Author Archives: Mei Hoshi

eBay Wig Review: zhoujuntao2010

17 Tuesday May 2011

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So. FFX Yuna again. Why you say? Besides the fact that I completely ruined the wig cutting it, the color just looked terrible on my skin. It just.. looked awful. Hopefully I can salvage the wig for another cosplay, maybe I can chop it up for Suzaku for next year. (Ho ho spoilers~!) Anyways.

I think the seller got the wig from the same supplier as my previous Yuna wig because they had the same tags, just different colors. So the quality is the same as the other wig, which I fell in love with.

Rating: ★★★★★/ 5 out of 5.

Pro:
–  Super soft.
– Nice highlights.
– Doesn’t tangle easily.
–  Very natural.

Con:
– No tracking number.

Price: 23.40$ + free shipping. (It was 10% off.)
Item Location: China.
Time for Arrival: 12 days.

If you wish to purchase this wig, search “2905 New Long Light Brown Fashion Wavy Wig” in the eBay search bar or look through zhoujuntao2010’s ebay profile.

Sakura Matsuri Report.

03 Tuesday May 2011

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Saturday

I went to Sakura Matsuri this weekend! I went Saturday after my drawing class. I wore a 90% completed Rei Ayanami in her school uniform. The only things that weren’t finished were the buttons and collar.

The highlight was that we went to “Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles” in Chinatown. It was featured on ‘The Best Thing I Ever Ate’ on Food Network. That and I was really craving fresh noodles. The place was cheap (price-wise) and delicious! I will definitely have to go back there again in the future.

Sunday

Sunday was tons more fun. I decided to wear Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho before the fashion show because after having a conversation about it with Keith, we decided on him since I partially wanted to test shoot my new contact lens. Tifa with blue or green eyes doesn’t make sense, nor does Rei with blue or green eyes (and I would’ve wanted to fix the skirt..)

To quickly cap my day: I didn’t sleep all night because I was finishing up Yuna. The El Dorado staff came out pretty good but pretty rickety. Went to the festival with Kevin and Keith. Wore Kurama. Shot with Keith for the lenses test. Forgot craft foam/poster board for Yuna’s obi. My friend, Kadishu, ended up buying some for me♥. Met up with Philip. Hung out with them.

Shot for a bit. Shot FOR Keith for a bit. Made a “We love Mario Bueno” sign for Mario Bueno. “Embarrassed” the poor kid. Embarrassed myself by attracting much attention to myself with said sign. Went to get ready for the fashion show at 2:30. Changed into Yuna. Waited backstage at 3:45 to go up. Hung out with all teh models until the show.

Modeling in the Cosplay Fashion show. Got bombarded by people photographing me as Yuna and Mario Bueno as Tidus. Got kicked out xD Shot a bit more, went home.

All in all, this is going to sound a bit cheesy, but I feel really blessed. I’m glad that I could’ve met so many great friends through cosplaying. Being at the fashion show today and meeting so many talented people is truly inspiring. Everyone was so sweet and nice!

Being around other cosplayers who share the same passion as you and are about the same level is just.. amazing. It makes me want to push myself harder and challenge myself to become better. I saw a lot of friends and made some new ones!

Photography by Knightmare6 and Merlin Tong Photography.

Chibicon Report.

17 Sunday Apr 2011

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I attended Chibicon last night at Montclair State University. My friend, Keith, came with me! You may recognize him as “TheBigTog” in some of my photographs.

It wasn’t too bad for a super small convention. But I have to admit, I may have been bored if I didn’t have friends there haha. I had a table in the Artist Alley, so I was there for most of the convention. I was there for almost 3 hours. It was actually really boring, but my friend, Keith, was there to keep me company along with Kevin, who also had a table there. A few of my friends went as well, so they came to say hi haha.

I also made some sales! So it wasn’t a total loss for me to sit there for 2 hours and 45 minutes xD

I wore my Final Fantasy X Yuna outfit! She still has some things to finish. Actually.. a lot things! My poor poor Yuna was still incomplete when I wore her to Chibicon >< There are still a few things I need to revamp for her.. She needs to be perfect! The staff came out not bad in photographs! I wasn’t too keen on the way it came out in general haha. I feel that it could have been improved. Ah well.

