THE FINNISH COSPLAY CHAMPIONS 2019

Pinja (Pinyamiu) and Veera (Moemoefever) won the Finnish cosplay championship in 2019 with their Alice Madness Returns costumes. They were very excited to represent Finland in C4 in the Netherlands. However, their trip was postponed to 2022 due to the pandemic.

Once they finally got to go, they decided to compete with the same performance and costumes as in Finland. Competing in the finals with fairly old costumes was very stressful, but together they agreed to see the competition first and foremost as good practice and a new experience. They look fondly back on all the amazing cosplay enthusiasts and competitors from several countries they met during the trip. And finally, Pinja and Veera ended up winning silver and – according to their own words – crying hysterically on the stage! For prizes, they received a new overlock machine, a sewing machine and a pretty nice C4 cow trophy on top.

Their advice for the new representatives is, "Trust your own skills and vision! Your costume doesn't need to be very big or flashy, you can still win without those things.”

Photo: Jenni Suominen

For Lunatar it’s been a great delight having a category for cosplay photography in the Finnish Cosplay Championships and that we've had the opportunity to see the development and growth of Finnish cosplay photography over the years. Lunatar is the Finnish Cosplay Photograph champion of 2019.

Lunatar still thinks fondly of the summer photo session. From the end result you wouldn't be able to tell that the photo was actually taken from under a pier as the photographer tries to get enough distance between the model and the camera. Hiyori who assisted during the photo shoot was a big help especially when they needed someone to swim and catch the (artificial) water lilies used as props. The props kept trying to make an escape and float away to the middle of the lake. Jatek, the model, couldn't really move from the spot due to the whole shore having such a muddy bottom but she did a great job despite the challenging location. However, most of all Lunatar remembers the good atmosphere and fun moments from the photo shoot despite all the challenges of the location and she feels that both of them deserve a lot of credit for that!

She tells us she is still happy with the end result and feels the photo conveys the spirit of the source material well, which was the main goal right from the planning phase.

Photo: LunatarCosplay Model: JatekCosplay

Värisuora is a group of four friends who’ve been making cosplay music videos since 2017. Both competitively and for fun. The group won the very first CMV of the Year title in 2019.

The winning video “Better” is about the Aggretsuko series' main character Retsuko, struggling in the dating world. In the video the group’s greatest source of pride is definitely in the music mixing and visual effects. Retsuko’s actor Rara recorded the growling metal vocals in the wardrobe, while her family laughed in the next room. The video is still available on YouTube. > Watch the video <

They did fully believe in their music video and still the victory came as a surprise. They ran on stage, in a daze but all smiles. The photo taken of them is particularly delightful still, because it’s so clear that everyone's smiles are 100% genuine.

On the morning of the show, the group actually organized a breakfast date for all the CMV competitors. Getting to know the other groups was wonderful and later on they had more lunch dates together to discuss and hype up each other's videos. "We definitely want more of this kind of community spirit!" They emphasize.

In the name of community spirit they want to share tips for people wanting to compete with CMVs: It's not a good idea to start working with a "winning above all else" attitude. The evaluation criteria can be a good working guide, but you don't have to follow them religiously. Working on the project can suddenly turn overwhelming and taxing and it can catch you unawares. Then the compulsive need to make it all perfect starts to eat away at your mental health and friendships. A winning video can be made with less effort! Besides, the most important things in cosplay are fandom, the joy of the hobby and friendships. Hold on to them! The group wishes the CMV of the Year category to return to the Cosplay championships. They also hint that if the CMV category returns, they just might catch the competing bug again that year…

THE FINNISH COSPLAY CHAMPION 2019

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Photo: Jenni Suominen