Cosplay Interview: Yuji Koi

Cosplay is slowly becoming more and more mainstream. Cosplayers are passionate fans who bring the game they cosplay to life with their enthusiasm and intricate costume designs. With more and more cosplayers being introduced into the mainstream, I wanted to take this opportunity and spread their story.

Today I had the pleasure of interview Yuji Koi, a Vietnamese female cosplayer and was part of the Vietnamese World Cosplay Summit 2017. Unfortunately due to time differences I wasn’t able to interview her in real time, but I’ll add my comments and reactions in italicize text.

I opened with some general questions:

A little about you, who you are.
I’m Yuji Koi, a Vietnamese female cosplayer that currently stays in Hanoi, Vietnam.

“Omg, Hanoi, I haven’t been yet! I need to go there D:”

What inspired you to get into cosplay?
I love reading manga when I was small, one time I saw an article about cosplay on the magazine and I thought that it was cool so why not give it a try.

When did you start getting into cosplay?
My first cosplay and event was from 2012

Favorite Color?
Pink Pastel

Favorite Food?
Japanese food, then Korean and Thai food (mostly Asian food)

“Great choices! Mhmmmm…”

What are some songs, shows or activities you’re into these days?
Kimetsu no Yaiba, songs of singer Aimer, Mika Kobayashi and Hiroyuki Sawano as always.

Do you have a favorite game?
Currently, I’m not playing any game much, but I used to love playing LoL

“Yesssss, League of Legendsssss :^)”

After finishing with some general questions, I went straight to the cosplay questions:

Furthest you’ve traveled for a con?
In Germany and Swiss.

“WOW, that’s soo coool, that sounds like so fun.”

Most memorable con?
There are many, but it will be the World Cosplay Summit 2017

Favorite/proudest cosplay you’ve done?
Jeanne d’Arc from Fate grand order

“Ooooohhh, I need to check these out.”

Do you have a least favorite cosplay?
Not really, all the characters I did, I love them

The longest time it took you to do a cosplay.
2 months if I remember, cause I keep fixing her costume: Jeanne d’Arc one

If someone new was just getting started into cosplay, what are some tips or advice you’d tell them?
Just search for references on the Internet, I did that a lot ;)

“Good tip! Lots of things are easily accessible online, just keep digging!”

What are some tools/things you use in cosplay that you can’t live without?
Lenses of course, and maybe face tape haha

“Face tappeeee xD”

What is a cosplay that you’ve done that you’d wanted more people to recognize?
Jeanne d’Arc and Muzan Kibutsuji, the photoshoots are so nice that I want more people to know about them.

What was the most fun cosplay you’ve done?
All male characters I would say ;))

What was the most difficult cosplay you’ve done?
Muzan Kibutsuji, never cosplays scary character before.

“I think the Muzan, was reallllly good, you pulled it off really well!”

Is there any cosplayer who has inspired you or that you look up to?
It will be Saya Dearest and Love Drug Touya.

Is there any cosplay that you’ve done that, if you’d had the time and resources you’d want to improve on?
There are a lot! I never satisfied with myself…

“Loove this answer!”

Is there a cosplay that you wish you could do, but because of certain limitations it wouldn’t work?
Yeah, most probably Mikasa, every time I want to plan for a shoot, something will happen and then till now I still cannot do it :((

“I want to see this Mikasa!!! :(((“

After these questions, I asked Yuji about a breakdown of a cosplay she did. A lot of newer cosplayers don’t know what to do or how to start so I thought this section would be really helpful!

Choose one of the cosplays that you’ve done and break down the process of how you made it, what materials you used and why and how long it took. (This is mostly geared towards the newer cosplayers out there who don’t really know what to do or where to start.)

Jeanne d’Arc:
- For the clothes, I’m not a good tailor so I asked my friends to help with ;)
- For the armor, I craft EVA foam as the base and wrap them with silver fake lather. Later shading it with Airbrush.
It would be better if I have WIP pictures but usually, I don’t have that sadly :(

“Ahhh that would’ve been nice! No worries, the information here is really useful!”

Finally we came to the end of the interview:

Any final words or comments?

Thank you guys for reading my interview and cosplaybrigade to have an interview with me. I hope the page will grow more and let’s help each other in the cosplay community ;)

“Ahhhh I really appreciate the comments :D!”

You can check out Yuji Koi’s cosplays on her Instagram page @yuji.hannah. She also has a Diastation, so follow her there too at Yuji Koi.

As for me, check out my Instagram page @cosplaybrigade. Feel free to reach out to me if you’re a cosplayer for an interview!