First moment uploaded

As the title says, the first part of Sasori-Deidara moments has been uploaded. This happened yesterday, when our account scored 500 subscribers... which for some peculiar reason has dropped to 499 even if the insight doesn't show any unsubscriptions. Well, who knows about Youtube really...

Little update before giant photoshoot post

I’ve had flu for two and a half weeks now. And my back is killing me. The previous causes the inability to do anything with the Snowtrooper costumes, because it would require bad ergonomics and a respirator. I already have trouble with breathing and coughing with respirator on doesn’t sound too appealing.

Mostly I have been stalking the weather forecast for the weekend. We have planned a photoshoot for Saturday for Joxter and Muddler. Keeping an eye on that, I re-styled Joxter’s wig in hopes of good close ups. Tomorrow, when Yoki’s been picked up from the train station, we will check the costumes and see do we need to build any props. There is “denial signs” on the list at the moment. Apparently the ones we used on Snufkin shoot got burned, which somehow feels rather right.


I have made small progress with Luminara’s outfit. And I truly mean small. I have braided nearly two meters of pleather strips, which I first cut to width of 0,3 centimeters. They will be the detail on the shirt. I first thought they were velvet ribbon or something of that type, but after some investigations with reference pictures it came clear that it was leather of some sort and braided one as well. I had pleather at home which really saved some money. If I hadn’t found the fabric I might have ended up buying nearly six meter of pleather ribbon. Sheesh…

I have also worked on Luminara’s brooch. It’s coming together nicely, but at this point I’m thinking of doing the five small pendants again. I’m not satisfied how different they look compared to the brooch part. The shapes on the wire are too symmetrical. Gladly there is no hurry, so I can put off the brooch for a while and take it out when I want to ruin my nails with the wire work. I also could buy pliers… I think about that too.

The brooch is made from nightmarish molding material, poster board as the base. The decoration is twisted wire.

Costume cross-section- Muddler

Compared to my Joxter costume, Muddler has more pieces of clothing; seven different garments plus the “skin” parts, which include the tail and the ears. From top to bottom, Muddler wears a pot (as a hat), shirt, vest, muffler, trousers, legwarmers and “socks” as shoes. He also has a giant safety pin holding his muffler.

The vest is made from similar brushed cotton as Joxter’s anorak, only deep navy blue. I altered the pattern from the anorak pattern, lined the whole thing leaner and re-styled the hem and the front. We chose to do a normal hem, not a sliced one as seen in the animation. I thought that it would look bit ridiculous after all the effort of making the duo look realistic.

Yoki painted two big plastic buttons brown to imitate wood. The other one act as an attachment, while the other is there for esthetic reasons and also because one of our references showed that there could actually be two of them. As an addition Yoki sewed poppers underneath the second button to secure the attachment.


For the undershirt I chose forest green linen, because of the nice attributes of the material. For the first time I used a ready made pattern for cosplay, because I wanted to make the shirt look like something recognizable. The design of the shirt is from old peasant shirt with button list, low collar and wide cuffs on the sleeves.


The trousers are based on the basic pattern, with straight leg, zipper in the front and a waistband. We had bought beige corduroy because it was on discount on our local fabric store. Obviously it was wrong color. I dyed the fabric based on a hunch with antique grey and extra material to make the color lighter. The result was more than I expected. We ended up using the wrong side as a right because we wanted the trousers look different from Joxter's and because Muddler had already lot going on texture-wise.

The muffler and leg warmers Yoki knit from orange yarn. Label was “Seitsemän veljestä”. The stripes on the leg warmers were achieved by knitting a wrong layer in middle of right layers. The muffler was right trough the whole thing. The safety pin is bended aluminum stick and horrible “molding material”, which is painted pink.

The socks were real pain. I had to redo the pattern twice before Yoki was satisfied. Yes, I’m a type of a person who doesn’t settle for “yeah, they look OK”. The shape of the pattern was achieved by making shoe covers and mixing some glove pattern in them. The material is pale yellow linen, a bit thicker that linen usually is. Inside of the sock is a base shoe, painted yellow so that they would not shimmer trough the light fabric. Before the base shoes were put in the sock, the toes were stuffed with cotton.

The skin parts on the costume are recycled leather. We came to notice that hot glue and basic wood glue works well with leather. We will explore the possibilities with them in the future. The tail is made from two pieces of leather, rolled to form a tail. The seam part we hid underneath gauze, we thought that the tail got pinned in the coffee jar's lid. The tail was sealed with hot glue and sown in the back of the trousers. Inside the tail we put some rice to maki it move more realisticly.

