COSTUME INFO: Amaterasu Okami (Okami)

Brief Bio: In the video game Okami, Amaterasu is the Japanese sun goddess in the form of a white wolf. While most can only see her as a plain white wolf, those with pure heart or divine powers can see her true form, complete with cloud-like fur on her legs and shoulders, and red markings on her face and back. Amaterasu wields the power of the Celestial Brush, giving her powers such as cutting through enemies, moving water, and creating wind. For a full biography, check out the Wikipedia Page for Okami.
(Note: The description provided here is of that of the character Amaterasu from the Okami video game, not that of the Japanese folklore of the goddess Amaterasu.)

Why?: I don't remember when exactly I chose to cosplay Amaterasu or how exactly the decision came about. However, I absolutely loved the video game, and my obsession continued through the seven-month process of creating this costume.

A lot of the inspiration for this costume came from Ouka of .hack// Legend of Twilight (the manga version). I love Ouka as well, but I knew that no one I knew would even dare to allow me to walk around half-naked, heh (image not mine).

I suppose I technically have two version of this costume. Version two is really more of an upgraded form of Version one though, so I still count them as one costume.

Construction: I built the feet & legs first, out of slip-on shoes bought at WalMart, foam, and of course white fake fur bought at JoAnn's. The bottoms of the feet are craft foam covered with generic sealant and Shoe Goo bought at Shoe Stop. I already owned the white shirt under the vest and the white tights (though I later bought a new pair). I found the vest at a thrift store and added the red swirls to the back. I bought jean shorts at a thrift store, covered them with fake fur and added a tail. The tail originally had wire in it, but people always thought it was fluff and squished it, so now it is filled with fluff. I bought the fan at a store called Daiso Japan, it already had the red "sun" symbol on it. I printed and cut out the image of Amaterasu, traced around it on the fan, then detailed it by hand.

Originally, the makeup was eyeliner from Hot Topic, but I later upgraded to a mask. I bought a half-mask (covers everything except the mouth and chin) at JoAnn's. The muzzle is paper mache, covered with short fake fur and colored with Sharpie. The nose itself is Scuplt It! clay painted black and sealed with generic sealant. The wig was bought at Party City and styled by me. The red streak of hair is two hair extensions I bought from Hot Topic. My first set of fangs were "Scarecrow" brand vampire fangs, and the second set is "Scarecrow" brand werewolf fangs, both bought at Hot Topic. The black lipstick was also bought at Hot Topic.

The ears were originally foam inside of fake fur, glued to hair clips. After I bought my wig, I sewed the ears to it. The fur tufts are fake fur over foam and sewn to the arm bands, which are just fake fur. The gloves were made by me with four-way stretch crushed velvet and black cotton, held together by a combination of sewing, Fray Check, and Heat 'n' Bond.

The shield is cardboard covered with green vinyl, and the flames are sheer fabric with Fray Check on the edges. The straps are four-way stretch crushed velvet (same as the gloves) with elastic on the inside. There are two straps of thicker elastic on the back as well so that it can be worn on my arm instead of my back. The top of the shield opens and it can be used as a backpack.

This costume is 99% complete.
Some padding needs to be added inside of the forehead of the mask, because it presses uncomfortably against my head.

Convention Info: I wore Amaterasu to Kiin-Yoobi '09, where I won 3rd in the cosplay contest, Holiday Anime Faire '09, where I won 1st in the "Hand-Made" Division of the cosplay contest, and Animation On Display (AOD) '10, where I won runner-up in the "Construction" division of the cosplay contest.

This is the only costume I really compete in, and the only one I take really seriously. It gets loads of attention, and always does well in competition. Unfortunately, it's madly uncomfortable, so I'm wanting to wear it less and less, especially if I'm not competing.

READ MORE - COSTUME INFO: Amaterasu Okami (Okami)

Animation On Display (AOD) 2010

Oh, man, I don't even know where to start with this one. We left way later than I wanted to, due to a lot of things really. Then we hit some of the worst traffic I've ever seen, and then we got lost. So we ended up not making it to the convention until about 5:30.

