Secret Cosplay: Guess Who It Is
Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaat’s right! My surprise cosplay that I've been toodling with for a while is- honestly, how surprising, really?- VEGETA!
Three Years' Training by *stinkulousreddous on deviantART
Secret Cosplay: Vegeta by *stinkulousreddous on deviantART
I say that my love of DragonBall Z has finally grown into an obsession (would you believe that the first time I ever watched a full episode of anything by Team Four Star was at their panel at Youmacon in 2009?- I also didn’t actually watch an episode of DragonBall Z until my best guy friends got some DVD box sets and came to my dorm to watch it on my big TV in January, 2010), and I feel like embodying one of my new favorite characters will make my relationship with DBZ like that of my love of Yu-Gi-Oh. It’s a fantastic threesome, you guys.
Vegeta is my favorite DBZ character, followed closely by Piccolo and Trunks. I have found something somewhat interesting in how I’ve observed my own sort of mental transition into a character like Vegeta: his physical form is significantly more important to the costume than Seto Kaiba’s is. Seto Kaiba’s costume hides it quite well, but I’m actually not a comparatively small woman- I have incredibly steep proportions even though I’m slender: when I’m at my healthiest, my hips are twelve inches bigger than my waist, and that’s just the start of it- I’ve got a pretty big butt if I do say so myself. Not that physical appearance honestly matters that much: it depends on what I call a “leading quality” in cosplay: if you have that characteristic nailed, then I think that you’re a “good cosplayer.” For a character like Seto Kaiba, his leading characteristic is his big white flowy coat, so if you have a big white flowy coat, who cares if you’re also 5’4 and female and wear a bra and have silly red eyebrows? Unfortunately, for DragonBall Z characters, it does matter what you look like: the first noticeable thing about a character like Goku or Piccolo is that they're massive. While I’m in fit shape and have a pretty good amount of muscle mass on my thighs, calves, arms and upper abs for a curvy woman my size, it’s obviously a bit hard for me to successfully play masculine characters who have physical power as a leading quality---
-the beauty of Vegeta is that, comparatively, in the Freeza and Cell sagas, he’s actually quite lovely and shapely (he does appear to get bigger in the Buu saga/GT, though, but I’m doing the Cell costume)! Look at Goku: he’s nothing but pure muscle stick-straight man. He and Piccolo both stand as sturdy rocks that wear the baggy clothing to emphasize that they care more about fighting than about appearance. Vegeta, I believe, is not the same way. He’s never worn anything but tight spandex that emphasizes the fact that he’s actually tremendously sculpted- images, and his pride as a prince, matter very much to him, and this is physically manifested in what he chooses to wear (in the manga, before he transforms into the giant ape for the first time, he mentions how he will no longer be “handsome.” In the manga, Yamucha has to remind child Goku not to scratch his wiener in public). Therefore, I think that a curvy yet muscle-toned woman like me actually doesn't look too atrocious as Vegeta...right? Not that I’m saying that I actually resemble Vegeta (I wear a bra more often than he does), but, look at these scans from the manga: Vegeta has a large chest and then a surprisingly small waist, then, the distinct curve that shows that his hips turn into bigger thighs. I’m kind of shaped like that too… And he has a big womanly butt! I’m not even kidding- I don’t think I’m biased- look at these scans from the manga! Vegeta is curvy!
You know, though, even if I do look really silly and physically un-Vegeta-like, I hope that you all critique my costume based on my passion for this character. 8D I don’t think that I’m a tremendously talented cosplayer when it comes to making costumes- I had a fartload of help with my Kaiba costume, and I had a fartload of help with Vegeta (thanks sosososososo much, assumetheposition !!!!!!). I hope that you sense my love of this character through my pictures even though I’m fully aware of how silly I might look, trying to be this bodybuilder when I’ve got a 26-inch waist. I am happy with how the jacket-vest looks- I handmade it myself with my own designed patterns; meaning it’s nowhere near as legit-looking as my Kaiba jacket, but hey.
I’ll still be Seto Kaiba at every convention that I go to at least for one day: Vegeta is one of my new favorite characters, but I don’t think that any character will ever match the unbelievable fun I have, acting as Seto Kaiba. Seto Kaiba and Vegeta are both tremendously easy to make fun of, particularly with such recognizable personalities given by LittleKuriboh and Lanipator- but, still, I think that Vegeta will never make me as happy as Kaiba does.
Granted, I sure do feel attractive in the Vegeta costume. I think that has more to do with that I’ve been working out a lot lately and I feel muscular and strong, and now I get to be a character that really forces that message.
I also will probably rarely be “Badman” Vegeta at cons: I’ll take pictures of that, here and there, but “Badman” Vegeta only exists in my heart for a skit that I think I could do someday.