For the ears I made pattern according to references but the scalp was bit harder. In the end I just estimated, taped the pieces together and fitted it on Yoki’s head to find the correct shape and size. I stiched the scalp together with zigzag and reinforced the seams with glue. The ears I zigzagged on the scalp after they were stuffed with cotton and rice. Inside of the ears there are holes were Yoki stuck her ears trough so that they would not be visible from any angle.

The sauce pan in Muddler's head was hammered from an aluminum pot. The handle was replaced by one drawn based on the references. The scale is not right, because if it were Yoki would wham people in their faces. The construction of the handle and the beating of the pot was done by our metal expert Esa.

Specific make-up weren't needed for Muddler. Yoki had basic foundation with eye make-up, emphasis on the lower eye-lid. The whiskers were cut from fishing tackle and attached with mastix.

Costume cross-section- Joxter

Joxter is by far the most colorful cosplay experience for me. Also first cosplay experience from Moomin. Yoki got a head start last year when she did Snufkin, while I was pretty much hung from doing anything because of horrible back pains. The construction pf the costume didn’t include anything too fancy or complicated. The only relatively new thing for me was needle felting, but it wasn't too hard to accomplish.

The costume consists five main pieces: trousers, anorak, shoes, scarf and hat. In addition I had an old leather backpack, which suited the character surprisingly well. It hold our water bottles, snack and a emergency sewing kit. For pictures I prepared a pipe and a tobacco pouch. It's mentioned on Tove's books that Joxter carried them around (and enjoyed smoking). I have written about the make-up few times, but worth mentioning is the brownish nose. Because of that, I was accidentally mistaken for drunken Snufkin.

For the trousers I used simple basic pattern with carrot legs. String on the waist act as an attachment. The fabric is brown corduroy, which I stressed with sanding paper and grater.


The anorak I made from green “brushed” cotton. Again, I’m not sure about the correct word for it, but the surface is almost similar as in velvet. The pattern I had made year earlier for Yoki’s Snufkin worked well, but I added darts to make the stiff fabric fit nicely. For Snufkin’s anorak they were not necessary, because the material was really limb and draping. I soaked the anorak in tea dye after it was ready to age the color a little.


Pockets I placed on the side seams. I didn’t find any references with attachment visible, but I still chose to do one at the back of the anorak. While Snufkin has buttons running down the length of the anorak, I put three for Joxter. As a detail, it adds a nice touch. It’s quite easy to quess that the anorak was somewhat hard to put on with wig and make-up, because it’s fitted from the waist and the opening on the neck doesn’t really help much.


The hat has its own post. It was made mainly from wool. The scarf is rectangular piece of linen, finished with baby hem. The shoes are leather and found from flee market for about three euros. I only redid the lacing to match Jocter’s shoes. The wig I used for Joxter was purchased from Punanaamio. I'm not sure was it Cristelle or Juliette, because I bought it fairly long time ago. It was originally long, so I cut and styled it to suite the character.

I almost forgot about the black gloves (and also forgot to photograph them). I, or Yoki if I'm honest remembered them when we went to a supermarket and there were leather gloves on sale, about five euros a pair. I was laughing that now we only need a cosplay with particular gloves, because they are so cheap. Yoki was looking at me like, yeah, do you have gloves for Joxter or are you planning to use Snufkin's?

By the way, trying to quickly pull snug leather gloves on your hands when they are tacky and a bit sweaty isn't easy. I felt little sorry for the photographers who needed to wait for the picture because of my costume malfunction.

And I really need to add, that whoever came up with Joxter's color scheme must have been somewhere high above. It makes no sense at all!

Stalked by the staff

I happened to bump into a photo. Not the most flattering photo possible, but it makes bed nicely for two upcoming posts about these particular costumes. The photo is taken by one of the staff photographers at Tracon V.

Autumn thoughts

Serialization of Akatsuki interviews continues

The second part of Akatsuki interviews has been uploaded to our Youtube account!

The filming took little longer compared to the first part. This time we had some action going on, which took numerous takes, some fooling and few snaps. We had some problems with outsiders, dogs and people in this case. We had to wait few times them to stop blabbing and barking under our window. We even made an little song about them in the brink of a moment. It went something like “It’s almost impossible to film when there are people talking loudly”-etc. We also had some problems with lighting also known as the sun. Because it was a cloudy day, not continuous shine all the time, the shots look rather dark. Some takes were not usable, so there are some small errors with few lines.

