Awarded 2ND PLACE MASTER PRESENTATION at Anime Boston 2008
Back in 2005 I got this crazy idea to cosplay Canti, the 7-foot tall robot from FLCL. Not only did I love the series and the character, but I really wanted the challenge of tackling something that would require me to learn several new skills. The project turned out to be a bigger challenge than I ever expected, however, and it took me until Anime Boston 2008 to complete. After spending three years of effort on the costume I wanted an excuse to show it off, so I came up with a silly little skit idea where the FLCL characters battle it out in a game of Guitar Hero using music from the show. My friend RikkuX agreed to be Canti's challenger, Mamimi, while Xenos judged the match as Kamon. Both Canti and Mamimi start out using actual Guitar Hero guitars, and halfway through Canti upgrades to his real electric guitar to take the lead and win the match. The skit was simple and mostly involved rocking out to awesome music, but the audience really got into it, which made this skit a lot of fun to do and all the work that went into the costume worthwhile. We even won second place for master performance! My costume lit up when Canti started really rocking out, but the stage lights washed out the effect. However, the masquerade staff called me back onstage at the end of the skit and shut off the stage lights to show the audience Canti all lit up, which was a surprise and a really nice gesture by the staff. One final note - yes RikkuX really did smash her Guitar Hero guitar at the end, just 'cause it was fun.
