Hello, readers from around the world. This is Yoonji Lee from DailyeSports. On this Hero Story, I have invited a very special guest, who’s not a pro player nor eSports coach. It’s ‘Tasha’ Go-eun Oh from Spiral Cats cosplay team. With her shining presence at gaming and eSports events, her professionalism on cosplay is more than enough to grant her the tile of Heroine. It was indeed very fascinating to hear out her courage, sense of mission, and endeavors behind the gorgeous costumes. Please enjoy. < Editor’s Note >

We often hear of the touching endeavors hidden behind the beauty. The busy paddling of geese below the leisurely swim, and the twisted toes and bruises on the feet of the ballerina. The story of pursuing extreme beauty is sometimes too marvelous.

And it is the same for costume players; a huge amount of work is needed to actualize the beauty of the fictional characters. And believe me, every part of the process, from character research, to costume and accessory making and photo shooting, is not easy at all. Those are the procedures the costume players must meticulously take, to look beautiful. And it’s the same for ‘Tasha’ Go-eun Oh of Spiral Cats.

Oh, who used to work at a game company, jumped into the costume play industry based on her settled convictions. She was a pioneer of the Korean market, which was much smaller than that of foreign countries. The road ahead of her was rocky and thorny. Often would she be tempted to give up, but she treaded gradually, and suddenly, there was light.

Spiral Cats settled down as the professional cosplay team of game and eSports industry. And with the throne comes the difficulties; the sense of responsibility and pressure from being the best in the industry. Although with heavy burdens, Oh is willing to take another step further, with the emotions as the driving force.

I have prepared for my meeting with Oh, as if I was about to see the goose from underwater, and the feet of the ballerina. She was without the fancy costumes and exquisite accessories, the person she was atbackstage.


◆Change From ‘Go-eun Oh’ to ‘Tasha’
It was in Seoul International Cartoon Animation Festival (SICAF), when she visited the exhibition with her parents and first got to know cosplay. The vividness of her favorite characters moving and breathing in front of her was a gate to the new world for Oh.

A newbie who knew nothing about making costumes, Oh took her first step in the costume world with the help of her family. Her mother and father each took out sewing machine and camera, and her sisters helped her make the costumes. Those were what helped Oh dream, and support her challenge on pursuing her career in cosplay.

"My parents were a major help when I told them I would choose this to be my job. They encouraged me greatly, by saying that ‘You usually don’t mess up anything. Go for it.’ When my relatives say ‘this costume is too revealing,’ my mother comes to defend, and tells them ‘it’s a way of interpreting the character, so it’s not indecent at all.’ Her faith in me has been helping me greatly, and I’m so grateful."

However, a member of a professional costume player team was not her first career. She originally worked for a game company after graduating from college. After three years of crunch modes and night overtime, Oh was devastated to find her turning from what she wanted to do, to give in to the busy life.And it was when she read the phrase, ‘what you can do best is what earns you the most money among those you can do well’. It was when she turned to professional cosplay.

"There were some who were in professional cosplay teams in the U.S. But no one commercially utilized the Korean infrastructure to make costumes. Korea is a great place to make costumes. With fabrics, wig, and accessory sellers gathered in Dongdaemun, anyone can easily get the materials. And there also are lots of experienced costumiers. The Korean cosplay industry was only active among the mania, Spiral Cats tried to bring it into the commercial world."

With C.E.O. Taeshik Kim, whom she worked together since her times at the game company, Ohmade efforts to raiseSpiral Cats, by making 2-300 costumes in the first year of business. No wonder Oh comments on the progress as ‘I worked hard, and when I looked up, I realized I had come a far way.’


◆To Finish One Costume Play
With the fancy costumes and exquisite accessories, Spiral Cats shine at the stage, with their confident looks becharming the heart of the audiences. However, the fascinated gaze will turn into amazement when the devotions of many people on the cosplay is revealed. As hard it is to become beautiful, the costumes are born in strenuous efforts.

"When we first receive the costume request, we first check the illustrations of the character and spend a long time on meetings. Almost 30% of the entire costume making time is devoted to meetings. We diagram the character to check the characteristics, and what should be used for the dress. And when that’s done, we file the orders to costumiers, and adjust the fit and color depending on the model. At least making the costume itself it a tad simple."

"For the accessories, we usually use EVA. We make a blueprint, stick it on EVA, color with acrylic paint, and finish with reinforcing agents. Then we get shoes and wigs, and make adjustments. After we’re done with deciding upon the facial expressions and pose, we finally begin photo shooting. But the shooting and editing is not simple at all. It takes at least an hour to almost three hours to doctor one image."

It usually takes three to four weeks for a costume to be finished. The costume that took the heaviest workload was Kerrigan from Starcraft 2. The amount of work that was to be done in three to four months under the standard timetable, was finished in 3-4 weeks in exchange with the sleeps of many people.

Spiral Cats self-produce 7-80% of their costume, to differentiate their quality and establish their identity. And Oh was the heroine of costume making: she partook in every costume making process, except for only one or two.

Oh and Spiral Cats will continue to present various cosplays afterwards.It would be great if the readers could also appreciate the endeavors behind the beautiful appearance.


◆Living as a Costume Player
Although Korea’s cosplay industry is continuously growing with increasing number of professional cosplay teams, its size is still very small, and is often denounced as unproductive hobby of geeks. In short, it’s not easy to work as a professional costume player.

Oh also requested to stop the biased looks on cosplay and players, the arguments that cosplays are the parasites of game industry and too sexually suggestive.

"I hope that people could see cosplay as a helper to game promotion. Some score up against cosplay argue that cosplays are the parasites of game industry, but I see it as the assistance to game marketing, and can growth mutually. Some people get to like the game after looking at cosplays. I hope people look at cosplay as something that can win-win alongside the game industry. A symbiotic relationship, I should say."

"And sometimes people misunderstand us for ‘trying to use revealing costumes to drag people’s attention’. However, revealing costumes are what we use to help us actualize the character in whole, not what we use for our popularity. Please see our costumes as a method of interpretation of the fictional character."

Oh also went on to point out the poor conditions of the exhibitions, especially pointing out the dressing room issue, and argued that the dressing rooms should be improved for professional and amateur costume players.

"It feels really low when the waiting room is poor. It really helps a lot with changing from one costume to another when there’s at least a mat, a table, or a chair in the dressing room, and I want all marketing agencies and game companies to know this. It’s sad to change costumes in poor dressing rooms, especially if when there’s not a single mirror or fan. On the contrary, I become more enthusiastic and grateful in events with hotel rooms or VIP waiting rooms. The working conditions did improve a lot, compared with the situations at the beginning of our business, but a little more care would always be nice."

"And, there should be dressing rooms for amateur costume players. Cloakrooms and dressing rooms are what the costume players care about the most in gaming events.A little more improvement would lead to a great increase in participation. Sometimes, people are forced to change into costumes in bathrooms. It’s inconvenient for other general audiences, and also harmful to the image of cosplay, and it would be great to see improvements on this issue."

The size of Korean cosplay market is expanding, with more professional cosplay teams and outside activities, but there is still much to improve. As the leader of the pack, Spiral Cats and Oh admit that they feel the great pressure, and are worried that their directions and attempts may result in affecting the image of cosplay. And this is why they are taking prudent steps, based on their convictions.

Heroes becoming heroes. It is the endless endeavors that make the beauty.

Translated by ROXCrew.
*This translation was provided through a partnership with the ROXGAMING.