We filmed some extra material labeled “Sasori and Deidara moments” to be put out during this year in small portions. This for the celebration of our Sasori and Deidara cosplays, which we have worn out four years and for our blog, which we have wrote soon for a year.

Oh yeah, we didn't suffer any casualties, even if at one point we were coming down the stairs pretty fast.

Sasori and Deidara gets interviewed again!

My eyes are heavy from all the make-up I require to make a decent Deidara. It might be that some of the weight is caused by crashing Movie Maker and the fact that I wasn't at my best today because of yesterday. But still, even if I was bit tired we had a productive day. We managed to shoot some material from Sasori and Deidara. Thus the second part of our Akatsuki interviews will be out tomorrow! We would have loved to finish and upload it today, but all-nighter didn't sound appealing for either of us.

We took few pictures so I can at least share something. Until tomorrow then!

Really, I'm just being precautious

So...I think I need to open my Do not-post a bit from the "topical" part. Few weeks ago we kind of chose pair of characters to be done after Snowtroopers and before fabric sparing costumes. And I kind of had seen earlier some perfect materials on our local fabric stores. I obviously purchased them. Have I mentioned that I love autumn? It always inspires me and I feel more energetic and creative than in any other time of the year. So what could be better way to spend chilly evenings than to draw patterns, dye fabrics or sew?

I have stated many times to Yoki that we first finish the Snowtroopers and concentrate the Jedi duo after them, but now I find myself breaking that promise. Actually I think that I have nagged about the previous trying to imbed the thought in my own head, because I know my nature.


Uh, I almost feel bad, but then I glimpse at what I have done and feel a bit proud. Luminara is looking good already at this state of progress. And I’m also being precautious! The current items I have been working on are not complex, but time consuming. When they are ready I can’t take my time with the leather details, which need great amount of attention and planning. I also promised to help Yoki with her outfit. So doesn’t it sound pretty reasonable that I share the workload?

This is how five and a half meter of cotton and sixteen meters of cotton lace look like. The top is on its way, it required little over a meter of tricot. And there will be a hoop skirt also, I haven acquired it yet.

Do not- From common to more topical

Do not think you can get away from reading instructions from body paints, spray paints, glues or pretty much anything. The time you read them doesn’t compare to the time you need to use to correct your mistakes after messing up.

Do not leave the make-up testing for the morning of the convention. Especially is you haven’t read the instructions.

Do not assume that you have the right sides of the fabrics facing each other before you start sewing them together. Check it and presumably double check it.

Do not wear one size too small shoes for a convention a) if you haven’t broke them in b) known to have great amount of will power to bear pain.

Do not assume that you have settings right on your camera before you start filming or taking pictures. Always check before long takes that you are actually filming. If lacking before, you might find questionable material when you are starting the editing process. You might also suffer from mental breakdown when you realize that all real material is nowhere. Be prepared for the previous or double-double check your settings.

Do not buy fabrics without references just because you think you have an excellent memory for prints, textures and colors.

Do not sew when you are upset or angry.

Do not do anything related to cosplay when you are upset or angry.

Do not start sewing a long seam or hem before you have made sure you have enough lower thread. Universal truth is that it will run out and you don’t realize it.

Do not spray paint foam of any type without a test out. Particularly if you have worked hours to get the foam perfectly cut and sanded.

Do not assume that your great innovation works without some tweaking.

Do not think that the time you have reserved for the preparations of putting on a costume is enough. Add at least an hour to it.

Do not start watching or reading interesting series before you have finished the costumes you are currently working on. New acquaintances don’t feel sorry for mesmerizing you.

Do not buy before hand anything for future projects just because you found perfect materials and pretend that you can just stick them in your closet and avoid the urge to start working with them.

Do not presume that you can just draw some patterns ready for the project mentioned.

Do not imagine that you could actually avoid working on the components for your future costumes, which sit in front of you ready and prepared.

Do not underestimate the power of the inspiring time of the year, boredom or the sudden burst of creativity. Mind of a cosplayer doesn't always settle for planning and imaging.

