It is their shared passion for cosplaying that has brought these couples together, and on Valentines we get to celebrate love in many different forms as we feature six real-life cosplay pairs at a shoot we got to take part in. Organized by our friends Den and Ayu, the shoot had these couples prove that love does happen and still happens to cosplayers from all over the community.
Love is a fickle thing: unpredictable, unsteady, uncertain. You never know where you’ll feel it or when you’ll find it; it just happens. Common interests bring people together, and with shared passions, it wouldn’t be surprising for admiration and affection to happen. As they get to sew, craft, shoot, and cosplay together, the bond only becomes stronger. Finding the right person is truly a blessing, and doing things you enjoy doing together together is an experience that make all the trouble and challenges memorable and worthwhile, and always with fascinating stories to tell:
Den and Ayu
Den and Ayu have been a couple since 2012, but the pair started cosplaying in 2013. Den first met Ayu at that year’s Philippine Cosplay Convention when Ayu asked to take a photo with Den. They got to meet again at Ozine Fest. They both arrived early and decided to chat for a bit while waiting for their friends. Den was shocked that someone kept up with his nerdiness as Ayu talked away about law, business, computers, and school for almost an hour. Den had a crush on her ever since and courted her soon after that.
Cosplay is just one of their many shared hobbies. They both agree that having a cosplayer as a lover is wonderful. They bond (or debate) over their favorite anime and manga, and they also get to do photoshoots together. They had a lot of memorable moments in these past few years together, but the best moment they had is when they got Baby Seal.
When they cosplay together, it’s always Den who decides which characters they will cosplay. Den’s usually in charge with the costumes, make-up, and wig, even learning how to put on make up because Ayu likes having make-up done for her. Den also learned how to style wigs for her but will occasionally ask her help with props or a second opinion on what cloth and/or accessories they should use for certain cosplays. She helps Den with other things like pinning a scarf into place, fixing his collar or necktie, etc.
Ralph and Vanessa
Ralph and Vanessa have been together for two years now. They were already best friends before they became a couple. Before the year 2013 ended, he confessed to her and she said yes. Vannys tell us that having a cosplayer as a lover has its pros and cons, pros being they get to cosplay together and that it was okay to do intimate poses. Aside from that, she says Ralph understands if she has photoshoots and that he supports her all the time.
Their most memorable moment was when they cosplayed Asuna and Kirito for the first time as a couple. They had cosplayed the characters before but they were still best friends back then. People who didn’t know them personally initially thought that they were a couple back then. They even joked about it, saying it would be gross if it were to happen.
Vanessa takes care of the costumes, wigs, and make up. She sees to it that the details are correct and complete whenever they would have them commissioned. She personally styles their wigs. Ralph funds the costumes and takes care of whatever it is that’s lacking.
Ray and Yna
For this couple, it all started when Ray saw Yna at an anime event back in 2013. Their chats became frequent, then she made a phone call to him one night. They got to share some stories, and it eventually led to courtship. They’re happy to say that they’ll be a couple for a year already come March 14.
“A good thing about loving cosplay is that we both share the same interests,” they tell us. “We cosplay together and go to shoots together. It’s all a good feeling and experience.” They tell us that when cosplaying, their best moments are when they are together cosplaying, getting shot by photographers, and eating together while they’re in costume. Out of cosplay, their most memorable moment was when they were at MOA’s seaside and took the ferris wheel there. There’s also one where they were eating Korean food together and exploring some cuisines.
When cosplaying, Ray gets to do the “heavy jobs” meaning he takes care of the props. Yna’s the one who takes care of the makeup. As for their costumes, they have their own tailor.
Naru and Jes
Naru and Jes have been together for four years and still counting. It started when they were roleplaying their cosplayed characters. They would take breaks and have heart-to-heart talks. They were attracted to each other and thus the romance came up.
Doing various character roles is comfortable to them since they are both cosplayers. They can both relate to and experience shared fandoms without being shy of the other: a bonus point for having lots of intimate roleplay ideas.
Their favorite moment is their Ib shoot as Garry and Ib. They were in an actual abandoned area with their closest photographer friend, Ron Naldo. Even though their ages weren’t accurate to the actual characters’ ages, it marked the first of their cosplays as a couple with many more plans together to come. The roles for cosplay between them are clearly distributed. Naru’s the expert in wigs/costume/makeup while Jes does the props/armor cosplay.
Vince and Shiela
They got to meet at a Literature class a while back. Vince would ask her “What if you have a boyfriend like me?” The question stuck with her so much that she often daydreamed of being his girlfriend. They kept in touch even when the semester ended and eventually got to the point where they wanted to be serious with each other. Sheila just woke up one day to realize her daydreams were now reality. They have been together for almost a year now, and they’ll be celebrating their first anniversary on Feb. 22.
Vince says having a cosplayer as a lover is a wonderful thing as they get to enjoy their hobby and fandom together, but most of all it’s a great way to spend time with each other. Sheila says that at first, Vonce being a cosplayer amused her, and when he finally introduced her to the cosplay community, it really did surprise and confuse me but having him to guide and help her become a cosplayer just like him was a fun and exciting experience.
Marvin and Donna
Marvin reveals that their relationship started the moment he saw Donna when she ask him to take a picture with her cosplay groupmates. Then after that they started chatting. They tell us they found comfort with each other since they found out that they shared most of their unique interest in such a weird way as they loved the gore, horror, mystery and tragic romance genres, along with games, especially RPGs.
They have been our friends for quite a while now way before they’ve gotten together. Marvin has admired Donna for the longest time and it took a while for them to win her affection. They enjoy having their photos taken by the crowd as they come to conventions in couple cosplays. They’ve now been together for 1 year and 7 months. A good things of having a cosplayer as a lover is having a partner who can understand all your fandoms and weirdness in the character your are portraying, as well as being able to cosplay all the anime couples and even your anime ships together.
They said that everything that you do together with someone you love tends to become memorable, but in particular, cosplaying the characters that they wanted as a couple stands out most of all. Both of them share the tasks and responsibilities of cosplaying, as they both enjoy making props, designing wigs, making plans with our costumes and even doing makeup together.
We are happy of course that these cosplayers got to find love from people like them who understand and share in the things they love doing, and we’d like to thank all of them for allowing us to share their admirable stories with us. Thank you to Den and Ayu for organizing this wonderful concept shoot as well as handling the interviews for us. Thanks as well to our Correspondent Rin for helping us write the article and for keeping us motivated.
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at arkadymac.com. Thank you for dropping by, and do visit us again for more features here at arkadymac,com.
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