Carefully adding glue to foam, making a helmet and measuring to make sure it fits, sophomore Vanessa Ta puts together a cosplay of her favorite character. From anime to video games to comics, any character she likes, she’ll cosplay it.

“I find that just the overall process of cosplay is easy because you just need basic instructions and a basic plan,” Ta said. ”It just takes really long. But other than that, it’s really easy to get into it.”

Ta has been cosplaying for a year now and has used different styles to make the costumes.

”My first cosplay was Aya Oosawa from the manga, ‘The guy she was interested in wasn’t a guy at all’,” Ta said. “She’s my inspiration for a ton of things so that is why I wanted her to be my first cosplay.”

For her first cosplay, she mostly used clothes she had laying around her house. 

”I grew as a cosplayer from watching others and finally being confident in myself, going to events was an addition,” Ta said. “Everyone can grow in their own ways and I decided to grow on my own by watching a bunch of YouTube videos.”

With her journey as a cosplayer, there are some parts Ta likes more than others, and her specialty in cosplaying is props. 

“I enjoy making props and exploring how to structure and make instructions,” Ta said.

She was introduced to cosplay from a friend, and almost like a tradition, she makes her other friends cosplay.

“I helped them get into cosplaying because I kept on pestering,” Ta said. “I’m like, ‘Hey, can you cosplay with me?’ and then they get into it so I just cosplay with my friends and my brother. He also likes cosplaying because of me.”Attending cons, such as Level Up Expo, with her friends can be a challenging experience.

“It was both fun and exhausting, having to accommodate yours and others needs while having to walk around in a mildly uncomfortable cosplay is something else,” Ta said. “On the other hand, it was an amazing experience having to share my thoughts and actions with my friends like buying merch and food, and just sharing a fandom.”

Before events, working on a cosplay can take a while and trying to work on it during school can be a struggle.

“I used to work on my cosplays a lot,” Ta said, “But now, since I have school, it’s been taking a lot of my time. So I do it once I have a long break. I’m planning to start during Thanksgiving Break and continue it during Winter Break.“

Cosplaying requires time and persistence, and so it might not be for everyone. 

“If someone just started cosplay, I would [say] that they’re going to a hobby where it’s really expensive and really time consuming,” Ta said, “and that they should prepare themselves for it physically and mentally. It feels like it’s basically preparing for excruciating hours when it takes on a particular cosplay. But even though it probably looks hard, it may be easier as it seems to be.”