Lack of ladies - solved

Hiron stated in the post 'something feminine' that we were looking for female characters with the right attitude and clothing. Mission impossible made a turn towards success as she found a game called Heavenly Sword. Yes, two great ladies with a fascinating and sad story. And of course showy and "not too minimalistic" clothing is also part of their fittings. I'm not sure am I allowed to make announcement like this, anyway we were quite sure that Nariko and Kai were going to be our plan for summer 2011.

Then something happened. Was it the geekiness or our linked minds, even Hiron's obsession towards tents or the fact that we've been watching too much Star Wars recently, I'm not sure. The result however, was that our next project, after finishing snowtroopers of course, is to make these beautiful ladies.

Copyright Lucasarts.

Jedi master Luminara Unduli and her (former) padawan Barriss Offee. Nothing beats the Jedi. I had thought the possibility of making Luminara's Clone wars version, not too long ago and suddenly Hiron comes to me and says: "Luminara and Barriss." It needn't much persuasion, only the picture of the jedi master's huge 'tent' with nice little details and leather decorations, when I shouted: "You'll be the master, you'll be the master!" This will be the first time ever when Hiron gets to be a character in a higher position than the one I'm cosplaying. She has already raided through our hometown's fabric stores three times during her search for perfect and accurate materials. My presence made Hiron's stress level to rice because I was constantly in the way blocking her path, even though I tried not to be.

-yoki out

Live-action or animated?

Next year we will cosplay like never before. We will cosplay from movies faces exposed. This far all our costumes have either been made based on drawn characters or masked ones from films. Because of our up-coming project (which is almost too alluring, distracting us from what we should be doing) I have pondered the differences between these two sources and why it seems to be easier to cosplay from comics and animations.

When it comes to movie cosplays or costume imitations the quality and attributions of materials matters more for me. The textures and types of textiles can be identified with eyesight. Also how the fabric has been handled or constructed is easy to notice. For example, it’s not hard to spot from live image is the design on the fabric printed or woven. When making costumes based on animated model there are some margins to work in. Interpretation is more important than observation. The tools to use can be costume history, intuition or plainly the selection of the nearest fabric store. Imagination serves as a big factor, because the source is all made up also. But with movies, everything is real. The materials exist somewhere, even if you don't have the access to them.

That's why being as accurate as possible with the references plays bigger role with movie costumes. When construction is based on animation you can bend the rules a little according to your own taste. Because the materials can hardly be exactly the same as in the movies, the importance of details, cut lines, designs and close-enough textures are for me the main points to follow.

With movie costumes, finding references is not a problem. You don’t only have to rely on promotional pictures or the movies themselves to collect them, thanks to movie costume exhibitions. There is nothing in the animation sources which could be compared to them. I thought about original art or cover art as options, but in them the artist usually uses his freedom of expression and doesn’t necessary follow the “real” character design. Of course there are character sheets with detailed information but in the end, they are only paper or pixels. The reality is way more informative, even if in pictures.

Movie costumes don’t usually change. They stay the same, so you don’t get lost with different alternations. I bet every cosplayer knows the difference with elaborate manga and simplified anime designs. The costumes may get dirty or torn but the constructive side doesn’t alter. This way you are not made to choose between one or the other or combining the two, which for some seems to be rather big sin on cosplayers books. With only one true model, you really can’t go wrong or then again, you really can go wrong. Somehow I see movie costuming much stricter, which is why we also have been avoiding it, but not because of the materialistic side of it, but with the physical.

The main point is to look like the character, but with movie cosplays you are faced with another similarity aspect. With animation people interpret the features of the character always little different. Especially with Japanese production, where the amount of facial features is stripped to minimum. In movies, it’s not only about the characters appearance, but also the actors. Real human faces are naturally more easy and obvious to read. I don’t know am I viewing this too seriously, but I can’t see myself trying to portray a person, who I don’t resemble a bit gender-, posture- or facial-wise. We have been avoiding this issue with masks, which has worked really well.

With the project we were able to solve or dodge all the issues we have with movie costumes. Gladly, or perhaps because the previous points we chose characters with peculiar skin color and striking features. This way the actor’s facial structure and proportion plays much smaller role. Also we finally found a kick ass female duo, so no problems with the sex neither. But still, this new movie costuming project will be a challenge. An enjoyable one. The only problem for me is to suppress the desire to start working! I need a lot of Force to over-come my cravings…

Tutorial- Kind of a felt hat

Picture from acedia's Tracon V files, 2010.