We met up with my cousin and her friends, whom I sold stuff too, and my cousin gave me gifts =] We then ended up in the tabletop gaming room where (hahaha) my friend got hit on by some random guy. It was hard to watch, but still so hilarious. Poor girl D=

Then I went to sign in for the costume contest (as Amaterasu), which I thought was at 6, but was actually at 5! Oops. I still got to participate though, they just had to do my judging later.

We wantered for a while, and I ran into Foxberry in her completely awesome Dr. Franken Stein (Soul Eater) costume, which I won't link directly to because I'm not sure she wants her picture all over the interwebs. I know I wouldn't mind, but I'm weird like that. We talked a bit, in-between being asked for pictures and whatnot.

Then my group went for food and Foxberry and I went to the masquerade pre-gathering organization thing to ger seated and receive info on how things would be run. It was... A little chaotic in there. Loud. very loud. But they got the job done. I had to be pre-judged, and, oh my goodness, stress! I don't know why, but I completely froze up when they asked me questions. "How did you make this piece?" "I.. Umm.. I... Made it..? *dies*"

The masquerade itself went fairly smoothly. There were a few audio malfunctions, and one group ended up knocking the mic stand (with microphone still in it) completely off the stage. Heh. That was also hilarious and painful to watch. I got the worst headache ever during the "halftime show." I think it was a combination of my tight wig cap, my mask pressing against my forehead uncomfortably, my fangs not allowing my to relax my jaw completely, and bad jokes on the Emcee's part. Okay, the jokes weren't bad at all, I would've rather enjoyed them if it weren't for the immense pain.

I ended up winning runner-up for construction, which I"m a little butthurt about, but I'll get over it. I'm sure that the guy who won best for construction deserved it. I believe those judges were very fair. Foxberry got a Judge Favorite award because of her awesome clicking screw-bolt-thing (I don't know what it technically is, but it's awesome! D=). We went to collect our prizes and get more pictures taken of us.

And then Shiek found me! I had been looking for her as Ayame all day, but it turned out that she had changed into something else. I was looking forward to seeing that too =/ That's what I get for being so late, I suppose (though parts of that were beyond my control). By the time she found me, I had taken apart my costume because my fangs, wig cap, and mask were killing me, and I was starting to get hot flashes and the fur didn't help.

After that, I bolted to the swap meet where a friend of mine bought a game she's been wanting for hecka cheap. A couple of things caught my eye, but I resisted the urge to buy useless things. I wanted to keep my money. I brought $30 to the con and ended up leaving with $100 xD That part was totally awesome. Usually cons completely drain my money, so this was a nice change. Though I remember profiting from Kin-Yoobi too when they gave us cash as a costume contest prize.

I might go back to AOD next year, in a simpler, easier-to-wear costume, and at a decent time (not 5:00 o.o). I think AOD's main downside is that there's nothing to do and not enough space to do it in. I liked the venue last year more, the "Main Hall" was a very large open area where people could just chill. But this year, there were actually chairs and tables, so that's always nice too. I guess it's sort of a trade-off.

Quote of the Day:

Random Guy: You're not making any sense!
Random Girl: Your face doesn't make sense!
Me & My Friends: Ohhhhhhh!
My Friend: Are you gonna take that?
Random Guy: Who the hell are these people!?
*my group walks away*

READ MORE - Animation On Display (AOD) 2010

Cosplay Daze (Days 126 & 127)

Woah. Today was crazy. In a good way =]
I went to the mall with my friend, I dressed as Mario and she dressed as Ash Ketchum. It was pretty much awesome. Little kids freaked out when they saw us, haha. Little kids are awesome sometimes. Y'know, when I don't have to put up with them. Yeah, a couple of people make rude comments, but whatever. I don't really let it get to me.

Then when I came home, my boyfriend came over and we took pictures of my Amaterasu and Chi cosplays. Got some decent ones and came up with a pose for me to do at the con tomorrow. It's kinda meh, but whatever xD

READ MORE - Cosplay Daze (Days 126 & 127)

Styling Chi Wig (Day 124)

I styled Chi's wig (put the spools in it). It was a pain in the butt, but it looks bretty good =] I'm all set for both AOD and Fanime, even registered for the costume contest at AOD, I just need to print and sign the consent form. I'll probably try and get that done today. I have to print a reference picture of Ammy too, but that's pretty easy.

