kurozone

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...it's been a month already... I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN A MONTH ALREADY!!!!! O_____O!!

It's been a month since I've arrived in Japan for my study abroad program... and it's been truly amazing!! The AP Houses (Dorms for students living on university campus) are lots of fun, tons of events are going on nearly every week, and all the Japanese and International students here are awesome.

But aside from all the fun and games while being here in Japan, I've also been feeling slightly homesick.
Well... I'm not sure if homesick is the correct term...
To be more specific... I've been feeling very cosplay-deprived.
Yes... I said cosplay-deprived. XD

Seeing so many of my friends from back home planning/attending conventions and Sakura Matsuri... I've been feeling the pang these past few weeks for how much I'm missing out on with all my good cosplay friends.

But at the same time, I also realized... I'M IN JAPAN, DAMNIT! WHY AM I NOT COSPLAYING?! Hahaha...

So yeah... the Animation Circle (that I've joined for my semester here) is planning to attend a cosplay event in Fukuoka, Japan in May. And I am really thinking of going... because I don't want to miss an opportunity to cosplay while I'm in Japan!

Now I just need to think of a character to cosplay, and to buy the wig and outfit (because I didn't bring any of my cosplay stuff with me from home...).
And it'll give me a good chance to finally cosplay a new character!! ^^

Who should I cosplay while I'm here? Any ideas? And suggestions? Requests maybe? XD

...

I haven't been on DA much lately because I'm usually very busy with something (whether it be club activities, classes, or going into town for grocery shopping...)... but I do post on Twitter and Facebook when I get the chance.

Hopefully soon, I can start getting a cosplay together!





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Haha. Sorry for that obnoxious title.

I've been debating with myself for... I can't remember how long it's been now... whether or not I should create myself a Facebook page. At first, I was against it because I didn't like the idea of managing two different accounts at the same time (and the sound of someone 'liking' me, haha)... but within the past month, I've come to realize that I really should have two separate accounts. There are many reasons as to why I now want to (I think that having a page specifically for photography and cosplay allows me to keep things much more organized), but the main reason being that I want to keep my social and cosplay life a little more separate from my private life.

The page is still a work in progress... I will slowly post things up within the next few weeks as I try to settle in Japan.

So please feel free to follow me on Facebook!
Even I have to admit that I am on there more often than any other social media.......








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Ah, I've been all over the place lately trying to get photoshoots and photo-editing done, get things together, finish tying up some loose ends, and do last-minute shopping before I leave the States. >___<;;;
I'm still slowly uploading cosplay photos from previous photoshoots and conventions... and I'll probably continue to do that until I feel like I've spammed my poor watchers enough. XD


For the next 5 months, I will be living and studying in Beppu, Japan!!! (OMG, I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I'M ACTUALLY GOING!!)

I'm not going to lie. I am extremely excited to be going (I've been looking forward to this for the past 4 months!!). But at the same time, I'm nervous because I will be halfway around the world, in a country where I can't fully comprehend and speak the language yet. XD
But hopefully with the amount of time living and studying there (and the friends that I will hopefully make), I can at least be semi-fluent in Japanese by the time I return home.


And so... for the next 5 months... there will be no cosplays or conventions for me... /SOBS
(Unless there is some sort of event that I am able to attend while in Japan... in between my semester and courses.)
I'm going to miss all of my friends and cosplay-buddies while I'm away... and I will be thinking about them during every con-weekend... (you all better post up videos and photos for me to see!!!) But I'm going to look forward to cosplaying once again when I come back.


I plan to blog and do video posts about all the things I will see/eat/witness/experience/like/dislike in Japan!! ^_^

You can follow my blog if you're interested in knowing/seeing what I'm doing there:
[ My Wordpress ]

If time and money permits it, I will try to go to all those lovely anime-themed Cafes in Tokyo!!

And if people are interested, I may decide on uploading some photographs of Japan here.


I want to thank everyone who's been following me here on DA. I will forever be grateful for your love and support!!


Hopefully this cosplay-hiatus will motivate me to kick things up a bit more when I return to the states, huh? >___>;;

I suppose I will have to see how things work out when I come back home.


Soooooo.... I guess all I can say for now is....

"SEE YA LATER!!!!!!"
(Until my next journal post, that is...)


~kuro


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FINALLY, this journal entry is getting posted! It's such a late post because there were so many photos that I had to go through for this. So please prepare yourself for a looooonnngggg entry. XD

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Wow, a lot has happened within these past few months... (most of which are things I wish I could just forget about, haha). But good things happened as well, and I think they're definitely worth sharing.