Three Years' Training by *stinkulousreddous on deviantART
Secret Cosplay: Vegeta by *stinkulousreddous on deviantART
I say that my love of DragonBall Z has finally grown into an obsession (would you believe that the first time I ever watched a full episode of anything by Team Four Star was at their panel at Youmacon in 2009?- I also didn’t actually watch an episode of DragonBall Z until my best guy friends got some DVD box sets and came to my dorm to watch it on my big TV in January, 2010), and I feel like embodying one of my new favorite characters will make my relationship with DBZ like that of my love of Yu-Gi-Oh. It’s a fantastic threesome, you guys.
Vegeta is my favorite DBZ character, followed closely by Piccolo and Trunks. I have found something somewhat interesting in how I’ve observed my own sort of mental transition into a character like Vegeta: his physical form is significantly more important to the costume than Seto Kaiba’s is. Seto Kaiba’s costume hides it quite well, but I’m actually not a comparatively small woman- I have incredibly steep proportions even though I’m slender: when I’m at my healthiest, my hips are twelve inches bigger than my waist, and that’s just the start of it- I’ve got a pretty big butt if I do say so myself. Not that physical appearance honestly matters that much: it depends on what I call a “leading quality” in cosplay: if you have that characteristic nailed, then I think that you’re a “good cosplayer.” For a character like Seto Kaiba, his leading characteristic is his big white flowy coat, so if you have a big white flowy coat, who cares if you’re also 5’4 and female and wear a bra and have silly red eyebrows? Unfortunately, for DragonBall Z characters, it does matter what you look like: the first noticeable thing about a character like Goku or Piccolo is that they're massive. While I’m in fit shape and have a pretty good amount of muscle mass on my thighs, calves, arms and upper abs for a curvy woman my size, it’s obviously a bit hard for me to successfully play masculine characters who have physical power as a leading quality---
-the beauty of Vegeta is that, comparatively, in the Freeza and Cell sagas, he’s actually quite lovely and shapely (he does appear to get bigger in the Buu saga/GT, though, but I’m doing the Cell costume)! Look at Goku: he’s nothing but pure muscle stick-straight man. He and Piccolo both stand as sturdy rocks that wear the baggy clothing to emphasize that they care more about fighting than about appearance. Vegeta, I believe, is not the same way. He’s never worn anything but tight spandex that emphasizes the fact that he’s actually tremendously sculpted- images, and his pride as a prince, matter very much to him, and this is physically manifested in what he chooses to wear (in the manga, before he transforms into the giant ape for the first time, he mentions how he will no longer be “handsome.” In the manga, Yamucha has to remind child Goku not to scratch his wiener in public). Therefore, I think that a curvy yet muscle-toned woman like me actually doesn't look too atrocious as Vegeta...right? Not that I’m saying that I actually resemble Vegeta (I wear a bra more often than he does), but, look at these scans from the manga: Vegeta has a large chest and then a surprisingly small waist, then, the distinct curve that shows that his hips turn into bigger thighs. I’m kind of shaped like that too… And he has a big womanly butt! I’m not even kidding- I don’t think I’m biased- look at these scans from the manga! Vegeta is curvy!
You know, though, even if I do look really silly and physically un-Vegeta-like, I hope that you all critique my costume based on my passion for this character. 8D I don’t think that I’m a tremendously talented cosplayer when it comes to making costumes- I had a fartload of help with my Kaiba costume, and I had a fartload of help with Vegeta (thanks sosososososo much, assumetheposition !!!!!!). I hope that you sense my love of this character through my pictures even though I’m fully aware of how silly I might look, trying to be this bodybuilder when I’ve got a 26-inch waist. I am happy with how the jacket-vest looks- I handmade it myself with my own designed patterns; meaning it’s nowhere near as legit-looking as my Kaiba jacket, but hey.
I’ll still be Seto Kaiba at every convention that I go to at least for one day: Vegeta is one of my new favorite characters, but I don’t think that any character will ever match the unbelievable fun I have, acting as Seto Kaiba. Seto Kaiba and Vegeta are both tremendously easy to make fun of, particularly with such recognizable personalities given by LittleKuriboh and Lanipator- but, still, I think that Vegeta will never make me as happy as Kaiba does.
Granted, I sure do feel attractive in the Vegeta costume. I think that has more to do with that I’ve been working out a lot lately and I feel muscular and strong, and now I get to be a character that really forces that message.
I also will probably rarely be “Badman” Vegeta at cons: I’ll take pictures of that, here and there, but “Badman” Vegeta only exists in my heart for a skit that I think I could do someday.