READ MORE - Styling Chi Wig (Day 124)

Ammy's Almost Finished! (Days 122 & 123)

I thought I was done with Amaterasu's gloves, but I made a tiny mistake, so I'll fix that soon. Probably tonight. Somehow, the first glove is better than the second. It just fits better. Ah well. I'm sure nobody will notice, or care. Except the costume contest judges. They might care a little...

READ MORE - Ammy's Almost Finished! (Days 122 & 123)

Group Time! (Day 106)

Shortened the day numbers into actual numbers. Meh. It's ugly, but oh well.

The group came over today, and we actually worked on things =D Even though we're not all cosplaying from the same thing. I finished one of Amaterasu's "wings" but that was it. It took longer than I expected.

READ MORE - Group Time! (Day 106)

NEW COSPLAY IDEA: Pipe Fox (xxxHolic)

Why are there no good images of this thing? Seriously.

So, I've gone and done it again. That's right, I added yet another cosplay to my list. This time it's a human-form version of the pipe fox (transformed) from xxxHolic. I was drawn to the pipe fox when it first appeared in it's smaller form because of how adorable it was. I immediately wished for one of my own, from which came the desire to cosplay it. But, of course, such a simple cosplay would be, well, not very much fun. Not to mention a bit harder to do. I do not want to attempt to walk around looking like a fuzzy worm with cat ears. (I say "attempt" because I'd have no legs.) So I ignored the thought as much as I could, deciding it probably wouldn't happen and maybe I'd just make a miniature version of it for myself.


Then I saw the glory that was the pipe fox's transformation. My first thought was that it looked suspiciously like the nine-tailed fox from Okami (heh, what a one-track mind I have). Then I started noticing similarities in the art work of it, the markings on the face and the tufts of fur on the legs. That was the end of it for me. I knew I had to cosplay this thing.


Of course, it could just be an excuse for me to make another costume like Amaterasu's, because I fully intend to stick to that style. I think I'm looking forward to the mask the most, since I'd really like to take another crack at altering a mask. I'm still not entirely pleased with my first attempt on Amaterasu. I'm also looking to try making digitigrade hind legs again (with "backwards" knees). My first attempt, even though I had amazing instructions via Matrices.net, I really had no idea what I was doing and thought I could just wing it. Though I still do love my Ammy feet / legs, they're nowhere near what I had originally hoped for.

I also still want to make a little untransformed pipe fox for myself. I'll probably even keep with with me when I do the full-on cosplay. It sounds like it could be a fun / cute little side-project. I already know what I'm going to make it out of and how I'm going to do it. I just need the materials, which, if I remember right, are on sale at JoAnn's right now. I should probably check tomorrow. If they're not on sale, I could use some material I have now (it's the material I want, but not the exact color). Ah, well. We shall see =]

I'm excited about this (obviously).

READ MORE - NEW COSPLAY IDEA: Pipe Fox (xxxHolic)

Ammy's Wings & Chi's Ears (Day Eighty-Six)

I always forget how time-consuming Ammy was. I like to think it's similar to the fact that women have hormones that make them forget how horrible their pregnancy was after they had the baby. After I stop working on Ammy and wear her to a convention, I completely forget exactly how much time, money, and effort she took.

I spent three or so hours on Amaterasu's shoulder wings today, and I only covered one wing with fur, plus a couple of minor things. Although I do want to say again how thankful I am for this blog, both to my starting it and to my readers. If it weren't for my strange yet extremely strong desire to post something, I probably wouldn't work on my costumes until a week or so before their debut. Then today's setback with Ammy's wings would've been a big deal. It turns out that the wings are too heavy and need more than just the one arm band I have to hold them up. So I figured out how to fashion new arm bands that will be attached to the wings in addition to the ones I already have. The new bands won't be as visible though, so the overall look will stay the same.


