Heroes of Cosplay (2013) s01e02 Episode Script
Emerald City
Previously on Heroes of Cosplay My name is Yaya Han.
I've been called the queen of cosplay.
I'm ready to save the planet.
I don't compete anymore, because I judge contests.
People hold me to a higher standard than other cosplayers.
You think we can get it done in time? You're the one helping me.
What was that? We don't have time to fix this.
I'm gonna stay here.
I'll overnight it to your hotel.
I really need Jinyo here.
I can't do this without him.
I'm gonna have to ditch Lulu.
Welcome to the Portland Wizard World costume cosplay contest bring it.
Best team, Dungeons & Dragons.
We earned a trophy, aren't you pleased? First place, Galactus! I don't know what I did wrong.
I don't see what the judges missed in my outfit.
But Emerald City's in a week.
Yaya's going to hand me a best in show.
Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle, Washington is the next stop for the heroes of cosplay.
With an attendance twice that at Wizard World Portland, Emerald City is one of the largest comic conventions in the Pacific Northwest, and with Yaya Han judging, the perfect event to showcase your skill and passion and get recognition from one of the top cosplayers in the country.
In Los Angeles, super nerd Chloe Dykstra is busy shooting one of her many geek-themed shows before she begins her maiden voyage on the high seas of competitive cosplay.
- So we're here with Poet.
- What's up? My name is Chloe, and I've been cosplaying for about four or five years.
I'm currently a host of Just Cos on the Nerdist Channel.
You didn't hand-braid that.
I did.
You are a crazy one.
I really respect you.
Just Cos is a show about cosplay.
Basically, I really couldn't imagine a better job.
- Is that you? - Yeah.
- Oh, my God.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, you're crazy.
- That's, like, my hobby.
I'm kind of a newbie in the cosplay thing.
I love cosplay, and I've never really felt the need to compete, but as somebody who has a show about cosplay, I can't really screw up, because I will get accused of being a fake geek girl.
I was thinking about maybe competing.
- Really? - Yeah.
You know, I kind of want to do Emerald City ComiCon.
My first competition, I'm going to do Lydia from the Beetlejuice cartoon, because the Beetlejuice cartoon is such a nostalgia bomb.
And Lydia's great, but she can't stand alone, so I have to make a prop.
And what better prop than a sand worm? So we head back to the studio.
Ready? - All right.
All right.
- One, two whoosh.
In Atlanta, one of the cosplay community's youngest and fastest rising stars, Monika, is beginning to work on her costume for Emerald City ComiCon.
Oh, no, not dyeing.
I won't make a mess.
Don't worry.
My name is Monika Lee, and I've been cosplaying for seven years.
My dad took me to Dragon Con when I was 12.
When you get to a convention, it's like a billion of your best friends right there, and they all understand you.
I remember leaving that night and being so depressed, 'cause I was like, "I want to go back to dragon con.
" Can I see the costume? Oh, goodness.
I don't like this.
Emerald City ComiCon is coming up, and I'm entering the contest as steampunk poison Ivy.
Are you doing a costume exactly like this? I'm gonna be accurate to it.
My inspiration for my Poison Ivy was actually my friend Jessica sent me a picture, and I'm like, "oh, that's cool.
" Jessica Nigri is a widely recognized cosplayer.
Uh, she's my best friend.
Her shtick is that she kind of likes to cosplay sexy characters and put her body out there.
It's cute.
But you're not gonna have your boobs hanging out like that, are you? Yes, I'm gonna put my boobs everywhere.
Please tell me you're wearing underwear under here.
Stop nagging me.
I just wish you could choose costumes where it's all the way up to the neck.
At the age of 13, Monika was discovered by professional cosplayer Yaya Han, who quickly took the budding superstar under her wing and began developing her cosplay talents.
I got my little summer job working for Yaya, making cat ears.
I do look back fondly on those days.
There better not be green dye all over the place.
Stop complaining.
Veteran cosplayer Riki is in Los Angeles to have her costume portfolio reviewed by a Hollywood legend.
Thank you so much for meeting me.
Sure.
My name is Riki, and I've been cosplaying for over ten years.
I started reading comics when I was a little girl, but I lived in such a small town.
We didn't have access to them.
So when my dad would go grocery shopping, I would run down the magazine aisle, and then I'd just read the comics for the hour and a half my dad was grocery shopping.
- My name's Jose.
- I'm Riki.
I'd love to have you look at some of my stuff.
If anyone is going to know if Riki has what it takes to turn pro, it's renowned costume and creature designer Jose Fernandez.
I've been reaching out to different prop makers in L.
A.
, and I finally got a hit.
Jose Fernandez has worked on Gremlins, Tron, Godzilla, Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman, suits for Batman & Robin.