Keith and I were originally planning a photoshoot with Yuna, since the one at Castle Point didn’t happen, but it rained soo much! We kept checking every so often during the artist alley (since we were seated near a window) but it wouldn’t stop :/ It was hardly cloudy on Friday and was supposed to be sunny on Sunday. So after the artist alley we wandered around looking for a place to shoot Yuna. In the end, we found this nice staircase and managed to squeeze in a few photos!

I was able to obtain photos fairly quickly because I needed to submit them for the Sakura Matsuri Cosplay Fashion Show application. And now.. for some photos! Yay to Keith for making me look flawless haha. 😀

All images are copyrighted to TheBigTog. So, credit the photographer and don’t steal them! You can check out the other images of Yuna on my deviantart, here!

ebay Wig Review: peaceofworld2010

13 Wednesday Apr 2011

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So AnimeNEXT is coming up very soon! I recently ordered my FFX-2 Gunner Yuna. I intentionally wanted the wig to be different from my FFX Yuna wig. So I opted for a darker brown.

The wig ended up being slightly darker than the image. But you can tell it’s not black and under the  light, it’s lighter. It has nice highlights like my FFX Yuna wig, which I did enjoy.

And it was a lot longer than I thought it would be, which isn’t that big of an issue.

I’ll take another picture when it’s less icky/rainy outside.

Rating: ★★★★☆/ 4.5 out of 5.

Pros:
– Very fast shipping.
– Soft fibers.

Cons:
–  No tracking number.
– Not heat resistent.

Price: 22.99$ + free shipping.
Item Location: China.
Time for Arrival: 9 days.

Would I order from them again? Yes.

If you wish to purchase this wig, search “J·C New Fashion Dark Brown Staright Women’s Full WIG,” or search in peaceoftheworld2010’s ebay profile.

SpringFest 2011 Report.

07 Thursday Apr 2011

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Super late post. It is finally spring! Even though it doesn’t look like it outside.. But here is my SpringFest report!

I went to SpringFest 2011 in Polytechnic NYU on March 12th. I wore my Hatsune Miku costume because I couldn’t finish Yuna on time and she’s my favorite character in Final Fantasy so where was a bare minimum of what I would have to complete to debut her, and I couldn’t reach it. So I wore Miku instead!

I had my drawing class so I didn’t get to go to SpringFest until afterwards. I met up with my friends, ~kadishu and ~Richumaru. I went to the Cosplay Contest/Meet up and met up with ~Kitsune-Intoxicated who was hosting it. Andrew from Conpics, and my friends, *knight28, ~GI10, *TheBigTog were there. There were a lot of people! Andrew and a few other people said I should join the contest, and I had nothing better to do so I did.

I ended up winning first place in Craftsmanship. The contest was a casual event and scheduled very last minute so there were no prizes, which wasn’t much of an issue to me. But.. Miku is SO popular. Haha the crowd went wild, even though I was in her ‘Magnet’ form.

Afterwards I was interviewed by ~OutOfTimeProductions. Since I got there late, SpringFest was pretty much over after that. So that concluded my day. My friends and I went out to dinner afterwards.

All in all I had a good time. I’ll definitely attend again next year if I am able to. Hopefully I’ll get to venture around the rest of the convention next time!

eBay Wig Review: rixinyueyi9898

07 Monday Mar 2011

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As you know, or don’t know, I’ll be cosplaying Final Fantasy X Yuna (summoner) this year! I planned on debuting her earlier at SpringFest this Saturday, so last week I ordered her wig.

The wig came out a lot curlier than the image (which isn’t an issue). The fibers were really soft. The wig is a bit darker than I had anticipated and wanted for Yuna, but in the light it looks lighter.

The only possible issue I could have with it, is that on the website, it says the fibers were Kanekalon, but then on the tag the wig came with, it says it was synthetic fibers. Not that it mattered either way for me because the fibers were super soft. I’m not sure if it was because it wasn’t as thick as my other wigs, but it hardly tangled. There was virtually no tangle with this wig.

