 Hi, welcome to Think Tech. We're raising public awareness about technology, energy, diversity, and globalism. This show is center stage. I'm your host, Donna Blanchard, proud managing director of Kumakuhua Theater. And we are coming to you live from Pioneer Plaza in the heart of downtown Honolulu, very near Kumakuhua Theater. I am excited to tell you that today I am talking with an ilk of artists with whom I have never spoken on the show before. We are talking to someone who is a cosplay artist, Ms. Grace Chi. Welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for being here. I know nothing about the world of cosplay. I'm strictly looking at it from an outsider's perspective, and nothing makes me feel older. Oh. I have to tell you, I can play Pokemon Go. I can get into that. But when I look on Facebook and Snapchat at the different costumes and what you are doing, I think this does not resonate with me in any way whatsoever. I have to learn more about this. So thank you for being here. Of course. So look at this picture we got here. Ah, Kamen Kazi. Kamen Kazi. So what is this? OK, so this one's actually really interesting because it's a little bit more than just cosplay. This one is by Sam Campos. He's a local comic book artist, but he also does TV shows. So this is one of his TV shows that's coming out. He's developing it. He's done a different show, and now there's this one which is Kamen Kazi. And it's based off of old Japanese shows where you have Hikaita and Power Rangers, those masked characters. So they're like Tokusatsu. That's what the genre is. And I actually brought that helmet today with me. Awesome, let's see it. So Sam is an amazing artist as well. He makes these by himself. And the great thing about these is he makes it out of recycled material. So this is a bicycle helmet, bike reflectors, straws from McDonald's, like an old Iron Man mask from a kid's toy and foam. And he just puts it all together. He makes these amazing costumes. So you're part of the show. OK, now when you said Power Rangers, because I used to babysit kids with Power Rangers. So this is a show that's produced for a television channel here, or is it a web-based? I think right now it's just web-based. You can find him on YouTube, I believe. Just look up Kamen Kazee. He's on Facebook too. And we just did some preliminary stuff. He has a comic book. But hopefully we'll do more with that. Oh, OK. So the photo that we saw is more like a press photo. It's not like the live. Are you playing a character in the? We did do a little bit of filming. And this is from the film. I think we just put out a little teaser so far. And that's what this is for. So you'll see it in the teaser. It's a good tease. Yeah. I love it. It makes me say, not that I'm that old, but like the old Flash Gordon, that the costumes were not the latex-heavy what you see in Star Wars, but they were. It was more about plot. It was more plot-driven. So that looks like a lot of fun to do. So let's go back to how you began with this. How old were you when you were young? Not like a comic book. Comic book, as most people would think of it. I did a lot more like manga and like anime. And I grew up with like cartoons on Saturday mornings. And that's kind of how I got into it. So I actually started with cosplay in college. There was an anime club at my college. And one of the guys that ran the club was like, oh, we should go to this convention. It's like not that far. And it ended up being really far. And we're like, where are we going? But we went there. And it's amazing because everyone's like in costume. You see other people that love the things you love, like the shows and fandoms and stuff. So after that event, I decided I should make a costume and go to the next convention. So I did that. And that was 2008. Oh, not that long ago. OK, so you had the club. Was the club would get together and look at the different comics and? Oh, so it was an anime club. So we would just kind of like keep up with new anime and watch different shows together. But that kind of branched into the cosplay because cosplay is costume play. It's more Japanese when you get down to the roots of it. So it was kind of a very good start for me to be from the anime side and then get into it. Gotcha. OK, OK. So it's kind of like in generation, bygone generation, standing around the water cooler talking about what's going on on Dallas and those television of Melrose Place. Oh, yeah, kind of. OK, but you're getting together in a formal club to do that. OK, and then the guy says, let's go down to this convention. And you saw these conventions, like Comic-Con. OK, this intrigues me. Because is it a lot of people, they're selling something? Yeah, it's actually really neat. So when you go to these conventions, there are people that are selling things. There are artists that bring their art and prints and you can buy them. They always bring celebrity guests. You can meet voice actors, actors from TV, movies. They just had George Takei come and stuff like that. But another part is all the cosplayers. People really like to dress up as characters and go to these conventions. And usually they do it based on who's coming to the convention so they can meet their favorite actor as that character or someone from that show. And that's really cool because you can take pictures with them. That must be amazing for the actors to see all of these people emulating their characters. OK, so you started with, you went to the first one and then you decided you and you had no costume. And do you feel weird going if you have no for those who are interested in giving it a shot? No, I mean, you don't have to be in costume to go. A lot of people like to because you feel comfortable in costume in a convention whereas like somewhere out on the street, it would be kind of