I mean, he did the Wolverine suit.
Every movie prop that I can think that I really appreciated, he's probably done it.
This is a neoprene and leather and also sculpted chest.
Looking at my stuff, what can I work on? If you look at this piece right now, what I see is, this edge is relatively simple and not really interesting.
Okay.
If you take this edge right here, and you lean it over now and make a facet out of it, so now you're looking at two surfaces.
Oh, okay.
And where do you want to go with it? Do you want to make a living at it? What do you want to do? I would love to, like, get the chance to make a living.
If you wanted to take it to the next level, there's that last 10%, 15% that I don't see.
Okay.
Train your eye to see those things.
Once you see it, I think you'll get it.
I really value the input that Jose gave me, because I think it'll be really valuable when I compete at Emerald City ComiCon.
And my goal is to create costumes from here on out that have that last 10%, 15%.
Well, thank you so much for your time.
- Yep.
- And I really appreciate it.
- It's a pleasure.
- Thank you very much.
Disappointment at Wizard World behind him, Jesse knows the next con could make or break his reputation and chances of becoming a professional prop maker.
Before he begins his next creation, he needs to blow off a little steam.
Steampunk, that is.
I'm gonna fall on my ass, is what's gonna happen here.
Steampunk's a lot of fun.
You take this victorian age, and you mesh it all with modern technologies, and you get to put a lot of brass and a lot of very shiny bits and goggles on everything.
So is this, like, a normal, everyday thing for you guys? Uh, it's what, casual Sundays, we call it? - Casual Sunday.
- Yeah, casual Sunday.
Emerald City ComiCon is five days away, and they add a spotlight on steampunk and superheroes.
I'm gonna build myself the best steam trooper I've ever seen.
Cheerio, cheerio.
Cheerio, cheerio.
After her no-show in Portland, Victoria and Jinyo have to come up with a top-notch costume idea to win back the respect of Yaya and the cosplay community.
I've been trying to figure out something to do for Emerald City coming up.
I was a total fail whale at Portland Wizard World, and Emerald City needs to be my redemption con.
I want something that will look good and have that wow factor and everything.
Well, here's an idea.
You know, we were watching Tron the other night.
And I think, visually, it's very striking.
I want to do a dress.
But there were no dresses in Tron.
Exactly.
I want to bring the fun and sexy to Tron.
So this is my concept for the dress.
It's gonna be electroluminescent wire for these parts.
This Tron dress is easily the most intricate thing that I have made, in terms of my costumes.
I wasn't even able to compete at Portland.
But I'm gonna have a great costume for Yaya to judge at Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle.
Jinyo has come up with a great design that was his idea, and I know I have a good chance of winning first place.
Nothing can go wrong.
I trust you know what you're doing.
After receiving a concerned call from Monika's mother, Yaya has set up a meeting with her protege to find out more about the troubling turn her cosplay has taken.
Today I'm meeting my former protege and intern, Monika, for lunch, because I'm a little concerned about how her friend, Jessica Nigri, is influencing her cosplay.
You're going to Emerald City, right? Mmhmm.
What costumes are you gonna do for Emerald City? I'm doing a costume for the contest, so Oh, you're gonna enter the contest.
I take personal interest in Monika, because I judged her in her first competition, and I took it upon myself to be her mentor.
And we have become good friends.
But you're moving on.
You're doing your own thing.
Yeah, I mean, Jess sent me a message.
It was like, "oh, look at these costumes.
Let's do them together.
" And, yeah.
Oh, Jessica, okay.
I'm a little worried that Monika will be seduced by Jessica's sexy cosplay style and forget about the importance of craftsmanship that I've instilled in her.
I think Jessica and I, we approach cosplay from very different angles.
You know, for me, it's all about the craftsmanship, really paying a lot of attention to detail.
The content that Jessica Nigri puts out really displays cosplay in the wrong light, and I don't really want my little Monika to go down that path.
She doesn't ever produce anything that showcases anything beyond the sex appeal.
And I think that it's okay to show sex appeal in cosplay.
I do it myself.
But you've got to have a balance.
I really wish Monika would maybe follow me in my footsteps more than just going to have fun with Jessica.
As time goes on in your cosplay career, it is definitely tempting to just go for the easy, cheap route.
You have to promise me that you're not gonna sell yourself short.
It was really nice to catch up with Monika.
But I'm a little concerned about what costume she will make and compete in at Emerald City.
I really hope that she took my advice and listened and is gonna put that to work.
Coming up That's incredible! It's flickery.
Emerald City needs to be my redemption con.
The entire point of this thing is to light up.
Back from Los Angeles, Riki is ready to apply the advice she's gotten from Jose Fernandez to her Emerald City ComiCon costume.
