Scoop: Please introduce yourself!
Shinjaninja: My wonderful miraculous name is Shinjaninja! My less miraculous name is Mary, and I’ve been cosplaying since the tender age of 14.

Scoop: What first got you interested in cosplay?
Shinjaninja: In 2007, my home town hosted a small con called Setsucon, right around the time that I had discovered cosplay. I figured, hey, this is what people do at anime conventions! I’d better do it too! My first costume was my mom and I working together to make Gaara from Naruto.

Scoop: What was it about cosplay that made you want to participate?
Shinjaninja: At first, cosplay was the only way I felt that I could meet other people like me. I was really bullied in middle school, and I had friends, but I had trouble connecting to them. Cosplay was the first thing I was ever really told that I was good at, and doing it gave me a lot of drive and confidence because it was the only outlet I had to express myself at the time.

Scoop: What is your personal approach to cosplay? How do you pick a character to emulate?
Shinjaninja: There’s no one way that I approach a cosplay. Usually, I have a character type. The characters I pick tend to be rich or powerful, usually blonde, and have the air about them that they’re better than everyone else. I find they’re the most fun to be, and now everyone recommends shows to me if a character like that shows up! But sometimes I pick costumes to wear with friends based on their relationships, even if a character isn’t traditionally my type. If there’s a pairing in a show, or a group of close friends, I may choose to cosplay them with my own friends. There’s also the costume itself to think about! Sometimes I’m so inspired by a character design that I have to make it for myself.

Scoop: Do you tend to make your own costumes or do you receive help
Shinjaninja:? Generally, I make my own costumes. I find the process of making the costumes to be very rewarding and super fun! Occasionally I ask friends to make costumes if we’re in a group where we need to match, or if I run out of time. I also cannot style a wig out of a paper bag, I have friends style them for me.

Scoop: What has been one of your best or most memorable experiences in cosplay?
Shinjaninja: My close friend is the creator of the webcomic Final Arcanum. At MAGFest 2015 we were celebrating her birthday, and a group of us surprised her by showing up cosplaying the cast of her webcomic! We had nine members, plus an additional friend who sent selfies of her main character. Needless to say, it will be impossible to top that birthday surprise for a few years.

Scoop: What challenges or issues do you think cosplayers tend to face most often?
Shinjaninja: The previous stigmas of cosplaying are lessening with every year that geek culture makes its way into pop culture, but the challenges cosplayers currently face are online bullying and managing their own hobby. On online bullying, I’ve had many friends post photos of their costumes online, only to be met with large amounts of backlash and harassment. It takes the fun right out of the hobby, which is grounded in passion and expressing one’s self. On managing the hobby, I see many cosplayers get wrapped up in the excitement of planning groups or buying costumes and wigs, while rent goes unpaid or groceries are unaffordable. It gets hard to be so wrapped up and meet the demand of other friend groups, and I see cosplayers fall into these holes of bad priorities all the time.

Scoop: What do you think cosplay adds to the overall convention experience?
Shinjaninja: I can’t imagine a convention without cosplay. It adds to the celebration and appreciation of the genre the convention centers around. Some express their interests and excitement through panels, some art, and some through participation in video game tournaments. Cosplay is another way to express that. Cosplay is a great way to wear your passion on your sleeves, and a great way to meet and connect with other people.

Scoop: Do you have any major costume or convention plans lined up?
Shinjaninja: Heading to Katsucon and MAGFest back to back! Finally cosplaying a bunch of Kingdom Hearts things I’ve wanted to do for years, like Aqua and Axel.

Scoop: Any final thoughts?
Shinjaninja: Cosplay is what you make of it. For some it’s a casual hobby, for some people it’s an art, and for some it’s a business, and none of these ways to approach them are wrong. Some people live and breathe it, while some people are content with or without it, and neither way is the wrong way to enjoy it. Just focus on you, and what about cosplay makes you happy.