strange maybe. Yeah, unless you're on Frontier Street in Las Vegas. Or maybe downtown. OK, so yeah, you can go check it out. Do you, is it more comfortable when you're in costume because you feel like you're not really you? Yeah, I think I have more fun when I'm in costume. People like will yell at you from across the hall and be like, hey, that girl or something. You're like, wait, me like this back girl or that one. And then you react like that girl do. Oh, yeah, sometimes it's fun to be in character. This is why we get on stage. It's fun to explore something different. OK, so you by the time you the next one rolled around and were you living here in Hawaii? Oh, that was in Chicago. So I started out going to Anime Central or ASIN. That's the big one in Chicago. But in 2010, I came back to Hawaii. And that's when I like really started picking up with the cosplay because I came back and Koi Khan was huge after being gone for 10 years. Or like I had come back and Koi Khan was huge. I think it started when was that? I think like early 2000 or so. So it had only been like a few years of me being away, but Koi Khan from when I had first started seeing it. Like I went to the very first one. It was huge. The first one I went to was at Almano Hotel. And it was just like a couple tables and like a few people. And I was like, oh, what is this? And then I came back and it was like gigantic in the convention center and they're like thousands of people. What is Koi Khan? What's the breakdown on that? Okay, so Koi Khan is more anime based. So opposed to like Comic Con, which is more comic based. Okay. But the actual word, kawaii. Oh yeah, kawaii is like a Japanese word for cute. So I think it fits. It's like kawaii and Khan, they use it with a K. It's like a alliteration thing, but it's. K-A-W. Oh no, K-O-N, like. Kawaii. But with a K, like. Khan. The first, okay, okay. Yeah. Gotcha, okay. Okay, so you, but the first time you dressed up as a character, was that in Chicago or when you came back here? Yeah, that was in Chicago. And what did you do? I did Tifa from Final Fantasy, Advent Children. And was that an involved? Oh, yeah, kind of. Full body thing. Did you go out and buy a costume or did you set about making it all yourself? So that one was a mix. I went and bought certain things. Like I bought pants and I bought this vest and stuff. But I ended up having to hand sew a lot of stuff because I was still in college and at the dorms. I'm like, in my room, like, like, how do I do this? Did you know how to sew before the necessity of making your own costume? A little bit, because I learned some of that from my mom. Oh, my mom does like her own t-shirts and jackets and stuff. She's always done it, like, as far as I've known. She's done fashion and made her own clothing. Oh, wow. But I never really got into it until the cosplay. And I think once I did, she started being like, oh, yay. I bet. You can learn stuff from me. Yeah, I bet. She was thinking, I don't know what you're, I don't understand why, but I love it. OK, this is your Batgirl costume. And I remember seeing on Facebook, there was a lot of evolution. Talk about, there were some things that you were waiting to come in. But then you built, you built the mask, didn't you? Oh, the mask I bought. Some cosplayers will commission things from other prop makers. So this one was from Reeves FX. I'm not sure where he is. He's on the mainland. But he makes Batgirl culls and Batman masks and all kinds of crazy stuff. But that's one that I bought from him. And I cut the trim strap off. It was so nerve-wracking. I was like, oh, please don't mess this up. But everything else, I pretty much made myself. And then you, OK, so these are wonderful photographs that we have of this, too. Is that a part of the cosplay that you are photographed? Yes, so a great thing about cosplay is that you get to meet all these great people, not only other cosplayers, but a lot of photographers, makeup artists, prop makers. And I've met a lot of great photographers on the island. It's like, you have your small group. You always ask, oh, you want to take photos this weekend? And they're always up for it. It's just we do it for fun. No one gets paid. We just go out and shoot and have fun. And then you have these amazing photos. That one's amazing because it's actually shot on film. It's not digital. Oh, yeah. But that's not Catwoman. That's not Batgirl. That is Batgirl. And I actually brought that one with you, too. Oh, OK. Whoop. So this was a nightmare to make. It looked simple, but it was terrible. So a lot of times when you make a cosplay, you run into things that you didn't think would be difficult. Patterning this out wasn't too bad, because I just used an aviator cap. And I made the pattern. So it just looks like an aviator cap, but with these Batgirl ears. And the thing that was difficult about this was the leather. So I was kind of stubborn, and I was like, I'm going to go all out and make this legit. And I bought leather pants to cut up to put leather. And that's this light purple part. But the thing about leather is it's really difficult to sew. So I think I broke about two needles making this. You were doing this by hand? No, I used the machine. You used the machine. Yeah, that makes sense. But you'll sew it, and it's just like, you're a crunch, and you're like, no. OK, we're going to go to our first break real quick here. We're going to come back, and we're going to talk more about this steam punk part of that also. OK, we're going to take a break. We're going to come right back, because you need to come back and learn more about cosplay. We'll be right back on setter stage. Aloha, everyone. I'm Maria Mera, and I'm here to invite you to my bilingual show Viva Hawaii on Sintek, Hawaii every other Monday at 3 PM. We are here to talk about news, issues, and events local and around the world. Join me. Aloha. Hi, I'm Steven Phillip Katz. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist here in Hawaii. And I'm the host of Shrink Rap Hawaii, which is on Tuesdays at 3 o'clock. Have a great summit. Take care of your mental health. Aloha, I'm Chantel Seville, host of the Savvy Chick Show on Sintek, Hawaii. This show is for you. It's all about inspiring and empowering girls of the future to do what they love, get out there, and be healthy, fit, and confident. If you're up for that, 11 AM every Wednesday, I'll see you there. Hi, I'm Chris Leitham with The Economy and You, and I'd like to invite you each week to come watch my show each Wednesday at 3 PM. Hi, we're back on center stage on the ThinkTech Hawaii Digital Network. I just want to let you know if you would ever like to join us in our studio here downtown in Honolulu at the Pioneer Plaza, you may do so just email J. That's J-A-Y at thinktechhawaii.com. And he will hook you up. And we're always happy to hear your feedback on the show. You can reach us. You can tweet us at thinktechhi. And you can also always send me a message. I'm at Facebook dot, no, Facebook slash Donna dot Blanchard. OK, OK, so this costume you wanted to build. You already had the Batgirl mask. You felt like you needed to make another one. Oh, yeah. So this one is actually based off of Aunt Lucie's work. He does the DC Bonchels, which is like a World War II variation on the DC characters. He can do that? It's legal? I think they contacted him and contracted him to do a series. So he actually has a comic book series for it now. OK. So because I never realized before that you would want, you might want to dress up as variations of one character. You have several characters that you did. Plus, you have a variation on her. OK, because her personality is slightly different. This one, I just like the character design. She has this really cute parachuter outfit. So the cape is actually like the parachute that comes out of her bag and stuff. It's a lot of fun. Oh, OK, nice. And is this meant to be, was this part of the drawing, the more steampunk look? Or is that? So because it's more like World War II era, it pulls a lot from that, but also kind of like steampunky. Not quite, really. It's got a lot of like, I guess like corsets and stuff within the work. And that's really cool, yeah. Yeah. OK, so, and this jacket is part of? This one is from the not newest Batgirl, but the last iteration, which I guess still carries over, by Babs Tarr and that crew. Oh, another iteration of her. And here's some. Oh, some progress. Here's the making of. How long did it take to do this all together? This one. So I bought the jacket as a base, and then I had to put on the bat. And it was a little tricky because I had to work around the zipper so you can see me trying to like place it. And then I had to cut the bat, which is actually two pieces of fabric and not just one. And then I sewed it on. OK, is the jacket something that you got? The jacket just looked like the right thing to do to use as your base. So a lot of the times, if something's more complicated, it's worth it to just buy something that already exists as a base and then work off of that. So you can do like alterations to it. Like I took off the cuffs. And I think I brought it in a bit in the back and stuff. So it's a lot easier than trying to build up a jacket from scratch sometimes. And also it's like a time thing. Jackets are hard. This is a lot of work. You don't want to be doing all of that. You need to save your time for this. Great. OK, so how many full costumes do you have? I was trying to do a count before this show. I think it's about 50, probably more. Holy Toledo, really? Yeah. Wow. OK, so you're coming up with a new one. You're not that old. You're coming up with a new one every couple of months. Oh, yeah. It's been a lot crazier, especially in the past year or so, because we've had so many new conventions in Hawaii. And I don't always want to, but I usually end up making something new for each convention. Well, yeah, you can't wear the same dress twice. Right. OK, and all of the characters that you are building are based on something you've seen before. These are not something that you are inventing. Most of them. A lot of the time, I'll do something that exists either as an actual character or fan art. A lot of people out there will make fan art based off of a character and put their own twist on it, or they'll mash up two characters. We've done Disney Star Wars mashups where we take Disney characters, but give them lightsabers and make them more tunics and stuff. I would really like to see some of the Disney princesses with lightsabers. Yeah, we've done that. We had someone do Princess Jasmine with a lightsaber. I like that empowering the Disney princess. The newer ones are being empowered themselves. But yeah, we need to give some other than fairies to Sleeping Beauty. OK, so here's what I'm hearing is that a lot of the building that you're doing, this is a really big hobby. This is a lot of time that's going in here. But it's a good, probably, way to relax at home. You go all the way to work on this. But then it has a huge social aspect to it. Yeah, because you're always going out, meeting new people, trying to plan photo shoots, going to the conventions. It can get crazy. Sometimes you have to take a break. Yeah, I bet. So those photo shoots, some really great images come out of that. And then what are you doing with them other than showing them here on Facebook? I mostly just share them on Facebook. Sometimes it actually helps us along with other things. People will contact us out of the blue for events to volunteer for something. A lot of us do volunteering at children's events or fundraisers and stuff. One