Interview with Celebrity Cosplayer Kaname for AFA Malaysia 2012

[vanpang]

On 26 April 2012, Macross members Vanpang, Boyarque, VF-25 & Rei attended the press conference for the Anime Festival Asia Malaysia 2012 (AFA Malaysia 2012) which is going to be held on 9 & 10 June 2012 (Saturday & Sunday)

The conference was held at the Federal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. We had the opportunity to conduct an interview with the Celebrity Cosplayer Kaname.

Kaname is popular amongst the cosplay community for cosplaying as Cloud from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Ichigo of Bleach and Portgas D. Ace of One Piece with high level of quality and realism.

Please note that certain replies maybe lost in transalation.

The following is the extract from the interview with him held on 26 April 2012:-

Q : Good morning Kaname-San, are you looking forward to meet your Malaysian fans during the AFA Malaysia

A : Yes definitely ! I am looking forward to meet them during the AFA Malaysia 2012. I hope to meet as many fans as possible in Malaysia.

Q : What do you think about the Malaysian / local cosplay community ?

A : About Malaysia Cosplay Community, I have not had the opportunity to see them yet. But I am definitely anticipating to see how the cosplay event during the AFA Malaysia would turn out. As there would be more AFA events in Malaysia in the future, I would have more opportunities to see Malaysian cosplayers. I am looking forward to see them.

Q : Have your life changed since you started cosplaying ?

A : Yes a lot have changed. Before I started cosplay, I didn’t have many things that I really like to do. Even when I had things that I like, I only keep it to myself. But since I started cosplaying, I met many people and because of the meeting so many people, I have found out many things that I didn’t know before. And those things also influence my life. Since I started cosplaying, cosplaying has always been on my mind and its part of my life now. I would also like to share my knowledge about cosplay with many people.

Q : When you are not cosplaying, do you have any other hobbies ?

A : Yes I always watch Anime. Since January I have started Vanguard and I have been addicted to it since. I have become a Vanguard Fighter and have many Vanguard cards. But my main hobby is still “cosplaying”

Q : What kind of burden do you have since you started cosplay ?

A : The first one is money, it’s a very expensive hobby. And secondly I think cosplay is a thing that is for young people. In foreign countries, most cosplayers are in their teens or fans who are in their early 20s. “How to make other people don’t feel the age to do cosplaying” is a difficult thing. And there is also the stamina problem, if you don’t keep yourself healthy, it’s very difficult to do good cosplay and continue, that is the very part that I find hard. However in normal life, when you really into something, you would be full of dedications, passions and ideas naturally comes to you, there would not be any burden then.

Q : What do you plan to do on AFA Malaysia this year ?

A : Well I always depend on my feelings to choose the cosplay I want to do, so even I have decided which cosplay to do today, I might suddenly change my mind tomorrow. Well, actually I have 3 or 4 characters planned to choose from but let’s keep it a secret. Please look forward to it J !

Q : Any messages for your fans in Malaysia?

A : Yes ! in June at AFA Malaysia, I will be seeing many Anime fans in Malaysia the first time. I hope everyone that is coming would show their love for anime and cosplay completely. I hope the fans can have fun and screaming with excitement and make the AFA Malaysia more eventful. I hope you all can have fun with the cosplayers that are coming and also the contents in this Festival. Yes, please look forward to it. Last but not least I would like to invite all cosplay and anime fan to AFA Malaysia 2012 on 9 & 10 June 2012 by saying this :

“Jumpa Lagi di AFA Malaysia 2012 !” (The greetings is in the Malay Language, it means “See you at AFA Malaysia 2012 !”)

That concludes our interview session with Kaname during the AFA Malaysia Press Conference at Federal Hotel on 26 April 2012. We would like to thank Kaname-San for his time to do this interview.

The AFA Malaysia would be held at the Putra World Trace Centre, Kuala Lumpur on 9 & 10 June 2012. Special thanks goes to Shawn Chin, Abe Foong, of AFA, Ms. Edna Zacharias of Dentsu Malaysia and Ms. Lim Wei Ling of Asia Pr Werkz for coordinating the interviews.