February ended up being extremely stressful, with me pulling all-nighters to try and get cosplays and con-planning done (which... didn't turn out the way I wanted it to in the end...haha), but all those sleepless nights were well worth it in the end because I had two really awesome con-weekend experiences. And as some of you might have noticed already... I've been submitting more stuff on my DA lately.

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This year was my first time ever at Katsucon. And boy, was it quite the experience. I will try my best to recreate my time at the con (but let me tell you... it all went by in such a blur that even I can barely grasp onto it all). XD


FEB.16.THURSDAY;

It started off with my friend, Carol (QueenHawkeye) and I, driving down to Maryland that morning. First, I had woken up late (I didn't even hear my alarm go off) because I had pull an all-nighter the previous day to try and get my friend's coat done for his cosplay as Yukio Okumura (Blue Exorcist)... but just to say it right now... I was not able to get it done for the con. *SOBS* ;AAA;

We left town roughly about 10am, stopped by her hometown on the way for lunch and some last minute shopping, and got to the Gaylords Hotel around 3:30pm. I won't lie... it wasn't a bad drive at all (except for the rainfall during the 2nd half of the trip). We had good music playing in the car, and it was overall a quiet and pleasant drive.

After checking-in, and bringing all of our luggage, food, and JUNK up to the room, we finally had time to walk around the convention place. And it. Was. Gorgeous! I could not stop staring at things around me because it was by far, one of THE nicest locations ever for a convention. We couldn't wait for the rest of our friends to join us the next day.

Here is a shot of the convention hall.


We rested for a bit in our room, and then decided to do a cos-test after picking up our con-badges. It was Carol's first time ever cosplaying (in fact, it was my entire group of friend's first time cosplaying ever... except for me... >___<)... so we thought it would be a good idea to test her make-up before the biggest day of the con.

Before that, I quickly worked on my tail (which still took about 2 hours altogether) so that I could get it out of the way.

Here's a shot of all my materials (please excuse the clutter). There's my white belt for Rin. Then there's the blue skeleton made up of plastic-covered wire. And the black velvet that I use for the skin of the tail.


This is after I sewed the velvet together, and slipped the skeleton through it.


And this is how the tail looks like before I attach it to the belt...


Then we finally went to working with our make-up and the wigs... OTL
It didn't take me too long to do my make-up since I've done a cos-test before (I just exaggerated my eyes a bit more than usual). But for Carol... boy, was it quite the experiment. THOSE EYEBROWS!! (I actually enjoyed drawing those eyebrows on her... and she pulls off the character almost ridiculously well...).

...and after about 2 hours in the bathroom... we took some quick shots of ourselves with our phones. XD


Then we walked around the hotel area in cosplay for a little bit, and took some shots for each other.


But we soon called it a night (since we were both feeling pretty wiped out from the drive down). And that concluded our Thursday. ^_^


FEB.17.FRIDAY;

Carol and I woke up around 11am to get ready (a few hours in the bathroom with make-up all over the counter), and got done around 2ish. We left for the con to grab a quick lunch, and saw Malissa (KoeNoKioku) with her friends (thank you guys again for the lunch!!!!) before heading to the Gazebo area where a Blue Exorcist photoshoot was scheduled to take place. And we had some fun with other Blue Exorcist cosplayers.

Here is me and Nikita (ExtremeNikita) acting all derpy in front of the camera. XD


I took a shot of Nikita and Carol together. (They match so well together~~~)


And here is a shot where Carol is completely photo-bombing me in the background. (Oh, Carol... how I love your facial expressions!!) XD


The group photoshoot with all the other Blue Exorcist cosplayers ended with good feelings, and the rest of the afternoon went by fairly quick. I met up with my friends from North Carolina after they arrived at the hotel, and we hung out for a little bit before my friend, Mick (LumLums813), and her sister went to go change into their cosplays. So Carol and I checked out the dealer's room and walked around some more before we left the hotel to pick up our friends from the bus terminal. They were all excited to finally see the convention area for themselves (since Carol and I kept tweeting photos and posting things on Facebook the day before, haha).

While the girls stayed in the room, I headed down to the fountain area for a photoshoot that I had promised Nikita (ExtremeNikita) earlier in the day. She had changed from her Renzou Shima (Blue Exorcist) cosplay to Barnaby Brooks Jr. (Tiger&Bunny), and looked absolutely fantastic!

Here we are setting up for Nikita's photoshoot...


