THE FINNISH COSPLAY CHAMPIONS 2023
jesmo, known in social media as Merryallnighter, won the Finnish Cosplay Champion 2023 title with an Alice Liddel costume from the game Alice: Madness returns. The skit was quite different from what she’s done before. She feels more at ease with the visual aspects of a skit but this would require a strong emphasis on storytelling, which she says is not her strong suit. “I wanted to focus on the narrative thread of Alice’s development.” she sums up. Fitting that storyline to the given time limit made for a new and interesting challenge.
Her most prevalent memory from the competition day happened after the performances. It was mainly astonishment of how long and glowing the judges' reasoning was. Unfortunately the sound systems are designed for the audience and spare no thought for the anxious cosplayers, gathering backstage and trying to listen in on what is actually going on. She had to check the recording later to properly appreciate what they’d said.
From the get go jesmo was excited for the NCC final. It was part of what motivated her to compete in the first place. She’s represented abroad before, both by herself and as a pair. Going as a team, like has been typical of NCC was a new and excotic experience. She feels like that way you can fully focus on your own presentation but still get to share the experience with someone. “We were lucky and all knew each other beforehand so that made the trip even more fun,” she adds.
The biggest tragedy of the trip however, was that no-one warned jesmo — the allergic one on the team — that the parking lot serving as Närcon’s backstage would be absolutely swarming with mosquitos after the sunset…
In the latter half of 2024 Finland joined the Europa Cosplay Cup, or E2C. As a reigning Finnish Cosplay Champion jesmo was invited to participate, albeit on a slightly short notice. Timewise she didn’t have a chance to prepare anything specifically for the contest, so she took it as an opportunity for chill observation of the contest and the event. She considered the trip and the experience mainly positively and came back with some good memories and new friendships!
jesmo has gathered a fair bit of experience with representing Finland in cosplay competition finals abroad and she agreed to share her thoughts: “I definitely recommend going to any final with an open mind, making sure to get new experiences and acquaintances alongside all the competing. It’s worth it to participate if you have the itch, even with less serious projects.”
Photo: Nyymix
Photo: Jasu
Tekla “megurinemagnet” Kokkonen is the winner of the Cosplay Photograph of the Year 2023. Tekla recounts the highly demanding shooting process, during which she directed the model and mastered the use of two reflective surfaces and studio lights simultaneously. Using reflective surfaces will complicate the lighting setup since they will reflect all light sources along with the model and their surroundings. In these circumstances keeping the model’s face in classic Rembrandt lighting without compromising the composition they were after was onerous. It was also necessary for Tekla to stay out of the mirror reflections herself. The work they put into the shoot really shows, as no effects were added to the image afterwards!
Overall, creating the photo was a process that required extreme precision and the end result rewarded both of them both figuratively and literally. Tekla proudly says, “It is a great honor to be able to call this image the Cosplay Photograph of the Year 2023.” and adds that more information about the process can be found on her Instagram @teklagraphy
Photo: Tekla “megurinemagnet” Kokkonen Model: Maerye Cosplay