Japanese comic heroes come to life at Cosplay

Japanese comic heroes come to life at Cosplay
PRINCESSES in flowing ballgowns, pilots of futuristic vessels and gigantic robots competed

on a level playing field at the national Cosplay championship at the weekend.

The grand final of the "costume play" event, held in an Albert Park hotel, brought together

Australia's most fervent supporters of Japanese comics and cartoons, better known as manga

and anime. Rather than just read or watch, people like Adelaide's Jenita Naipal spend

hundreds of hours making costumes of their favourite characters and then parading about in

them.

"I've had 3½ months to make it - that's a short time in the costuming world," the 24-year-

old said, struggling out of her robot suit from Laputa: Castle in the Sky.

"The arms are 190 centimetres, the head would be another 30 centimetres on top of that. I'm

five-foot-one-and-a-half [155 centimetres] so I'm walking with my hands above my head … I

was dying in there."

The fifth-placed Naipal won products from anime distributor Madman, which put on the event.

"I can definitely improve," she added.

Melbourne's Nicole Collis, 21, has just finished a digital arts course at RMIT, but her life

has been "full-time costume pandemonium" since then. The competition's runner-up is widely

known as Siera, her pen-name on internet forums, and she portrayed Rue from Princess Tutu, a

manga with a similar story to Swan Lake.

"I love the performance, being in character, it's a unique and creative way to express

yourself," she said, twirling in her pink and burgundy ball gown.

Her parents and friends were not particularly surprised by her hobby, she said. "They think

I'm a bit more than just crazy."

The competition's winner, Christie Lee of Sydney, was overjoyed with her prize: a trip to

Japan to attend next year's Tokyo Anime Fair.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet,'' she said.

In two outfits - a blue Victorian dress and a tight red number - the 21-year-old explained

how her favourite series was like a "twisted version" of Lewis Carroll's Alice in

Wonderland.

"I did a character named Alice from Pandora Hearts. Pretty much a girl who has a super power

and turns into a demon killer bunny," she explained, casually.


The surfing story

SURFING has taken seven-time world champion Layne Beachley around the world, but she never

thought she would end up in an exhibition.

A new collection celebrating the sport opened at the National Sports Museum at the MCG

yesterday, thrilling the wave-loving Beachley.

"I know, I was in a surfing museum before I was dead," she said, laughing.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think that boards would be hanging up at the MCG."

Collections manager Jed Smith said The Long Ride: 100 Years of Australian Surfing traversed

the origins of the sport through to the professional circuit of today. The exhibition

stretches back to 1909 when Manly's Tommy Walker brought a board from Hawaii and started to

ride. (It was previously held that Hawaiian champion Duke Kahanamoku was the first to ride

local waves in the 1920s.)

Until interest spiked in the 1970s and '80s, surfing was amateur and recreational, he said.

"So to get hold of boards to see the evolution, it's quite extraordinary."

Beachley said her first boards were thick, wide and long. "We'd be encouraged to learn on

'moving sidewalks'," she said. "Now the craftsmanship is just amazing, and it's great to see

it be honoured and admired and appreciated."

The exhibition runs until the end of February.

final fantasy cloud strife

Concept and creation

Cloud was designed by Tetsuya Nomura with influences from Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima and Hironobu Sakaguchi. Originally conceptualized by Sakaguchi as one of only three playable characters in early planning stages for Final Fantasy VII, Cloud's character saw greater oversight by Nomura than with other characters in previous Final Fantasy projects. Nomura has said the original parameters of Cloud's character design called for slicked-back, black hair with no spikes. This depiction was to serve as a contrast to the long, flowing silver hair of the game's lead antagonist, Sephiroth. However, to make Cloud stand out more and emphasize his role in the game as the lead protagonist, Nomura altered Cloud's design to give him spiky, bright, blond hair. Furthermore, Nomura was called upon to supervise Cloud's various lines and personality traits. Kitase and Nojima, meanwhile, were in charge of developing Cloud's background and his relationship with the character of Sephiroth.Kitase said of the character:There wasn't really much controversy or criticism about having him as the hero from within Square, but he is definitely a mysterious character. That's one of the game's main themes, the fact that the protagonist has all these secrets to unravel. He isn't a straightforward hero like Superman; rather, he has lots of mysteries, self-doubts, and a real dark side. Mr. Nomura was also very good at designing a character like that.—Yoshinori Kitase, Electronic Gaming Monthly, October 2005Nojima has expressed the dynamic of the relationship between the player and the main character in a Final Fantasy title is something he always puts thought into, and with Final Fantasy VII, Cloud's subdued nature led him to write scenes with the character in such a way that the players would be placed in the position of deciding for themselves what the character was thinking.[9]For Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Nomura agreed to direct the project, largely in part because of his attachment to the character of Cloud. Nomura, on explaining Cloud's situation in the film, said that "Cloud tried to lead his life positively after the end of FF7 but he cracked...The sin which Cloud thinks he owns is not anyone's fault in particular. It is something Cloud has to overcome by himself." Nojima said that the theme of the story is one of redemption. "If you want to be forgiven, you have to take the hard path in life." Cloud, in choosing to fight against Sephiroth once again, is finally "given healing and forgiveness."[7] Nomura concluded, "Cloud seems to be a weak guy. Generally, heroes are strong, cool and don't have any weaknesses...Although Cloud is a jerk sometimes, he is really human-like. It's through redemption from his friends and having children to protect that he becomes stronger."

cosplay kuroshitsuji(Black Butler)

Black Butler is a manga written and illustrated by Yana Toboso. Since its debut on September 16, 2006, it has been serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazineMonthly GFantasy. The series follows Sebastian Michaelis, a demonic butler who is obligated to serve Ciel Phantomhive, the twelve-year-old head of the Phantomhive noble family, due to a contract he made with Ciel. It was announced in July 2008 that an anime adaption, directed by Shinohara Toshiya and produced by A-1 Pictures, was expected. It premiered in October 2008, and has since ended with 24 episodes. However, at the Sono Shitsuji, Shūshō: Saigo no Bansan o Anata to Tomo ni event on June 14, 2009, it was announced that the anime will be returning for a second series. Seiyū Junichi Suwabe confirmed this news on his official blog later that day. The series has been licensed for an English release by Yen Press and will be published in Yen Plus' August 2009 issue for the magazine's first anniversary.