This wasn't my first time doing a photoshoot for someone while I was in cosplay. However... it was my first time doing a full-out photoshoot for someone at night. And I've had my fair share of experiences with night photography where I just... sucked. To put it simply. Night photography is very tricky and very difficult to master if you do not have enough or the right equipment for it. But luckily, Frank (my friend/photographer-for-the-weekend), owned a gorgeous external-flash... and I got to play with it. A lot. XD

At first... the photos were... Meh. The lighting just wasn't working for me. The area around us was too dark. The flash was too strong on the cosplayer. The photos staring up at me through the camera screen seemed like it was mocking me saying 'Haha, you don't know how to take good night shots!' /RAGE... but I didn't want to give up just yet.

Then... just as magical as it seemed... the fountain behind Nikita began shooting up water! And with lights that changed color!! And it was at that moment that I knew I just had to get the perfect shot. I quickly pulled over a chair from one of the tables near us, stood up on it, and started snapping away. Frank kept the flash from different angles so that I could get a variety of different shots to choose from. And as I was flipping through the photos, I was satisfied because they were better than when we first started out the photoshoot. But then... (and now here comes the best part...) Just as I was about to snap a shot of Nikita, Frank pointed the damn flash AT me (because he didn't realize I was going to take another shot), and BLINDED the living daylights out of me.... OTL

I was down for the count. My eyes were burning (because that flash is BLINDING), I was kneeling down on the chair with my eyes shut tight. It got noisy around me because everyone was cracking up. But hey! I was laughing too!! Because it was pretty damn funny (even though it was quite painful for my eyes). So after I was able to see again (with spots here and there), I pressed the 'REPLAY' button to get another good look at the photos and... OMG! Remember how I said before how 'I had to get the perfect shot'?

Well... the shot that I had just taken (where Frank blinded me), resulted with these;


So I was in really high spirits for the rest of the shoot (with me constantly telling Frank to "FLASH ME!" LOL!) And after Nikita's shoot, I helped Mick (LumLums813) shoot her cosplay (which is outstanding because she pretty much made the whole outfit herself).



After that, Mick helped me and Frank take pictures together. (I had to force him to let go of the camera, haha. And this was the only time out of the whole con where we took photos together as the Okumura brothers...)



Then we spotted the first Shiemi out of the whole con (she wasn't at the Blue Exorcist photoshoot earlier that day)! And I quickly asked her for a picture together. She's so pretty~~~



And after finishing up our mini-shoots, Frank and I went to the bus terminal to pick up my friend, Irene (ricecake000), who I FINALLY got to meet in person! After introductions between everyone and bringing the newest addition to our hotel room, we finally called it a night and tried to sleep before the big day.


FEB.18.SATURDAY;

The next morning. Was. HECTIC. O____O;;
Since this time, instead of just me and Carol getting ready... it was EVERYONE in the room getting ready for the con. OTL
A usual 2-hour make-up, wig, and outfit change turned into nearly 5 hours. But everyone managed to finish, and we finally headed down to the Gazebo area again to take some photos and to see other cosplayers. (Ackkkk~~~ I kept seeing Ackson and his crew!!!!! /SOBS)

Here is me in full Rin cosplay (FINALLY!! Thank you so much ricecake000 for letting me borrow your jacket and sword bag!!)


Then my friend ,Kristina (cosplaying as Shura Kirigakura), joins in the Blue Exorcist fun!


And finally! Frank/Yukio Okumura snapped a shot of himself, haha~~


And here I am with my friends Maggie, cosplaying as Inori Yuzuriha (Guilty Crown), and Mick LumLums813 as Female ANBU! Rock Lee (NARUTO).


Irene (ricecake000) met up with us, and we decided to go off and do our own private photoshoots. We chose the parking garage because the day before (after Carol and I picked everyone up), we spotted a space in the garage where there were barely any cars (because it was reserved for valet parking). And we decided to take advantage of it.

This was the area in the parking garage that we used. There's a space to the left of us where there's a wall which served as a really nice backdrop for our photos.


Maggie and Mick kept fixing my tail for the photos (because it wasn't staying in place)... OTL


But then finally, I was able to get some serious shots in with my cosplay. And I was really REALLY happy with the results. (Thank you, Frank, for taking shots for me and letting me boss you around, haha).


Then it was my turn to take over the camera, and Irene became my victim for the next 30-minutes or so. XD


It was during my shoot with it finally hit me; how much I've missed shooting and cosplaying with other people. And I felt like I would never want to stop. So I really gave it my all for Irene's photos, using what I currently know and have learned about photography to try and execute and create the best photos that I possibly could. And I am extremely happy with the results;


After we were done, Frank and the girls left to grab some food while Irene and I hung around the con (because there were still places that I didn't get to see yet!!). We went behind the hotel where we saw the waterfront and enjoyed a nice stroll down the boardwalk. (Hahaha~ oh god, it sounds like a date or something. XD) We took some more photos for each other. But then it was time for DERP photos!!! XD