For Joxter's headwear I needed to do a cone hat. For me the obvious material was wool. I don't see artificial materials existing at Moomin Valley. I didn't have the luxury of space nor did I feel like using a day or more for water plays with felting, so I took a bypath. I thought about using readymade felt, but the hat would have required huge sheets. Also I didn't want seams to be visible. Instead of regular felting or felt I chose to use needle felting, which doesn't really require much skill. You can do it while watching TV and it really can't go wrong. And it's not expensive, even if you don't have materials from old projects which you could use.

For Joxter's type of a hat I made a base from fiber fabric or fiber textile, I don't know what the real word is. The material is typically used in upholstery. It's white, almost more like light cardboard than fabric and the fibers are quite visible. If there are creases on it, you can straighten it when the fabric is damp and let it dry. Cardboard or chicken wire could be used as a skeleton, but there should be some defining shape underneath the cover, because it's really limp as its own. I discovered soon that fiber fabric was a great choice, because it can be sown. No glue needed.

For the cover you obviously need wool and a felting needle and some type of a base. When you needle felt it's required. Otherwise it would be almost impossible. Piece of foam plastic is my favorite. Then you need something to felt on. I used sheet cotton I had lying around. It would be wise, if the middle layer and the wool were the same color. Minor errors would not be visible. I needed to do some patching up with my hat, because there where few white spots here and there. I don't really know how to measure the felt. I didn't weight it, but I had two plastic bags, approximately one liter capacity. Small amount were left unused.

And then felting needles of course. They can be found from craft or fabric stores. If you like to pimp them up there are "handles" to put them in, making them more comfortable to use and also safer. For some you can stick multiple needles, so the process speeds up.

And the usual: glues, yarns, regular needles and possibly some band aid. If you would like to coat the inside of the hat, any fabric will do. I had some tricot lying around, so I used that.

First you need to prepare the skeleton for the hat. I had more than enough materials, so I didn't pay too much attention to this phase. You could make patterns from paper, trying out different methods. My pattern was pretty much about circles. First I drew a circle on fiber fabric. The radius was about the preferred height of the hat. Then I started to take slices out until, in cone shape, the circuit was sized to fit in my head.

Then I made another circle. I measured the width of the rim for the outer edge of the circle and added about a centimeter extra for seam allowance. Then I chopped off few blocks from it to make it curve slightly down. It's possible to take a piece off from one place, but I wanted the rim to look wavy and uneven so I took parts out from three different spot.

At this point I also cut the base cotton. You need two similar rim pieces as in your skeleton and one cone piece.

I just need to add, that you can calculate and base the pattern on numbers. That is what Yoki would have done, but not me. I'm experimenter.

Then it's time to assemble the skeleton. I sew the cone part by hand and attach the rim to the cone with zigzag. I also cut the peak of the cone off, because Joxter's hat is little ruffed up, not pointy.

Then it's time to felt. Take the platform, the "base" and wool and start needling. There is no right way to do it, but more you stick the lasting the result is. And be careful, felting needles are sharp even if they don't look like it. They also might break few times, so buy some extras while you are at it.
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After felting I put the whole thing together. I started the inside coating. I cut the fabric roughly, but it could be cut while everything else. Just make it little bigger than the cone part. Then I glued it to place.


Next was the inside of the rim. While I waited the glue to dry I felted the upper rim to the cone. At this point I trimmed the fiber fabric rim edges so that there was only felt and cotton sheet on the edges. Then I glued the top part to the skeleton.


I pushed the peak inside of the hat and after it was dry I felted the two layers together on the rim. The structure was rather thick, so I sew around the edge to flatten it. I also made some stiches all over the rim in case of failing glue.

Right side finished.

It's still hot! We need Hoth!

The weather didn't change much after my last post and I, if it's in any way avoidable, will not work in these circumstances. But now there are some signs in the air, that next week would be more bearable and I have few days off, so there is costume progress ahead of us... At last... Again...


To make this hiatus acceptable I can reveal what I have done in two weeks time. No, I haven't just sat on my behind, I have gone trough dozens of plastic bags and organized fabrics and other supplies. When we actually start to make something, we don't need to fight with serious mess. I also took a closer look on the things and details we need to redo for Snowtroopers. Even if we need to upgrade Yoki's costume and construct mine, we are more than half way there. All the clothes have been made and we can use the old molds for the armor after we fix them up a bit.