Jose did a lot of the makeup work in both the Hellboy movies, and I think he did a great job bringing Mike Mignola's Hellboy to life.
So I thought it would be fun to do, like, Hellboy's little sister.
So it's not a female version of Hellboy.
It's, like, hellgirl.
Hey, Chris? Yeah? I'm gonna need your help to cast that.
It's just gonna be a little too heavy for me.
The most important aspect of my costume is my Hellboy right hand of doom.
It is literally the most iconic piece of the whole outfit.
So I have to make sure I get it right.
I think I'm gonna need some help rotating the forearm.
I already have the mold made, so at this point, I just have to pour the resin into the mold, let it set.
And once I de-mold it, I have to sand all the edges and then just add some final touches, and it should look like the key to hell.
Your lines here are a little uneven.
It's from hell.
There's no straight lines in hell.
Yeah, good one.
As she gathers the materials for her sand worm prop, Chloe knows she is risking her credibility on the Nerdist Channel if she can't deliver.
I bet you could make the sweetest fort in here.
Have you seen Beetlejuice? I've seen Beetlejuice.
Okay, so you know, like, the weird creatures that roam around the dunes and stuff? I'm making one of those.
My friends, Holly and Jessica, said that I also need something called "barge.
" Barge.
This is barge? Yeah.
It's flammable liquid and vapor.
Fatal if swallowed.
Harmful if inhaled.
Oh, that's exciting.
I like the element of danger to my cosplay.
- $191.
57.
- What? I am spending $200 on foam and cosplay supplies.
I could get at least three video games for that.
This is crazy expensive.
Still feeling the sting of humiliation in Portland, Victoria has Jinyo hard at work, creating an elaborate costume to salvage her reputation at Emerald City.
Come on.
Jinyo's role with this costume is pretty important.
The main point of this outfit is that it lights up, and that was definitely something that was all Jinyo's corner.
I'm gonna take about 20 nice, bright, little leds and line them all the way up through here.
These better be, like, the best shoes ever.
I'm not gonna have another Portland.
I'm gonna go to Emerald City ComiCon with my ducks all in a row.
Nothing is going wrong when I get to Seattle.
I'm sorry you didn't finish Lulu, babe.
But I promise you that we are going to finish this dress.
Meanwhile, in Portland, Jesse is working on his steampunk Stormtrooper helmet, his signature costume piece for the Emerald City competition.
This week has been hell.
9:00 to 5:00, my normal work hours, then all I've done is come home at night, and it's been steam trooper, steam trooper, steam trooper, all night long.
There's a ton of stuff left to do on this outfit.
It's got to be perfect.
Coming off the loss in Portland, Emerald means a lot to me.
I have to win something here.
You know, this is my home turf.
This is where, you know, I'm trying to grow my business out of.
We're gonna lift this up, turn on the vacuum, and then straight down on top of it.
Okay.
When vacuforming, Jesse knows that every second counts to get the right shape for his helmet.
A mistake here could set him back days.
Three, bring it down.
I can't believe what just happened.
I mean Stupid thing.
Without the vacuum running, the hardening plastic can't be molded into the correct shape.
That's gonna everything up.
This line needs to be adjusted.
It's back to the drawing board on this one.
The helmet's what ties the whole costume together.
It's what brings it back from just being steampunk and armor, back to being, you know, a trooper.
It's got to be perfect.
Meanwhile, back in Atlanta, tensions run high as Monika struggles to finish her sexy Poison Ivy costume against the advice of Yaya and her mother.
Does it have to look like that? You say that every time, and I say don't worry about it.
I want to keep doing what I like and what's gonna make me feel good.
And haters gonna hate.
I don't like it.
As a judge for the upcoming Emerald City ComiCon, Yaya has to work night and day to make an impressive costume in order to maintain her status as the ambassador of cosplay.
I've been working really hard on a new costume for Emerald City, and it is C2 from the anime Code Geass.
I am constantly striving to stay on top of cosplay.
It's important that I debut new pieces at as many conventions as possible, giving the fans what they want.
God, I hope it's gonna be okay.
Concerned that she's in over her head, Chloe reaches out to Holly and Jessica to help with her sand worm prop.
The convention is only two days away.
I'm freaking out, because this is kind of last minute.
So I'm going to ask Holly and Jessica, who are the best cosplayers I know, to help me with my costume.
The first thing we're gonna do is build the two top parts of his head right here.
Does Ross ever just, like, jump you, because you're so hot when you're doing stuff like this? Uh, no.
So we're helping Chloe with fabricating the puppet, but we're not gonna be able to make it to Emerald City ComiCon, so she's gonna have to find some people to help her when she's up there.
They'll be able to put their hand in here, and then they'll be able to move the jaw.
It'll have, like, a ton of motion like this.