of the groups I'm in is the Avengers Mid-Pacific, which is the Hawaii chapter of a larger Marvel costuming group that's nationwide. And we can get hired out to be at events, so like heart walks or movie appearances, things like that. So I could hire your group to come out and be at my fundraiser. Yes, you could. I love these costumes. OK, so those are not part of the anime. They look like Jurassic Park. Yeah, so those two guys on the left are my good friends. They dress up as ghostbusters, as Jurassic Park guys. And they're amazing. I love them. This isn't one of the pictures. Yes. But the great thing about this picture is that our costumes are made out of cardboard. And it doesn't really matter. You can cosplay out of anything and make it work. I think that was the most popular costume at that convention. And it was cardboard and googly eyes from Amazon. Yeah, and that's awesome. OK, so that was part from a movie. Are there still people who will go to the convent, even though it's Comic-Con? There are people who will go there dressed as something from Star Wars or Jurassic Park? It doesn't really matter. You'll have comic characters at anime conventions and vice versa. It's just a place where you can go and be comfortable being who you are or not who you are. That's what, yeah, well, showing off your hobby, being not who you are. That's like Halloween several times a year. All the time. No wonder you like it. Now I get it. Not sure I'm going to do it right away, because I'm not sure who I would play. Maybe who's the wicked witch from the little mermaid? That would be great. I've seen someone do an amazing dress, and the dress bottom has tentacles sewn onto it. That was really good. That would be a fun one to do. OK, all right, now let me think about that a little bit. So where do you see this merging with your business life? Oh, I guess in some ways it has. I do a lot of graphic design on the side and also engineering during the day. So sometimes the engineering helps me to create something, or it gives me that mindset to pattern something out. And also sometimes people will contact me and be like, oh, can you make this for me or something? And so it does go both ways. I ask people to make things for me. They ask me to sew stuff for them. Oh, nice. Has your mom gotten into it at all? Is she helping you? Not really. I've been trying to convince her to sew things for people and sell it, because it's actually a pretty lucrative business if you can get it going. Oh, yeah. Well, and her daughter is in the right spot to help you. And I can promote. Yeah. Well, I think that anytime you have an artistic avenue of expression, when you're an engineer, you have an artistic avenue of expression separate from that, it helps you in your business, whatever it is. Oh, yeah. I used to, when I was in the Northwest Indiana region, there's a lot of steel mills there. And some of the larger ones would give their employees an allowance for education, just smart. And they would pay for guys to come and take my acting classes. Oh, awesome. Yeah, I mean, guys who are working in the steel mill as ceramics engineers and all the way to the more entry level jobs. And they all would say they benefited from it, just same as you would from playing a guitar, so you could build amazing costumes. Like this one, what can you tell us about her? OK, so this is an anime-based one. It's from Fooley Cooley. She's kind of a crazy character. And this is one of closer to one of my first ones that I actually put together Fooley. And that bass guitar was really hard to find. It's actually like a knockoff from China, because the actual one's like thousands of dollars. Oh, wow. So you bought an actual bass to do this. Yeah, in high school and college, I used to play guitar a lot. So I was like, well, why not? I'll get a bass guitar to you. And it fit for the costume, so that worked out pretty well. I didn't know you played as well. Not so much now. Because you found another outlet to take its place. So where do all of these characters live? Oh, that is a good question. So for me, everything's kind of piling up. And I'm pretty close to being like, I should sell some stuff, because I just need space for new things. I know people that have storage lockers specifically for their costumes. Yeah. Do you very often go back and revisit a character that you're, again, like the girl with the blue base? Oh, yeah. I bring her out sometimes. And then with all my costumes, I say their work's in progress, because I'm always upgrading them. I always redo the gloves, or remake pants, or something. Oh, you can always improve. Look at this cheeky little. We're almost seeing some. Oh, and it's not cheeky. This is also from an anime, Kill a Kill. It's kind of a crazy anime. This was a fun one. And it's a good example of using a costume for more than one thing, because in this anime, the main character, which is not this character, wears this outfit. And there just happens to be an episode where this character steals her outfit. And so I did this character in her outfit. Oh, nice. Yeah. I really appreciate your coming down and talking about all of this. I feel like I have a better understanding. Maybe I don't feel so old. I can still talk about Melrose Place, so that is that. All right, while you look at the rest of the photos that we have here, I'm going to go ahead and wrap us up. Thank you very much for being here, Grace. Thanks for having me. Thank you, our audience, for tuning in. I would also like to thank a few more people here in the studio. Rich Prapas, our floor manager who's right over there. Thank you, Rich. Zuri Bender, our studio overlord, who is in my ear. Thank you, Zuri. And I'd also like to thank Jay Fidel, who somehow manages to put all of this together. We will see you next week on Center Stage.