What I liked about this wig, and the reason I chose it is that the color looks very natural that it has highlights and such. Nothing too noticeable, but you can tell it’s not just one straight color.

Rating: ★★★★☆/ 4.5 out of 5.

Pro:
– Great quality.
– Quick shipping.
– Came with a free wig cap.
– Soft fibers.

Con:
– No tracking number.
– Not heat resistant.
– Fibers were teased under the bangs so it got itchy after wearing for a while.

Price: 24.30$ + free shipping. (It was 10% off.)
Item Location: China.
Time for Arrival: 10 days.

Would I order from them again? Yes.

If you wish to purchase this wig, search “1813 New long Light Brown Fashion Wavy Wig” in the eBay search bar or look through rixinyueyi9898’s ebay profile.

Circle Lenses Seller Review: Candy Lens

24 Monday Jan 2011

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So I needed to order some blue lenses because I planned on doing a mini photoshoot with my Yuna cosplay. I already had Dolly Lens Green from my Kurama cosplay, so I figured I’d just order some Dolly Lens Blue. I didn’t want to have to wait for a batch or pre-order so I was surfing around on the internet.

I stumbled upon Candy Lens, and it said they would take 2 weeks to deliver. They’re a circle lenses store based in Malaysia. And they gave you a tracking number to check on your lenses. I ordered on July 27th, and they were able to ship it out within the next day.

My one issue is that tracking it. They said sometimes the Malaysia Pos (where you can track the package) doesn’t update properly and after a week, to check it from your local post office website. It has been 9 days since they said they’d deliver it. The Malaysia Pos website updated it for the day it supposedly shipped. But when I checked the USPS website, it says “Origin Post is Preparing Shipment.” So I’m wondering what has become of my lenses. But it hasn’t been two weeks so I don’t want to assume anything yet. Shall update it next week!

EDIT: I received the lenses on Monday, August 9th. It took less than 2 weeks to deliver! The lenses were in a cute little box and I received a cute little ‘thank you’ card from the seller.

Pros:
– Quick delivery.
– Free lens case.
– Cute packaging.
– Lenses are extremely vibrant in color.

Cons:
– Unreliable tracking number.
– Felt that the lenses looked slightly unnatural when I didn’t wear makeup.

Price: 25.90$ + 4.50$ shipping = 30.40$
Time for Arrival:  13 days.

Would I order from them again? Yes!

Celestial Skies

09 Tuesday Nov 2010

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At approximately 10:40 pm on October 13, 2010 something great happened.

Celestial Skies was born. Our dream.

I’ve always wanted to be part of a cosplay group. It’s always fun to cosplay with other people who share your passion and have the same interests as you! During the summer at AnimeNEXT, among the many people I met, I met ~Lingering-Tears We kept in contact and began planning for future cosplays with each other (the amount of things we want to do is unbelievable xD) and we had both shared that we wanted to join a cosplay group and decided to form our own!

For the past week, we had been trying to come up with a name. It had to be epic, but have meaning to us. A name worthy for a cosplay group.

We bounced around ideas, and nothing really stuck out to us. But one night, she came up with the name. Celestial Skies. She told me about it and we discussed a deeper meaning behind it. You can read what she wrote in her journal.

We also summarized it into a poem. The poem in our group was the edited version. This was our first draft:

Can one daydream at night?
Or are they merely dreams?
The sky is the path on which dreams take flight
Under the bright moon’s beams.

This is our dream, our vision.
Our heaven, a paradise.
Divine, ethereal, immortal, otherworldly.
The path on which our dreams can take flight.
This is our goal, our focus, our inspiration.

Thus ~Lingering-Tears and I have created a cosplay group!

Next York Anime Festival / Comic Con 2010 Report.

19 Tuesday Oct 2010

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October 9th, I went to NYAF/NYCC! I really only planned on going for Saturday only because i’m going to school in Philly, so it would’ve been inconvenient going on Friday. Sunday was my catch up day for homework, and I have early classes so I didn’t want to end up being out too late. So my original plan was to go on Saturday, wake up at 8:15, leave to take the bus to the Greyhound station at 9:30, take the 11 o’clock Greyhound, be there at 1. Then go back to Philly on the 8 o’clock Greyhound to arrive back at 10:20, then get back to school by/before 11. Sounds good right? Here’s what ended up happening.