In addition to all of that, I finally got fed up with waiting to buy a headband to put Chi's ears on, so I improvised. I used elastic, the same kind I used on the back of my mask, and made essentially a headband. I'm not thrilled with it, but it works very well and actually gives the ears a better shape, I think. I may tweak them a bit more, but if for some reason I run out of time or something, they're definitely usable. I also attempted to give them a metallic shine by painting them with an opaque silver paint. However, that may have only made them look dirty. I'll see when they look like tomorrow and go from there. If all else fails, I'll just paint over them with white paint and seal them. The sealant should give enough of a shine.

READ MORE - Ammy's Wings & Chi's Ears (Day Eighty-Six)

Back to Ammy (Day Eighty-Five)

So, believe it or not, keeping this blog and knowing that I have followers actually does motivate me to work on my cosplay more. I was sitting on my couch, contemplating what to do when I thought I should work on my cosplay things. The thought process went like this: "I should work on cosplay.. What do I have to do..? Oh, yes, Ammy. Ah, but I don't really want to work with fur... Oh, but I'm so tried of not having anything to post on my blog. I'll do it!" Then I laughed at myself for a good half hour while working because I'm more loyal to strangers on the internet than I am myself.

So, I worked a little while, half an hour, on making the arm "wings" for Amaterasu. I traced and cut out the right shape, but then I realized that I had cut it with the fur facing the wrong way. I fecepalmed myself for at least five minutes before I could even begin to accept the loss of all that fur. Sure, it wasn't a lot but it was enough to cover one entire side of the wing. I couldn't just flip it over either because it would be the wrong shape and I had cut details out of it.

So I went with my original plan of covering it with bits and pieces of left over fur, fitting them together like a puzzle. I still can't decide if I like the effect or not. The first time I tried this was on one of the toes way back in July of '09, when I just barely ran out of fur and didn't want to buy more. On the one hand, it looks like natural dog / wolf fur, especially if the animal were to live in the wild. On the other hand, it's not all smooth like everything else.

The good news is that the side that I did today is the side that will be facing my shoulder, so I didn't have to detail everything, and the flaws shouldn't be seen much. I'm going to consider it somewhat of a test run. I have enough fur to cover two sides with one solid piece each, so I'm going to use that on the parts of the wings that face away from my body, the sides that will be seen more.

I'm a little concerned about attaching the wings to the arm bands, mainly because the fur is going in two opposite directions. The fur on the bands goes down, toward my fingertips, while the fur on the wings goes up, toward, well, the sky, or ceiling, depending on your location. This is the way that it is in the game, as indicated by the move of the graphics in the game, but I don't see how. I may have to trim the bottom of the wings to round them out, the same way I did with the wrist cuffs. Or something. I'll figure it out eventually.

For anyone wondering, I'm feeling much better today =] I don't know what did it, but aside from being abnormally tired, I'm not too bad.

READ MORE - Back to Ammy (Day Eighty-Five)

Back to Chi Again (Day Seventy-Four)

For the record, I'm not making the dress pictured here, it's just the closest one I could find to what mine looks like now.

Ah, Chi's dress is almost finished! It is definitely the frilliest, girliest thing I own. And I love it to pieces. Is it sad that it's probably the prettiest piece of clothing I own? I was shocked when I put it on after working on it today. I didn't expect it to turn out so gorgeous. It's definitely worthy of Fanime's Black & White Ball now, which was about eighty-five percent of the reason I wanted to spiff it up. All that's left is finishing a few loose ends. Like lace ends that need to be stuck together or covered with ribbon. They just don't look finished otherwise.

I'm thinking of adding some gold onto it too. Just a couple little gold ribbons or something, but it really depends on what color my Hideki's jacket is going to end up. I mean, I know it's supposed to be yellow / gold, but until we actually buy the fabric or jacket, I can't match a proper ribbon color to it.

In other, slightly related news, stuffing a bra is fun xD And surprisingly effective if done right. Even though I'm not flat, I feel like I make a flat Chi (I mean, come on, she's like an E or something). I can stuff so that I actually have cleavage showing and it doesn't look misshapen. =D Proud of my self for no real reason.

Tomorrow I want to finish off the parts of the dress that I can, then work on Ammy some more, since Chi will be in a wearable state and I will be wearing Ammy three weeks after Chi's dress.

