Cosplay is exciting because of the seemingly endless possibilities to express one’s creativity and imagination. After all, cosplay is not just about the colorful and gaudy costumes. It’s about how cosplayers transform into the characters they wish to portray. Crossplaying is one such possibility, as there has been a long history of people portraying characters of the opposite gender that it has become an art form by itself. We are fortunate then to have met Anzu, who has gotten to love crossplaying in her journeys to the world of cosplay.
Presenting Anzu Zoé in her first online feature as Ren of DRAMAtical Murder, photography by Yhun Suarez of Yhun Suarez Photography and Aileen Omana of Aien Stein Photography, with BryMac and Bless as Executive Producers, shot during our arkadymac.com midsummer shoot at our headquarters in Ortigas.
“Crossplaying is so much fun to do,” Anzu admits with an eager smile as she puts on the final touches to her makeup. It was a warm afternoon, something that cosplayers dread when in full costume and makeup, but she didn’t seem to mind as she got ready for our photoshoot. If we didn’t know any better,we’d say she was enjoying herself. “I love crossplaying because it’s more challenging to portray a character of the opposite gender,” she says. “When I get top convince people that I’m a guy, I feel that it’s such an achievement.”
“Being allowed to freely choose the gender of the character you portray is a perk of cosplaying,” Anzu explains. “And it’s funny because there are times that I fall in love with myself when I get to see my photos portraying a guy.” For our feature, Anzu cosplays as Ren of DRAMAtical Murder, a recent Japanese visual novel and anime. ” I chose to cosplay Ren because he’s cool and collected. His goal is to protect the person he treasures the most for as long as he lives, even if his love is unrequited one-sided,” Anzu explains. “I can relate because I also have that kind of feeling with someone.”
Marveling at her portrayal of male characters makes it hard to imagine that she started cosplaying just last year as an original character maid. “I cosplay because I love anime, mostly shounen though I’m also fond with shoujo animes.”
“Cosplaying has given me many fond memories,” Anzu recalls with a grin. “I got to meet new friends and made a cosplay group together, even getting to set up our own photoshoots together. The best part though is how we were fangirling/fanboying at each other’s characters.”
Besides cosplaying, Anzu has many other things that keep her busy. “I love to play RPGs and visual novels. I love to draw and sing. That’s one of the reason why I go to cons.”
“What gets me excited when I cosplay is when people recognize her as their favorite character and request their trademark poses and getting the chance to do a little bonding with them. Every character I ever cosplayed has been a challenge for me. That’s why I put my love and effort into each character to make sure I wont disappoint their fans.”
As we wind down after the shoot, we ask her how long she intends to cosplay. “I will continue doing this as long as I live,” she replies with determination. She also takes the opportunity to share a few words: “I would like to thank my family, my friends, my cosplay group friends. Guys, I love you! I hope I could have another photoshoot with you all in the future. Thank you again and God Bless.”
Like Anzu, we at arkadymac.com truly appreciate the fun that can be had with cosplay, and we are happy that for two years you, our readers, have visited our website, read our features, supported our cosplay models, and said hi to us at events. We hope to have more years bringing you the best of Philippine cosplay with your endless and generous support.
Thank you for visiting, and we’ll be busy this September for our second anniversary month-long celebration, so drop by often for great cosplay features here at arkadymac.com.
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