Last weekend we put on our rubber boots and went to the countryside. We were looking nice places where we could have a photoshoot for Joxter and Muddler. The scenery has already been seen on our Snufkin vid, but this time we will widen the view. As we hiked on the fields and forest we made a draft of the script. We might need some extras if we are going to follow the first version. Gladly our metal expert Esa has promised to make a cameo if needed!

All together, next month will be a busy one. We have planned a second part for Akatsuki interview and if we manage, we will film it next week. Joxter and Muddler we will shoot later, because we need to wait for the apples to ripen. Then of course the Snowtrooper costumes needs to be finished. And then... Yoki will move to study and leave me! Okay, it's only three hours by train, but still... So in the future, Yoki being busy with her studies it will be more me and less her, if it is in anyway possible. But let's work hard before that!

Convention report: Heat at Tracon V

We left from our hometown at ten on Friday morning, a day before the convention. Karan drove the first half of the almost four hour journey and I had the honor to freak out at Tampere's traffic, which for us small town girls was little crazy. The convention site was gladly easy to find. It just took one turn to left from the main road. Our hotel was just beside Tampere-talo. The first casualty of the journey occurred, when we drove down a ramp to the hotel's parking hall. It was a small scratch in the side of the car, caused by really narrow passage.

We booked in and found our room cool, while outside it was 30 Celsius. We had left some of Karan's props in the car, so she and Yoki thought they would go and get them while I would un-pack our costumes. But the car keys were missing. We were like... okay, when did this happen? In ten minutes time? Karan started to turn over her belonging. While she was going a second round I ran down to the desk, because for me it sounded like the most obvious place where they could be. And tadah! There they were. Happy ending for the second trial.

Well, that’s all about our arrival at Tampere. The next day started with wake-up call at seven, breakfast at half eight and preparations and make-up. We were ready approximately at ten. We thought that we would be able to see the opening ceremony, but didn't quite make it. It didn't bother us much, the first program we had planned to see started at eleven and it was a cosplay dance show.

Karan drawing arm tattoos.

Yoki's make-up close up.

MyuPro is a cosplay dance crew and new acquaintance for me. Of course I have seen videos from other countries, where cospay performances including dance and “musical” elements are a lot head of ours, but somehow I have missed groups doing the previous here in Finland. At Tracon MyuPro's show was themed Bleach. The name of the performance was “Valkaisuainetta”. In English I think it would be Bleacher. The show itself was build from individual pieces or performances with music from series openings to tracks from the rock musical. At this particular show they didn’t have special lights, because the circumstances didn’t allow the use of them. I changed few words with the group and they felt bit sorry for it even if the show worked without them. I have been acting in amateur theater for almost ten years, so I agree with them. The lights quickly change moods and can lead the eyes of the viewers to desirable direction. As a plus the shifts from one scene to other were thought trought. There was always something happening on the side of the stage, even if sometimes the meanings missed me. Did Rukia have a crush on someone or did she just want to dance with the guys, when she crawled to get to them? Never the less, I thought it was well played from Rukia and Yoruichi.

The hosts. The insert for the show was really character loyal.

The construction of the show was good. In some points there were too many repeats of a series of movements and at times it was clear that some of the pieces were not trained enough with the whole group. But those were just minor things my eye cached. Over all I enjoyed the show. It’s great that MyoPro has stepped up and given something new to Finnish cosplay scene. And it was a good cosplay! I’m somehow used to group performances with moderate costumes, but in the case of MyuPro I was happily surprised. The costumes were consistent trough the group. Star sticker approval for the props, the body paint and the wigs! Especially Hitsugaya’s wig caught my attention. It was also clear that the characters were casted with thought, keeping in mind the proportions of the group members. I'm looking forward of their other shows in future conventions. Best wishes for MyuPro!

Funny coincidence.

Water bottles were wih us all the time. And apparently with everyone else too, because there were zero heat strokes at the con.

The core of MämmiKunniaan.

At one we headed to Fandub lecture, hosted by Finnish fandub group MämmiKunniaan. They have made regular fandubs and comical ones from Naruto, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist and many others. They talked about the constructions of the clips, which programs they are using and showed videos from requested by the audience. The audience was also free to ask questions from anything related to the production. People asked about how they could join the group at least twice. I don’t know was it only me, but I saw the question irrelevant and pushy.