READ MORE - Back to Chi Again (Day Seventy-Four)

Patching Ammy's Wounds (Day Seventy-Three)

As promised, I patched up Amaterasu today. She needed it more than I thought =/ Poor thing. While she was, in my book, an above average costume (okay, she was damn great), I still saw many flaws. I'm sure others noticed a few too.

I lined the inside of her leg pieces (led-warmer-lookin' things xD) because they were previously completely unlined and I had the foam parts against my tights and it stuck to them and made them not only to put on and take off, but difficult to move around in. I'm toying with the idea of completely lining the inside so that the elastic won't touch my tights either, but it's not an issue yet, so we'll see.

I added fur where it was needed on the shorts, there were some patches of jeans showing through, and some seams, basically. I covered them pretty well, now all I have to do is remember to brush my butt and crotch after putting the shorts on to be sure I'm covered. HA! xD

The bottoms of the feet were coming off, and the foam on one started to detach itself from the shoe, so I fixed all of that. I also added another layer of Shoe Goo to the bottoms of the black paw pads. I'm still trying to figure out Shoe Goo's properties though, so I may have to redo that again. I know for sure I have to paint the white bits or something, because the Shoe Goo I have for that part is clear, and the white is so dirty, I can't clean it off.

I also re-made the straps to the shield, as the ones I had BOTH fell off at Holiday Anime Faire. I actually had to remake them twice, but I think it was worth it. I used a fabric more suited to the job this time (it stretches =]), and I made them longer, so it's easier to put on and take off. Now if only I could get it to hover a few inches behind my back... Hahaha.

I also got my Heat 'n' Bond and my black lace today. =D As well as more white fur. Just in case I don't have enough.

Tomorrow, I really have to finish up my final project for Costume Construction, so Ammy will probably be left in her box for the day. We'll see how quickly I get done. My next task, before adding onto Ammy, is to finish, or at least make wearable, my Chi dress. While I won't be cosplaying Chi until Fanime, May 30th, I plan on wearing the dress To SacAnime Winter on January 9th. Which is the entire reason I needed Heat 'n' Bond so badly.

READ MORE - Patching Ammy's Wounds (Day Seventy-Three)

Holiday Anime Faire 2009

I am sooo glad I went to Holiday Anime Faire. Especially as Amaterasu.

I went in a browsed (okay, ransacked) the place for a wall scroll of Chi, which I did not find! *rage* Oh well. I bought the last two books of Chobits later instead.

I loitered around and ran into (or rather was pulled out of the crowd by) a couple of friends. We were disturbed by this girl... How do I describe her..? Insane? Heh. It was clear that she was excited, but from what I could tell, and what people who knew her told me, she's severely socially awkward. She just thought that she was the best thing ever and it was just awkward when she spoke. She walked up to my friend who was dressed as Sleepy Time Naruto, and she herself claimed to be Naruto and had a Naruto graphic tee on. She asked "Which one if the real one?" and my friend (not Naruto) pointed to her shirt and said "That one." The chick thought my friend meant her and started to say "Ha! I win!" When the Naruto I knew cut her off and said "No. You don't understand. That's the real Naruto," and pointed more clearly to her shirt. Heh. Awkward, but my friends are awesome anyway =D So I chatted with them and kinda stuck myself to them until the costume contest, which was the only reason I went in the first place.

Speaking of first place, I got it! Hehehehehe. Never has winning been this rewarding though. We were split up into three categories: hand-made(which I was in), closet cosplay, and store / internet-bought cosplay. Last time I competed at this convention, in April (same convention, different name and month, don't ask) the judging was based solely on audience reaction. If it had been like that this time, I'm not so sure I would have one. This one girl, I forget who she was dressed as, got a lot of cheers and screams, but I was told that a lot of it was her friends in the audience and people just generally fangasming. This time though, the convention head brought in an impartial judge who knew almost nothing about anime, and that's probably the reason I won. I thanked everybody, including the audience and random people who said they liked my costume so many times, it was crazy. I'm so grateful.

