Live from Dallas, it’s the TangleCast! That’s right, we packed up our equipment and went down the road to A-Kon 30 from Fair Park, the annual site of Texas’ state fair, and recorded this episode from the grounds. Twwk joins us for this special episode, where our focus is the convention and all things cosplay! We sat down with popular cosplayer, Phil Mizuno, and chatted about why he loves the cosplay community and how he’s turned a hobby into a profession, and also invited a number of cosplayers at A-Kon to comment on what they see as challenges in the culture. And not to be out down, our own Holly talks about her first experience cosplaying, as Raphtalia from The Rising of the Shield Hero.
0:00 Introduction
1:51 Holly v. Charles
4:50 Last week’s Cast Question
9:06 New Cast Question
12:50 Grab Bag Gratitude
17:25 Cosplay and A-Kon—Cosplay Dictionary
22:55 Discussion—Phil Mizuno Interview
42:38 Discussion—Holly cosplays Raphtalia
51:10 Discussion—Cosplay concerns and challenges
54:39 Discussion—What to do at A-Kon and closing thoughts
1:00:25 Closing
And we want your feedback as well! Each week we ask a question on the podcast and feature your answers the next time that team rolls around. Here’s this week’s CQ (Cast Question): Is cosplay more fandom or fashion? While it obviously crosses over both, we want to know if you think it’s really more related to anime, manga, geekdom, and comics or to fashion, design, and modeling.
Podcast Links:
- This week’s opening bite is in Japanese—a first for us! In case you didn’t catch it, that was Nobuhiko Okamoto, the voice of Bakugou, encouraging you to listen to the podcast. Here’s an interview we did with him just a couple of weeks ago.
- The Okamoto bite is perfect for a podcast featuring Phil Mizuno, who was cosplaying Bakugou during our interview! In the course of our time together, we also mentioned his Lancer (Fate/stay night), Beast (Beauty and the Beast), and Kiba (Naruto) cosplays. By the way, in addition to Phil’s Instagram account, we encourage you to check out his Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well!
- Thanks to all the cosplayers that took time out of their convention to record with us! Please check out their accounts on Instagram:
- Interested in seeing Holly’s Raphtalia? Here are some shots from a pre-con photo shoot, and a beautiful photo taken during the convention (we swear it wasn’t out of some fairy tale land!). The featured photograph above was taken by @xrphotographic.
- Thanks again to Tyler for helping fund Holly’s first cosplay! By the way, Tyler has written a couple guest articles for us, including this recent one on Mononoke and unborn children.
- A Silent Voice is now on Netflix, and so is Kim’s Convenience. Hinamatsuri can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
- We took a number of definitions for our cosplay dictionary segment from this page. And if you’re like us and want to know more about the yaoi paddle, check out this excellent video about that con prop.
You can check us out on a variety of formats, including iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher, or through our RSS Feed! Please subscribe and leave us a review!
Mixed and produced by David, and featuring music by Celotron (all rights reserved).
Thanks again for this hour of pure entertainment. I hope that Akon goes well for all of you. My prayers go with you, to intercede with God on your behalf for your safety and good time. I’m sure Holly will turn a lot of heads with her quite adept cosplaying of Raphtalia.
I am exceedingly glad I can contribute to the good work you do on this site. Have a great time. I look forward to seeing the pictures and all the neat stuff you pick up from the con and hearing about the conversations, the people you meet, and the panels you visit. God bless all of you.
We had a great time at the con! Holly was super popular. So many people wanted pictures of her, haha! It started not even five minutes after we got there. We are so thankful to you and your family, Tyler. The love and support you guys show us really motivates us to keep on producing content and striving to do our best! There were so many great artists and we were able to get our hands on a set of Promised Neverland keychains! Norman for Peter, Emma for Holly, and Ray for me. Thanks again for your support and we will continue to make His name known through what we do here!
Facebook:
Tyler Burnette: Fashion seems like a little more niche overlap as fashion has its own community. It’s not often that people cosplay as characters they don’t like or have no affinity for. Oh, and on Tanglecast 61 the cast thought that there weren’t any animes about being a Pharmacist, but there’s the one I wrote my recent article on [Mononoke]. The protagonist is a medicine man by trade.
Chris Niermans: Way more fandom, for sure.
Kusuguru Usagi: It’s the fandom definitely!! ^_^ ^_^
Carissa Fei: Fandom. Fashion would be taking alot more liberties
I’m going to be the contrarian here. At first, I thought cosplay was more about fandom, and from a pure numbers standpoint, it still is. But the more I’ve connected with cosplayers, the more I’ve seen that more popular ones (and even those have yet to attain some high level of popularity) monetize their cosplay by using fandom rather than celebrating it. Often for these cosplayers, it’s become more about marketing self though creating a look that engages audiences, just a niche portion of the fashion industry.
Instagram:
@ohsyyan (mutual): It used to be just about the fandom, people coming together to be their fave character or villain (kinda like halloween all year round), but as technology improved, so did the complexity of the costume and that made it more fashionable. 😅
Cory (mutual): I’d say it’s more fandom. People who aren’t familiar with the subject matter can appreciate the costume itself, but people who are familiar would (I think) be far more interested in it
Corrina (mutual): I think it’s a little of both. I’ve definitely worn “casual cosplay” as an off-day outfit. Also created a couple of my cosplay with that idea in mind.
Matthew (Team Anchester): I’d say fandom but partly because, in my mind, fashion is a daily thing where cosplay especially as regards cons seems like an occasional thing. I see it as an art and even sociable thing driven by fandom, but I’d like to hear your working definition of “fashion” in the podcast.
@justinsayana (mutual): Both! Fashion in sense of the style, the way you deliver your fandom. Fandom also, because you are proud to present what you love
@aan.wb: In my opinion, cosplay can be seen as a blend between hobby (or fandom) and fashion as cosplayers manage to represent their favourite characters while maintaining aesthetics which is an important part of a good cosplay. But in general, cosplay is more seen as one of the hobbies people can enjoy their fandom
@griveauromain: Je dirait fans 👌 même si ça devient la mode
@jonathantanigaki (mutual): I like to think of it as more fandom if it’s a direct correlation to the character. Like a costume for halloween or for a show, the purpose is different then just fashion. However, if you are wearing it as part of your brand, that would be more fashion, such as pokeball earrings or any hot topic item. That’s what I think but I love either or!
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