We. Look. SILLY!! XD


After that, we grabbed some lunch/dinner (I never know what meal I'm eating when I'm at a con... my eating habits are shot during these crazy events...)... and now this is where my memory gets really fuzzy (because I was probably really feeling the exhaustion by this time). I know for a fact that I was still wearing Rin... but I can't remember if I had met up with more people afterwards... or if I still walked around the con for more photos (because I can't find any photos that would fit in with this time... OTL)

So I'll just say that that concluded my Saturday. XD



FEB.19.SUNDAY;

LAST DAY OF KATSUCON!! *SOB*

Irene and I were the first ones to wake up and get ready; Me into Sion (NO.6) and Irene into Riku (Kingdom Hearts). It was my first time doing the body snakes that Sion has, so it took me longer than usual to get ready (and also because his eyebrows are really light, so Irene had to help my cover my eyebrows... >___<). But I somehow got it done.
Then everyone else soon got dressed (not in cosplay because they wanted to relax), and we all rushed to put our luggage in the car and check out of our hotel room. After doing that, we all went to the dealer's room for some last minute shopping (I didn't get anything though... OTL). And finally... after I don't know how long I've been waiting for... I met up with Nikita (ExtremeNikita) in her Nezumi (NO.6) cosplay!! *0*

Here is a photo that Akito (AristoMercu) took of me, Nikita, and Irene (and HAMLET!! ).


We immediately rushed off the the parking garage where we did our photoshoots the day before (it seems like that location is going to be THE location for all our photoshoots from now on, haha). And then... it was time for all the fun to take place.

I was trying to fix Nezumi's scarf for the photos...


Irene had Nikita and I lying on the ground (the cold, dirty, and utterly disgusting concrete...)...


so that we could try to and recreate this image:


We didn't have the image at hand (and Frank, Nikita, and I never saw the image before), so we followed Irene's directing the entire time while Frank tried to capture the shot. So that's how we resulted with this;


After that, we finally got up to get all feelings back in our fingers (because it was ridiculously cold on the ground...) and we continued with the shoot, trying to get solo shots of Nikita and myself. But somehow... our NO.6 cosplay photoshoot turned into a NO.6 advertising photoshoot! XD

Because Irene started it......


Nikita's solo shots turned into an advertising campaign...with Hamlet... XD


But we soon got back into serious mode... NOT! (We can never stay serious during a photoshoot. It's not possible!!) Because when Nikita was getting her solo shots taken... I kept photo-bombing her. XD



I really want to redo my NO.6 cosplay some time this year (because I wasn't happy at all about not getting Sion's coat). But also because the photoshoot with Nikita felt way too short (since she had to leave early for the long drive home). So one day! So that I can perfect Sion for the next photoshoot. >____<;;

So after the photoshoot, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with our other friends and TRIED to take a group photo together...... and epicly failed. OTL

This is me and my family for the weekend.


After that, we all decided to head back to our home states, and call it a weekend, haha.

And well... that pretty much concludes my trip and experience at Katsucon! (Sorry for the ridiculously long entry.. and all the derp photos, haha... but I hope you enjoyed some of them!! >___<)

I was able to meet lots of new cosplayers, and see some cosplayers that I've stalked on DA before. It was definitely a weekend that I won't forget, and I'm really happy that I was able to share the experience with my close group of friends.

I look forward to Katsucon next year!! ^_^


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SHOUTOUTS to:


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A new year is soon to arrive, and there are many things to be said, many things to be done, and many things to look forward to!


First, I want to thank everyone for all the support that I have gotten this year. I honestly feel that I would not have gotten this far in terms of Cosplay without all the support and wonderful comments that I've gotten from people here on dA. I get excited every time I see a new message, and I always read them carefully, grateful that people would even take the time to comment (even though it might only take a second for that person to type something and press 'add comment'). It always makes me feel accomplished when people enjoy seeing my submissions, making me want to share more of my work. And it satisfies me greatly when my work can make someone's day. That's way more than what I can ask for!

For all my watchers here, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I promise to work hard so that I can continue to share with you all of my randomness, crazy obsessions and fandoms, and ridiculous dorkyness.


As for the coming new year... here is my New Year's Resolution for 2012;

Improve well-being; lose more weight, exercise more, eat healthier, and get more sleep!!
Improve self; be more organized, and manage time better
Improve on cosplay; learn how to sew properly so that I can make beautiful cosplays
Improve photography; experiment more so that I can really develop my own style of photography and work hard to become a true professional
Improve on Japanese; practice more and study hard in Japan so that I can at least be semi-fluent in the language
Keep a blog for my photography, work and travels abroad

...and that's all...

for now.

~KURO