After the Fandub lecture we had spare time, which we used beneficially by eating. We had bought some picnic food the previous day and stuffed them into our hotel room’s fridge. We just needed to pick them up, take a blanket with us and have a meal at the Sorsapuisto, park just next to the convention center. We were going to eat dinner at restaurant after six, when the con was closing for the day. Actually our timetable for feeding times proved to be the greatest idea ever. Nobody suffered from hunger and there were no tension about going to the store or finding a place to eat. In the future we shall continue on this road and plan the meals for conventions accurately.

Pan free time for Muddler.

Yummy salad for Takeru.

Sour grapes for Joxter.

At four we headed to lecture “Tales, legends and historical characters in anime and manga”. It was almost two hours long and I personally found it little dry at some points. I think it was in the beginning, when the lecturer went trough the different eposes. Of course it was essential part, but still too lengthy. Maybe it would have worked if the examples were mixed in the lecture thorough. What I found rather irritating was the attitude towards the corrections from the audience. They were passed by without polite thank you or any comment at all. Maybe this was because the lecturer was ill? Still the lecture gave new information. The examples varied from series from eighties to the newest one. One of them brought up nice memories from childhood and it was Starzinger. I never have paid that much attention to the design and the story line of the series. Well, I haven’t watched it in ages! But yes, now I see the influence from Journey to the West.

In the evening we went to after party. I drank few beers. Yoki and Karan enjoyed alcohol free refreshments, because they are wise. We arrived little late and didn’t see the bands booked for the party, but we did see the epic match Heroquest style! After the battle we sticked to table socker and had our own, tense tournament. We played three rounds, so that everyone would play two rounds with a partner and one alone. I can't remember who won. It must be either Yoki or Karan. I surely would remember if it was me.

Karan's favorite pose.

The next day started as the previous. Only difference was that Karan sat back and monitored our preparations. She had decided to not to wear her costume, which by the way was Izumo no Takeru from Opera Susanoh Sword of the Devil, but to take pictures. I so understand. She was so sweet, always ready to grab my camera when I had to pose or to hold my hat , when I was off to take pictures. Thank you again!

Yoki and Karan taking care of my hat.

Cutie Yoki taking care of my hat.

Karan taking care of my hat.

No, I didn't pose like this more than once. Only for Karan.

First we went to see the By-product of anime interest. I knew something about everything the lecturer brought up, but it was nice to have more information from them. The Vocaloid were the most alien for me. The lecturer stated in the beginning that he is going to handle the Vocaloid in the end and as long as he has time, because it is his own interest in them. It was well planned, because in our case, we didn’t find it that relevant. But in all, I liked the lecture. The lecturer had contact with the audience and the image material was good. For some sections I leave a question mark. I didn’t really see them as by-products, but as their own individual phenomenons.

At two we went to see the Cosplay group contest. I was surprised that there were still at least a handful of groups which dropped out from the competition. The performances were really music influenced, which is not bad. There were no embarrassing fan service or yaoi scenes, which made me and surely many others really happy. My favorites were the winner Koorizatou, even if I’m not familiar with Ragrarok Online and the group with four members, two “identical” tulle-skirt girls. The girls ecpecially were awesome. I got chills in a positive way on their “singing” parts. Talking about accuracy and performing. I think they were left without any special attention, because the series were not well known. They should really be acknowledged.

Test shots.

The hosts of the group competition.

Robotic tulle girls.

All the participants of the group competition and the winners. The ranks goes with the height. First pair is on the right.

After the competition we went to buy some snacks and chilled in the park until the closing ceremony. As usual the winners of the competitions were announced. We didn’t see the individual contest and when the winner was named I felt a bit sorry. It was Tira from Soul Calibur! One of my favorite characters from the game series! Noooo… But I checked the video from the competition from Youtube and she looked great and the performance was character loyal. Me likey. In all the closing ceremony was warm and nice way to end the convention. I specially like the moment when the people behind the event takes the stage. From my opinion they made Tracon a great and enjoyable convention and I hope we can attend it the next autumn.


The only thing left was the journey home. We changed our clothes at the convention site and headed to our car. Our luggage was already there, because we had checked out from the hotel in the morning. I was first to drive and you know what happened? The narrow passage got us again! The second scratch was accomplished. Again we drove in turns with Karan. It went well, even if we all were pretty tired.

In the end everything went well. The only casualties were the scratches on the car. I and Karan had sore leg muscles, because we didn’t have the most comfortable shoes. Mine were too a size too small and Karan’s… Well, I don’t even know how they stayed on her feet! Later this summer we are going to have a photoshoots for pictures and for a video starring Joxter and Muddler.


P.S The free water serving was great!