That's, like, perfect.
In Atlanta, Riki hits an unexpected snag that could undermine her reputation as a top-notch fabricator.
Uh, I don't know how we are going to attach the tail to me and through the skirt.
I don't think the belt's gonna hold it.
It's really It's not that much.
So you think that's gonna hold? It seems droopy.
But, look, it's going between my legs.
I've never had erectile dysfunction with any of my costumes before.
Normally, it's the opposite.
I don't know what to tell you.
As Emerald City ComiCon quickly approaches, Jinyo is ready to unveil his Tron dress to Victoria.
That's incredible.
Oh, it's gorgeous.
That's awesome.
It's gonna look insane at night.
The Tron dress, I've got electroluminescent tape, and I also used an electroluminescent wire.
And I've got a decent amount of power running through this thing, and This dress has 15 AA batteries.
It's flickery.
Emerald City needs to be my redemption con.
It's a Tron dress.
It needs to be glowing.
And if it's not working, then there is no costume.
I will lose it, 'cause the entire point of this thing is to light up.
I mean, Yaya is a judge, and I don't want to be embarrassed.
There's a lot at stake here, and I can't have another failure.
I can't go on stage with this.
It's the first day of Emerald City ComiCon, and already, the convention is filling up with eager cosplayers and fans for the most important ComiCon in the pacific northwest.
Hi there.
How are you? - Hi.
Good.
- Very well.
Checking in for Han.
I'm really excited about Emerald City.
It is an honor to be selected as a judge.
Man, Monika, your costume is barely anything.
How did you take up three suitcases? Screw you.
You have two costumes in this one bag.
What's in here? 63 pounds.
Emerald City ComiCon has a large attendance, and I'm on the west coast.
So who knows from what studio or maybe, like, a prop shop is in the audience, and they'll like what I'm doing.
And not to sound cliche, but maybe I'll be discovered.
It should be under schmidt, s-c-h.
Jinyo and I arrive in Seattle for Emerald City ComiCon.
This isn't Wizard World Portland.
My costume is 90% done, and we're in a great position.
I'll just lay here.
- Yeah.
- Mm.
Mm-hmm.
I can't! Oh, my God.
Chloe's arrived at Emerald City for her first comic competition with a problem.
She must find people to help puppet her sand worm, or she'll have to take the stage with an incomplete costume.
I got to tweet.
God, I hope someone replies, or I am screwed.
Ohh, I hope my Twitter followers come through for me.
I packed my scissors in the box.
With her Tron dress almost 100% complete, Victoria and Jinyo change into their floor costumes to head to Emerald City's grand opening first day.
The thing about that is, it's, like, really adorable, but then, like, really freaky.
But before she can hit the convention, she gets a text from Yaya to join her for a quick cup of coffee.
Yaya texts me that she wants to talk with me.
And for some reason, that's making me a little nervous.
Hey, thanks so much for coming to see me.
Oh, no problem.
What happened to you last weekend? You just literally disappeared on us.
- Yeah, I did.
- I was so worried about you.
It was bad enough that I didn't have everything figured out and had to pull out of competing in Wizard World.
I don't need the Yaya spotlight on me before the competition.
You know, Jinyo and I, we rushed into it.
And then you're taking a costume to a con, and it's still mostly unfinished.
It's a clear sign that you shouldn't be doing it.
Oh, my God.
Because clearly, it's not gonna be the best that you wanted.
I've known Victoria for a few years.
And since she met Jinyo, her quality in costumes has shot through the roof.
Jinyo is here to help you this time, right? Yeah, yeah.
Jinyo is a really amazing fabricator, so the two of them together create absolutely astonishing costumes.
I'm excited to see what you're gonna do tomorrow.
You know, I wish you all the best.
Thank you, yeah.
Okay, bye.
You look amazing.
- Thank you, thank you.
- You look wonderful.
With her tweet sent, Chloe hopes that some of her fans show up to help her puppet her sand worm, or else all her time and money have been wasted and her first attempt at cosplay will be a failure.
I got the worm to the convention center.
I'm sitting there by myself, nervous that no one's gonna show up.
It's gonna be like one of my birthday parties from middle school.
I don't know if this was the best plan.
- Yeah.
- Hi, I'm Boxy.
- What's your name? - Donnie.
Donnie, are you here to help me with the puppet? I sure am.
Oh, my Cthulhu.
I have all these followers helping me with my worm.
Hey.
Sorry to bug you.
How are you doing? You look amazing.
And then I run into Jinyo and Victoria.
I know so many people here.
Very Tim Burton-esque.
That's the point.
Why are you doing I'm not used to you competing.
I have never competed before.
Yeah? This is your first one? - It is my first one.
- That's awesome, though.
