebuano cosplayers and cosplay enthusiasts for keeping the colorful art alive and courageously showcasing the creativity and talent Cebu has.

Cosplay Fun Fact: The term “cosplay,” combining the words “costume” and “play,” was invented in 1984 by Japanese reporter Nobuyuki Takahashi after he attended Worldcon in Los Angeles.