Cosplay Cafe 05: Hanawa Cosplay

Happy Tuesday club members! Coming into the cafe today is none other that Hanawa Cosplay. She’s a cosplayer I recently discovered, I’m talking November and I’ve been enjoying a lot of the stuff she’s put out. Hanawa Cosplay is inspiring and I was glad to have the opportunity to chat with her before Pax South.

What were you like growing up? What were some of the things you were into during your child/teenage years?

Growing up was actually very difficult to me. I never quite had the normal childhood or even one at all. I was adopted by an Italian-German/Southern family when I was 10. So before then life was very awful for me. After my adoption however, I discovered a lot on my own. With the help of close family-friends and family members, I was introduced to video games and anime at that young age. As a teenager I was a very terrible person if I can be honest. I still like the same things but I never really had any friends to share the things I loved with. Of course I had a few but not enough to explore going to tournaments or big out-of-state conventions. As an adolescent I really got more into the metal scene and anime loving crowd. Where my love for mecha anime began and stemmed from. All-in-all growing up was very weird for me, but I don’t regret the nerd subculture I was sucked into. I will never stop loving those things.

2. Did those things influence who you’re today?

Oh absolutely! There did come a point in time about 4 years ago that I completely lost sight of myself and started hanging with the wrong group of people and made some bad decisions and abandoned who I truly was. Lucky, I slapped myself back into reality and realized who I truly am and what I really wanted to do with myself. I will never go back to what I used to be. I’m only getting better from here on out.

3. What has been a lesson cosplaying has taught you?

TO NEVER disregard someone else’s work that they have done for you. Always give credit where credit is due and to help others as much as possible. Even if you have a hard time explaining yourself.

4.What went into building your Gundam Girl cosplay? Looking at some of your progress shots, it looked like it took a lot of time and patience.

It was my very first Gundam cosplay so it was quite the beginner’s experience for me. Beforehand, I had attended a panel at a convention held in Dallas where the cosplayer VampyBitMe was a guest in. She held a panel about armor and Gundam cosplay so I decided to go since I am a long time fan of hers. After the panel she was kind enough to give me some tips on how to make certain parts for my future Gundam cosplays. So when I got back home I put the materials she used to the test for myself. I used craft foam and sintra ONLY. It worked out very well for me. Unfortunately, I was not able to wear the wings the the convention I took it to because of transportation and the materials I used to make the wings fell apart. Lesson learned I now know not to make that mistake again. haha That cosplay took about a week to make and wasn’t that hard for me. Nonetheless, I will be making my next Gundam cosplay for Anime Expo 2017. I’m excited to share even better progress.

5. You interact with a lot of your fans. How do you go about balancing that along with all the other things you do.

To be quite honest, my twitter is like having my phone number. Anyone who wants to talk to me can just simply tag me on my twitter and I’ll respond as fast as a text. I have fans who can prove this to you LOL. I have a full-time job and my hobby is full-time as well, but even when I’m working at my job or at home with my costumes I always have time to respond to my supporters. As long as they support me I will always be there for them.

6.Off topic question, favorite food?

I don’t have a favorite food haha I’m never picky. I eat all day every day so anything I can get my hands on goes straight into my mouth 🙂

7. So you put in 114 hours into your Satsuki Kiryuin. What makes you and other cosplayers put that much time and effort into your costumes?

I would think it’s the motivation, determination, and love we have for that character that we admire and aspire to be so much. With Satsuki Kiryuin, I wanted so much with a burning passion to be her. She is the most beautiful character I’ve ever seen in an anime. Her strength, stone-cold demenor and purpose really resonated with who I am. She is by far the best female character in an anime I have ever seen. I plan to remake her this year actually. Studio Trigger is very well known for their animation and wonderful cast of characters so when KLK first aired and Satsuki was introduced at that moment I knew, I was her and she was me. We were one. That was what strived me to work so hard on that cosplay.

8. Off topic question, favorite mecha anime? I know this is going to be tough given your love for this genre.

BOY YOU JUST HAD TO DO THIS TO ME LMAO GOD can I like give a top 3 at least? XD ok so first of course has to be Gundam Wing. Mainly for the sentimental value and it being my first Gundam anime ever. And Heero was my first anime boyboy crush sooo. Second has GOT to be Neon Genesis Evangelion. I think every EVA fan reading this can tell you why lol but in short it’s a gorgeous anime with a roller coaster plot, unconventional events, heart-gripping cast and eccentric animation included in it’s films. Third would be Code Geass. C.C. is one of the most beautiful anime characters to me and the plot is just-woah. haha

9. Favorite memory while in cosplay?

That’s a hard one but aside from meeting my online cosplay friends it would be meeting my cosplay idols.

10. What conventions can people find you at this year?

I know PAX South is one of them. After PAX South I’m hitting a lot of local events around my area but you can also find me at A-Kon if I’m free that weekend, Anime Expo, Oni-Con and A-Fest. If there are any other Texas cons near by then I may surprisingly announce them.

11. What cosplays are you currently working on?

At the moment, Ramlethal and I just finished 2B. Then I will be finishing Morrigan Aensland as well.

12. Final question, anything you want to say to your fans?

I LOVE you guys. Seriously, my traveling and cosplay wouldn’t be so on-going if it wasn’t for your support. You make meeting you all at cons such a great experience for me and that’s a feeling I don’t ever want to go away. Always talk to me whether it be if you see me or on twitter. Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with me because I want to do the same. Let’s grow together. 🙂

Like I’ve said above, Hanawa Cosplay is someone to follow this year. Links for her social media pages are down below.