Since I've never done it, and I have a show about cosplay, I'm like, "I need some street cred," right? Yeah.
Chloe is new to competing in cosplay competitions.
And I'm really worried for her, because Chloe doesn't know what she's getting into.
Um, I don't know what you're doing tonight, but I think some of us are getting together just to hang out and stuff like that.
We're totally having dinner tonight.
- I would love to.
- Oh, I'll text you whenever? I'll leave you to your worm.
All right.
Bye, guys, - bye.
- See you later.
Settled into the hotel, Riki and Monika get dressed in costume to head down to the convention floor.
Squeeze them together really good.
Yeah, I'll squeeze them.
Okay.
Now you can do it.
Okay.
Riki, Riki, Riki, Riki, Riki.
Oh, right.
Hey, there's Jess.
Ooh! I have to go hug my boo.
Oh, my God.
Someone stepped on my train.
- Put that away.
- Hi, guys.
- No, it's okay.
- Never.
I missed you.
What are you doing? Why you no kiss me? - I don't want to kiss you.
- I love you.
I don't want to kiss - I know! - It is.
Jessica Nigri is a widely-recognized cosplayer.
She's one of my good friends.
She has a really good body, so she likes to cosplay characters and really put her body out there.
But it's, you know If you've got it, flaunt it.
- One.
- Riki, don't look.
Yaya has this, like, beef with her.
I think she does kind of resent that Jessica puts her boobs out, and then she gets a lot of likes and popularity, but Yaya puts her boobs out.
That's all I've got to say about that.
Thank you.
Late into the night, cosplay newcomer Jesse arrives at Emerald City ComiCon.
Let's not sleep.
Let's build the whole costume.
Let's go to Emerald City ComiCon.
His steam trooper helmet finally finished, Jesse is now behind with the rest of his costume.
I'm at Emerald City ComiCon.
This is huge.
I don't have a finished costume.
I'm panicking.
I tried to finish it last night.
I haven't slept.
I'm that stressed out.
Because I want to do this as a business.
I want to build props for a living.
So this is the best showcase I have to do it.
I have until 2:00.
- Okay.
2:00 P.
M.
tomorrow to get this finished One way or another.
It's the night before the big competition, and first-time competitor Chloe is getting the opportunity to sit down with some of cosplay's royalty.
Hi, nice to meet you.
These guys are incredible.
I can't believe I get to hang out with such talented people.
Okay, cosplay pet peeves.
People, obviously, are like, "well, I'm really big.
What can I do?" Yeah.
And it's like, if you're a big, muscular dude, go be Superman.
Yeah.
I think that anybody should be whatever they want to be, whenever.
But the thing is, is if a 300-pound person wears Superman, and they put themselves out there, and then it gets on the net, how is that gonna help them? I guess.
But do you think that, because of that, that they shouldn't dress up as Superman? A lot of people can't handle, you know, that criticism.
Chloe, she's very much so a newbie, and she's really, like, a little bit naive.
I feel like, as a cosplayer, you need to have the responsibility to know what you look like.
You have to really look at yourself in the mirror and know that if, you know, my boobs are out, I'm gonna get the comments.
I don't know who made up these rules.
There's, like, some grand cosplay lord who's like, "you shall not cosplay something if you are overweight.
" That's ridiculous.
Cosplay's about having fun and being who you are and who you want to be.
Why is everything so crazy, like, serious with these competitions? Cosplay is serious business.
Because there's money involved.
I feel a little outnumbered.
The girls really made me feel like I'm not the kind of cosplayer that they are.
I was already nervous about the competition to begin with.
What have I gotten myself into? These people are professional.
I just have no idea what I'm doing here.
Coming up The helmet set me back.
I'm just into sheer panic mode.
I don't know if I can make this on time.
Finishing costumes in hotel rooms while we're supposed to be at the con.
It's utterly terrifying.
It's the day of the competition, and fans are filling the convention center in hopes of seeing some amazing costumes.
But for Jesse, there may be no competition, unless he's able to finish his steam trooper in time.
Let's try this again.
The piece that you cut is too wide for the buckles.
Crap.
The helmet set me back, but now I have uncut leather.
I'm just into sheer panic mode because I don't know if I can make this on time.
What are we gonna have to do to make it work? That's just why I'm wondering if maybe it was just Screw it.
I'm cutting it.
While Jesse struggles to finish his costume to prove that he's ready to become a professional prop master, Yaya gets dressed in her C2 butterfly gown from Code Geass to remind everybody why she's qualified to be a judge.
I tried this on at home, and it worked.
I'm really excited to see what Monika has made after our talk, and hopefully she took my advice to heart and is keeping her focus on, not the sexy, but the craftsmanship of the costume.
With the competition hours away, Riki and Monika begin their transformations.