My prizes kick ass. seriously, best. prizes. EVAR. A jacket with the Shonen JUMP logo on it, estimated to be worth about $50, a keychain, which I already have, an iron-on patch with no significance to me, and a freakin' ticket to freakin' Fanime. My jaw dropped to the floor when they announced that as one of the prizes. I mean, seriously. They were listing the prizes "DVDs... A jacket... A ticket to AOD... A ticket to Fanime." and people just freaked. I was happy for the potential DVDs, that's what my prize was last year, the jacket didn't interest me, but they got my attention with an AOD ticket, and I nearly passed out when they said a Fanime ticket. And then I won the Fanime Ticket. OMG. I'm just really excited.

I plan on showing my Ammy lots and lots of TLC tomorrow because it won me so much today. I don't know if I'll finish any new parts, but I'll patch up what's falling apart and whatnot, because it managed to take a beating today =/

READ MORE - Holiday Anime Faire 2009

It Snuck Up On Me (Day Seventy-One)

I think Holiday Anime Faire really snuck up on me because I've been looking forward to Fanime so much. I was so preoccupied by planning, how to save money, deciding when and the best way how to reserve a hotel, starting a new costume (Chi) for it, there was no time for poor little Holiday Anime Faire. It's a good thing it's only $10 or whatever to get in, or I'd be pissed at how unprepared I am, haha. I mean, my costume's done, it's just not where I'd like it to be.

I had to do a last-minute patch-up job on Ammy's shield today, because the strap fell off at the last convention I wore it to (Kin-Yoobi Con), and it wouldn't stay up right with just one strap. Other than that, I didn't finish the shoulder "wings," I only got the arm bands done, so I'll be wearing those. And I didn't Finish re-surfacing the feet, in fact, one of them is falling apart. It should survive a few hours tomorrow though.

Boy, I sure hope I win that costume contest. I won before with a costume that I didn't think was that great (Lady Mario), so I'll be really disappointed if I lose with Ammy. Unless the people who beat me have really kick-ass costumes. Which I don't expect because I seriously suspect that the only really good cosplayers in my city are in my cosplay group, haha, all three of us xD That's not to say that there aren't other good cosplayers, they just don't seem to attend this particular convention. Or enter the costume contest.

READ MORE - It Snuck Up On Me (Day Seventy-One)

Day Sixty-Seven

My mother so kindly brought to my attention the fact that Holiday Anime Faire is this Saturday. Oh noes! I need to finish Ammy's feet. Shoot. The arm bands I can do without finishing, but I can't very well go without feet. That would be indecent.

READ MORE - Day Sixty-Seven

Ammy's Mask & Arm Bands (Day Sixty-Six)

I finished Ammy's mask with surprising speed today, or at least it felt like surprising speed. It was really more like several hours. I covered the mask with the fake fur / felt, which is really more like fur than I thought it was, and should have been treated as such. I really, painfully regret how wide and long I made the muzzle. I may make another mask some time down the road, but I still have moldy paper mache in my room. I'll throw it out tomorrow when my mom's not home to yell at me about it. considering the entire mask cost me less that five dollars, it wouldn't be too much of a loss to make a second one. However, the three or so hours I spent making it... That's another story. Which is why I won't be re-doing it any time soon.

I crafted the actual nose out of Sculpt It Clay. I don't really recommend the stuff, but it's not as bad as it could be. I then sealed it with I forget what brand of sealer, painted it (because the clay I used was purple O_o), and sealed it again. I really like the effect of the clay's imperfections as well as the sealed paint. It makes it look like the nose it wet, like a dog's should be, haha.

I started on the arm bands for Ammy's tufts of fur, or "wings," but they're kind of a paint in the butt. The bands are fur with cotton lining and quarter-inch elastic inside. I wish I had maybe half-inch elastic, but whatever, I work with what I've got. They're held together with hot glue, which isn't the best either, but it gets the job done and I hate hand-sewing on fur, and I'm not sure how my machine would handle that. My guess is not well. The actual fur tufts are a foam base with fur over them, but I haven't gotten to the fur part, I actually haven't even gotten both bases carved out yet. And I'm not entirely sure how I'll be attaching the tufts to the bands, so that should be fun.

Also, from this point on, I may be posting more than once a day. I will still post at least once to report in on any cosplay details of the day, but I may make a other posts with random-ish topics, as I to when there is no, or very little, cosplay news.

READ MORE - Ammy's Mask & Arm Bands (Day Sixty-Six)