Anime Society Interview

To give more of an insight into the world of Cosplay and the people that are involved, we conducted an interview with the President of the Cosplay workshop Anna Perez, which is held fortnightly. The club is held in the Leeds University building, and gives would be Cosplayers a chance to create their own costumes to use at Society events.



We asked a series of questions, however the initial question we asked was quite broad, as we wanted to give a general consensus at first.



"Why do you love this culture?"

"I enjoy attending these events and the society for more of a social aspect and getting to talk to like minded people who enjoy the films and artwork, however I am not attracted to a specific sense of Anime, I prefer more generalised areas, but the overall thing is the social aspect and getting to meet people who share the same interests and hobbies as I do. A sense of community as well."

"What is your favourite style of Anime?"

"Although I prefer more generalised versions of anime, I still have specific interests in the genre, such as seinen, sports and romantic comedies."

"Personally I prefer Super natural styles of anime, as well as a darker styles, comedies and fantasy films."

"Is cosplay an appreciation of just the art and culture or also an escape as an alter-ego?"

"I treat is a hobby, although it can be very consuming as there is constantly new things to watch and costumes take a while to make and get right, so I feel personally its more of appreciation of the culture than an alter-ego personally"

"I feel it is more of an appreciation of the art and culture, however I do feel it can sometimes be an alter-ego and a boost in confidence¬¬¬ when people compliment you on your hardwork and craftsmanship of the costume, however it also has an aspect where you can escape from your reality by being a different character and interacting with people as if they are actually the characters also.

"When did you first become interested in this culture and start attending these events?"

"Around 5 years ago, somebody bought me a Victorian style manga comic for Christmas, ever since then I became growingly interested in the culture and the artwork featured, and then after learning more, started making costumes myself about a year ago.



"How long on average do you spend making costumes?"

"I usually spend a month minimum on my costumes, however some may take between 3 and 4 months to get right working around my life, however the best cosplay costume I ever made took me one month, but that was constantly sewing and tailoring day and night." "My current one has taken me around 2 months so far and isn't finished, however once the main gathering of materials is over, which takes around a month, it speeds up and is easier to do."