Riki, your cooter's hanging out.
And Monika has decided to ignore Yaya's advice, forgoing craftsmanship for sex appeal.
- Can you help lace me up? - Yeah, of course.
I was really surprised when I put on the costume, 'cause I was like, "whoa, look at my butt.
I feel kind of sexy.
" Oh, my God, my butt cheeks are really hanging out.
Don't tell my mom.
I feel kind of nice about it, because I'm in costume.
I'm not Monika just putting my butt out there.
Do you have some piece for the front? - What do you mean? - I mean, are you covering the front? Like, your crotch.
I'm trying to get my costume together, and I'm actually quite distracted by Monika's costume, because I can completely see her camel toe.
So is that it? Oh, my God, I look like a little slut.
But I need to get myself ready.
I need to get to the competition.
I hope they realize, like They're not like, "oh, she's wearing a bodysuit.
That's lazy.
" For Monika, the competition is about debuting a new sexy side to her cosplay.
But for Riki, it's all about craftsmanship.
I came up with a solution, using a harness to hold the tail in.
I had to flip it around, but, you know, sometimes it takes that next level thinking to come up with a solution.
I can't stop staring at it.
I want to take it to a professional level, because what I want to do is constantly create portfolio pieces that can help me work towards my end goal of becoming a costume designer.
It's competition day, and I'm really nervous, because the girls were so intense last night.
And I kind of feel like I'm in over my head.
This is Chloe's first costume competition, and failure here could undermine her credibility as the host of her own cosplay show.
It's showtime.
- I love your costume.
- Oh, thank you.
I'm gonna compete tonight.
- Breathe.
Breathe.
- I know! I'm, like, shaking a little bit.
Breathe in the air.
It's okay.
You know what I love? Finishing costumes in hotel rooms while we're supposed to be at the con.
After Jesse's failure at Wizard World, Emerald City is his chance to prove that he has what it takes in the cosplay world to become a professional prop-maker.
I'm stepping into Emerald City with some of the best cosplayers in the world.
It's utterly terrifying.
But I kind of like it.
All right So I've just got this back section here, then I'm gonna fly her up.
This Tron dress is easily the most intricate thing that Jinyo and I have made.
It would mean a lot to have some type of acknowledgement from Yaya that this is good quality work.
- I'm sure it'll work.
- You are just hoping it works so that I don't, like, freak out on you.
Yeah, exactly.
Knowing that Yaya is expecting big things out of her, Victoria is counting on Jinyo's dress to get her an award and impress her idol.
I feel super smart.
With the convention center filling with thousands of eager fans for the costume competition, having failed at Wizard World, some cosplayers are feeling the pressure to deliver.
I'm pretty nervous right now.
I didn't win in Portland.
I have to step up the game here.
This has to happen.
And for others, this is the first opportunity on the con circuit to prove they have what it takes to be best in show.
Let's go ahead and bring our first judges to the stage.
The creators of Elf Quest, Wendy and Richard Pini.
Wendy and Richard Pini, they've won hundreds of awards for everything that they've done with Elf Quest.
They're big-time.
This This means a lot.
And we also have a costume designer and cosplayer.
Let's welcome Yaya Han.
Emerald City is a really big convention with huge cash prizes.
The categories for judging are craftsmanship, showmanship, and difficulty.
The overall highest scores will receive best in show awards.
Difficulty relates to the level of the costume project they chose, and how well they executed it from design to the actual outfit.
Showmanship is about the overall performance they're giving on stage, and how much they're in character.
Craftsmanship is the technical quality of the costume.
How much detail is there? How much technique was used to create the outfit? Was it just thrown together, or did somebody actually spend six months on it? Let's welcome our first contestant to the stage.
This is the Glider, the Hawkeye, the Mal, the Mark 6 armor, all from Halo.
So let's give these guys a big round of applause.
Howl Jenkins.
Thank you.
I'm about to go on stage, and I hope my tail doesn't fall off.
This is my chance to show my craftsmanship, so I really have to put the best foot forward on stage That is my moment.
Hellgirl Welcome to the stage Riki Decotey.
Riki as Hellgirl, the costume required a lot of body painting, but she opted for a bodysuit instead.
I think that, for a competition, you should pull out all the stops.
What did you make the hand out of, Riki? It's fiberglass.
I had a cast of my hand, and then I put the cast of my hand back in there, and then injected the rest with foam.
So it's not too heavy.
Thank you! Minutes before Victoria is set to take the stage, the electronics in her elaborate costume are failing to light up.
It could mean another contest where she's unable to compete.
It was literally lighting up a second ago, and now it's not, and nothing works.
How can everything have just blown up in my face? I don't know.
When we worked so hard for this.
It doesn't make any sense.