October 9th, I went to NYAF/NYCC! I really only planned on going for Saturday only because i’m going to school in Philly, so it would’ve been inconvenient going on Friday. Sunday was my catch up day for homework, and I have early classes so I didn’t want to end up being out too late. So my original plan was to go on Saturday, wake up at 8:15, leave to take the bus to the Greyhound station at 9:30, take the 11 o’clock Greyhound, be there at 1. Then go back to Philly on the 8 o’clock Greyhound to arrive back at 10:20, then get back to school by/before 11. Sounds good right? Here’s what ended up happening.

So I called my friend as a last resort, and she said she’d drive us to the Greyhound station. So we went back to my friend’s dorm in an effort to print out these tickets. I ended up taking the old black ink cartridge he had replaced and shook it and said, “If it prints out, then it’s meant to be.” And it worked!

My friend drove us to the Greyhound station and we ended up going on the 11:30 bus because the 11:00 one was full. By the time we got to the Javits Center it was about 2:20. There were so many people! It felt great going to a convention and cosplaying again. I met one of my photographer friends, Powdy, with his group fromPhotography X. Met a Cloud and Aerith, had epic pictures taken with the two. Met up with TheBigTog, chatted for a bit, then I went to the Final Fantasy photoshoot which was supposed to happen.

I met up with the Cloud, and there were literally no one there! I met Haruhi and Ranmaru of theNYCCosplayers group who cosplayed as Tifa (AC version) and Vincent respectively. Then we met a Barret, then another Tifa (Original version), her friend a Squall, a Lightning, Fang, a Sazh who stayed for a little bit, a Rinoa for Squall xD, a Chocobo, Moogle.

Sooo many people wanted to take our pictures hahaa. I felt bad for the ones who had to hold weapons xD Afterwards I met up with another of my photographer friends, Baldwin and later Youkuro. We were all really bored, so Baldwin and I had a mini photoshoot. No convention experience is complete without me doing a photoshoot xD So it seems. After that we went to the Dealer’s room, I tried on a corset. If it weren’t 200$ I would’ve bought one. It helped my posture xDD

That was pretty much my NYAF/NYCC adventure! Did you go to NYAF/NYCC? Tell me your stories! ^^

Character Profile: Kurama

30 Thursday Sep 2010

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Name: Kurama / 蔵馬
Appearance: Yu Yu Hakusho
Variation: Dark Tournament Outfit
Description: Kurama is perhaps the most calculating, cunning, and analytical member in the series and of the main characters. He is able to carefully look past his feelings and see the real situation at hand, demonstrated on more than one occasion. In battle, while his preference is to concoct strategies based on deducing his opponents abilities, he is quite cutthroat when the need arises.

Worn at: AnimeNEXT 2010, Northern NJ Cosplay Picnic 2010, Sakura Matsuri 2011, AnimeUSA 2011.

Why I chose this costume:
If anyone knows me, my all time favorite anime is Yu Yu Hakusho, despite the fact that I have yet to actually finish the series.. But my favorite character is Kurama. I don’t want to go crazy fan girl, but I absolutely love him. I’m going to stop there. I think I had originally wanted to make his school uniform, but was discouraged because.. well it is essentially a school uniform. So I decided to use one of his dark tournament oufits.

Mechanics of the outfit:
My mom helped me cut out the pattern, and sewed the collar. I sewed the blue lining and everything else. The white shirt I already had. For the pants, I took white sweatpants and sewed an elastic band on the inside. The waistband was the remaining fabric from the lining, which I pinned in. The shoes were Tai Chi shoes that I had in my house. For the contacts, I used Dolly green. More information on the wig can be seen here.

Personal Feelings:
I had fun with this cosplay haha. I met a bunch of crazy fan girls.I’m glad I got to cosplay as Kurama. ^^ For more images, check out my deviantart!

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© 2011 TheBigTog. Any use of this photograph for ANY reason without the expressed written consent of the author is prohibited.