EJEN: The Retsuko shoot has a really nice office feel to it! Can you talk about the shoot ? What was it like, how was it put together, etc?
RTHETAGREY: The weirdest part of this is that the Retsuko shoot was done in two places that are SO far from an office! The brightly lit scenes of me and Fenneko were shot in the lobby of the Doubletree in South Bend, when we were attending Ramencon.
The pictures of the two of us on the laptop were done in the convention center, which is actually a local museum and community center in addition to being an event space. We used an empty painting studio!
Ramencon has an incredible amount of diverse places to shoot and I always appreciate being able to shoot different things at the same con. Sometimes shooting on-location at a con can get a bit monotonous, but there is always something interesting to shoot at Ramencon!
EJEN: Why Retsuko, what draws you to her?
RTHETAGREY: Retsuko is the ultimate millenial in the workplace. I'm 27, and worked two grueling jobs directly out of college, so Retsuko's daily life really spoke to me. She works hard and feels unrecognized, and she comes home and feels frustrated. That was me for SO LONG! My outlet for my frustration at work was definitely cosplay, so I also empathize with her unique way of letting loose :)
EJEN: How was the cosplay put together?
RTHETAGREY : Retsuko (and Fenneko!) are actually both mostly from Amazon! My wife and I put them together to use as matching costumes while hosting Kentokyocon's masquerade last year, something we have been doing every year for the last...I think 5 years?
We moved from Ohio back to Chicago over the summer of 2019 and our supplies were split between two apartments while we moved, so making something totally from scratch wasn't possible.
We always have something new and something that matches for Kentokyocon, and Retsuko/Fenneko wear standard office wear, which was easy to find on the internet. I made both sets of ears and tails myself out of faux fur, wire, and alligator clips/headbands.
EJEN: How has cosplay impacted your life?
RTHETAGREY It has honestly taken me a full 2 weeks to write the answer to this question. I keep coming back to this and writing increasingly complex answers, but the reality of cosplay is that it has not impacted my life -- it is my life. Cosplay has given my life meaning and purpose. Cosplay gave me the closest group of friends I have ever had, a group that I can depend on for the rest of my life. Cosplay gave me a world to express myself in a way that any one creative medium simply can't alone. Cosplay gave me endless worlds in which to fall in love with my incredible wife, Kamala. Nearly every happiness I experience in my life, I owe to cosplay.
I’m alive on tumblr just for a minute to post some cosplay photos. You can see WIP photos on IG if you want. User name is the same on IG as here.
I’ve never seen an anime character I relate to more and cosplaying her was an absolute must
Did an impromptu shoot with @adry1412 after watching the Aggretsuko Christmas special!! I really liked it and I cant wait to do a bigger shoot for it next week!!