I really wanted to show Yaya, like, what I had.
And now I have nothing.
The entire point of the outfit is that it lights up.
It's a light-up dress.
It needs to be glowing.
And if it's not working, then there is no costume, because then it's just some prom dress that I'm wearing.
It has to work I'm not going through all this to two conventions in a row.
That's the end of it.
I can't do anything about it.
I need to get on stage in a couple minutes, and nothing is working.
It's like Portland all over again.
We bring out our next contestant, Draenei Shaman.
Can we dim the lights a little bit? Think we're going out that way and coming back in.
I don't know what's going on.
So I'm competing for the first time.
I am terrified out of my mind.
I hate competition.
Oh, my God, I can't do this.
My hands are shaking.
But I got to do it, you know.
As somebody who has a show about cosplay, I feel like it's only fair to experience a competition for myself.
Can you just figure out where this goes? I would like you to figure out why you're being so argumentative all of a sudden.
Ten minutes later, we're still working on it.
I don't know why we can't get it working.
I don't know why it's doing it now of all times.
I don't know whether to, like, yell at you or, like, hit you.
Thank you! Someone up there Stop moving around.
Okay, well, then, something's wrong with it.
Like, what's going on? I don't know.
I'm just not gonna breathe for the next, like, hour.
The users got to help me out here, and this has got to be a working Tron dress.
These lights have to stay on.
Steampunk Harley Quinn.
Batman.
I'm super nervous.
I don't know how any of this works, and I feel like I'm probably gonna pee my pants.
Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Uh, well These are kitty tubes.
Thank you.
You know what? I am proud of myself, because I was terrified going on that stage.
And I did it! Okay, do not move.
Go ahead and introduce Victoria Schmidt as she shows us what it's like to live in the world of Tron: Legacy.
This is it.
I mean, the entire point of the outfit is that it lights up.
It's the Tron dress.
It needs to be glowing.
And if it's not working, then there is no costume.
Because then it's just some really pretty, poufy, black prom dress that I'm wearing.
What are those made of? All told, it's about, like, 12 yards of EL tape and wire.
What's the percentage of the costume that you made, or did you have help? Or did you make it all yourself or I wanted to to make this more of a surprise, like the lower half party thing.
So I focused on doing the additional skirt piece and there's actually detail of the sequin on the side that continues on to the sequin of the dress.
I had just met with Victoria yesterday, and she admitted to me that Jinyo was helping her on this costume.
So I don't understand why she's sidestepping my question now in front of everybody.
Inner layer of satin, and then two layers of mesh, and everything is, like, six pounds each.
Honestly, that overskirt is only 10%, 15% of her super-elaborate, electronic dress.
So who made the rest of the costume? I mean, obviously, it was Jinyo.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Hello.
Monika's cosplaying style is definitely being influenced by Jessica.
And I really wish she would follow my footsteps more and pay more attention to craftsmanship.
She's She's deadly in a really sexy way.
Mmhmm.
But I felt my face kind of falling.
Like, I was trying to smile, but I felt my lip trembling.
I did not want to be in that situation.
The girl's a bitch.
Monika was severely lacking in her performance.
If you're going to dress as a sexy, confident character like Poison Ivy in a burlesque lingerie outfit, that's when you bring the sex appeal.
Maybe it's because she's still very young.
Maybe she doesn't really know how to.
But I don't know if that was the best costume choice for her to compete in a contest in.
I mean, you really have to sell it.
I could've totally gone sassy and been a bitch and, like, got in her face, but No, you held it You handled it really well.
Please welcome to the stage Jesse Lagers as a steam trooper.
These costume competitions, they're a really good place to show all of my prop work off.
I want to be the name murmured around all the cons.
I want to be that guy.
That crowd reaction is everything rolled into one perfect, fine moment.
That's exactly why I do this.
They look badass.
That's a function, right? I mean, that's Thank you very much.
The crowd went absolutely crazy.
They loved it.
They ate it up.
This couldn't be any better.
I've won this just off of crowd reaction alone.
All right, our judges deliberate.
This should not be difficult.
All right, so who do we like? I mean Monika just kind of did what she always does with every costume, which is walk on, strike a pose, and wait for the applause.
We're talking about Jesse as the steam trooper, right? Good.
I'm not a mind reader.
I don't know what the judges are thinking.
But Victoria works that dress exactly the way that I designed it to be worn.
- Have we come up to a decision? - We got it.
We got the decision.
All right.
Judges, are you finished deliberating? Yes! Judges, are you finished deliberating? Yes! I see Yaya before me, and I see the other judges.
I'm just, like, shaking.
I know I've won over the crowd.
Did I win over the judges? Is my outfit better than everybody else's? Let me just say this was the toughest contest to judge probably ever for me.
