WHAT she gets...
The only thing she gets from cosplaying, Jess said, is that sense of accomplishment.
“I feel happy every time I could make a costume and it is an accomplishment for me every time I finish a cosplay.”
She said the prizes she gets from winning in cosplay competitions are not her sole motivation. “I do it because I simply love to cosplay.”
What she does...
Jessica also shared her preparations for a cosplay:
One of the first things she does is researching about the character she will be cosplaying. She looks at the details of the costume and find ways to make it look as close to the real one as possible.
She basically prepares the cloth and the materials for her costume, herself.
“Choosing the right cloth and materials is very important. Some cosplays might require more like a wig, contact lenses and other props,” she noted.
She also sketches the costume and writes instructions and reminders so that her seamstress won’t have a hard time understanding the costume.
“I think guiding the one making your costume is very important because if your seamstress or whoever is making your costume, she gets confused or makes a mistake and your costume can end up a flop,” Jess said.
Jess did not really calculate how much exactly she has spent in one cosplay but for a difficult costume, she said she usually spends around P4000.
What she cosplays...
“I think I have some similarities with the characters I cosplay, like we share the same ideals or personality, but most of the time I choose characters that are totally different from me,” she said.
She added that she chooses the characters she cosplays by what they wear. If she likes the costume, she would choose that character.
Recently, she started to choose characters that looks like her or characters with costumes that fit her body type.
So far, she has already cosplayed eight characters: the maid version of Mikuru Asahina from the anime Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya; Misa Amane from the Death Note movie; Kagamine Rin from Vocaloid; the Lolita version of Haruhi Suzumiya; Reith from Magna Carta; Alice from Alice in Wonderland; Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier and Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere.
Above all these, Jessica credits her supportive family and friends especially her mother who is always ready to help her with her cosplays.
Jessica said there are no certain characteristics for a cosplayer; anyone can be one but she emphasized that a ‘good cosplayer’ should be hard-working and determined.
“Cosplay isn’t easy and you have to face many trials to achieve a good cosplay.” she noted.
“I intend to cosplay as long as I possibly can. I might not be able to cosplay as much when I graduate high school but I still hope to continue doing it,” she added.
Jess also shared her aspiration of becoming a fashion designer someday. She hopes to study in Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in Germany and take fashion designing.
When finally asked why cosplaying exists, she candidly answered, “…because people want to express themselves creatively. It exists for us cosplayers to just feel free to be who we want to be.”