The third place of emerald city ComiCon goes to Batman! I was very impressed with his craftsmanship.
Because Batman is such a recognizable character, he had the additional challenge of meeting all of our expectations.
If he's third, I don't want to be, you know, a and be like, "well, I'm totally gonna be second or first.
" But, like, I think I deserve something in there.
Moving on to second place Queen Amidala.
Amidala received second place because her costume was flawlessly made.
So she had really meticulous craftsmanship, so a full transformation into a character.
I've embodied everything that this con wanted.
I've won this.
I've got this thing in the bag for sure.
And now for first place.
It goes to Draenei Shaman from World of Warcraft! The Draenei Shaman, I thought his costume looked very impressive from the sheer size of the armor that lit up.
It's about ambition, you know, what kind of a challenge they give themselves.
One more round of applause for everyone! Emerald City ComiCon, come on! I've lost two competitions in a row.
I'm starting to question, you know, what I'm doing.
I want to make props.
I want to make armor.
I want to make costumes for a living.
I want to quit my damn day job.
Isn't that what everybody really wants to do, is really enjoy what you're doing for work? So when I met with Jose, he looked at my work and he said it was missing sort of the last 15-20%.
I think for my next costume, I'm going to make something that lights up and, like, really showcases a lot of different skills.
Well, all of your costumes are amazing.
Did we None of us.
Not a single one of us placed.
Everyone's bummed that we didn't place, but holy balls, this was so much fun! I've got the competition bug.
My next costume is going to be even bigger and better than this one.
I've been called the queen of cosplay.
I'm ready to save the planet.
I don't compete anymore, because I judge contests.
People hold me to a higher standard than other cosplayers.
You think we can get it done in time? You're the one helping me.
What was that? We don't have time to fix this.
I'm gonna stay here.
I'll overnight it to your hotel.
I really need Jinyo here.
I can't do this without him.
I'm gonna have to ditch Lulu.
Welcome to the Portland Wizard World costume cosplay contest bring it.
Best team, Dungeons & Dragons.
We earned a trophy, aren't you pleased? First place, Galactus! I don't know what I did wrong.
I don't see what the judges missed in my outfit.
But Emerald City's in a week.
Yaya's going to hand me a best in show.
Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle, Washington is the next stop for the heroes of cosplay.
With an attendance twice that at Wizard World Portland, Emerald City is one of the largest comic conventions in the Pacific Northwest, and with Yaya Han judging, the perfect event to showcase your skill and passion and get recognition from one of the top cosplayers in the country.
In Los Angeles, super nerd Chloe Dykstra is busy shooting one of her many geek-themed shows before she begins her maiden voyage on the high seas of competitive cosplay.
- So we're here with Poet.
- What's up? My name is Chloe, and I've been cosplaying for about four or five years.
I'm currently a host of Just Cos on the Nerdist Channel.
You didn't hand-braid that.
I did.
You are a crazy one.
I really respect you.
Just Cos is a show about cosplay.
Basically, I really couldn't imagine a better job.
- Is that you? - Yeah.
- Oh, my God.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, you're crazy.
- That's, like, my hobby.
I'm kind of a newbie in the cosplay thing.
I love cosplay, and I've never really felt the need to compete, but as somebody who has a show about cosplay, I can't really screw up, because I will get accused of being a fake geek girl.
I was thinking about maybe competing.
- Really? - Yeah.
You know, I kind of want to do Emerald City ComiCon.
My first competition, I'm going to do Lydia from the Beetlejuice cartoon, because the Beetlejuice cartoon is such a nostalgia bomb.
And Lydia's great, but she can't stand alone, so I have to make a prop.
And what better prop than a sand worm? So we head back to the studio.
Ready? - All right.
All right.
- One, two whoosh.
In Atlanta, one of the cosplay community's youngest and fastest rising stars, Monika, is beginning to work on her costume for Emerald City ComiCon.
Oh, no, not dyeing.
I won't make a mess.
Don't worry.
My name is Monika Lee, and I've been cosplaying for seven years.
My dad took me to Dragon Con when I was 12.
When you get to a convention, it's like a billion of your best friends right there, and they all understand you.
I remember leaving that night and being so depressed, 'cause I was like, "I want to go back to dragon con.
" Can I see the costume? Oh, goodness.
I don't like this.
Emerald City ComiCon is coming up, and I'm entering the contest as steampunk poison Ivy.
Are you doing a costume exactly like this? I'm gonna be accurate to it.
My inspiration for my Poison Ivy was actually my friend Jessica sent me a picture, and I'm like, "oh, that's cool.
" Jessica Nigri is a widely recognized cosplayer.
Uh, she's my best friend.
Her shtick is that she kind of likes to cosplay sexy characters and put her body out there.
It's cute.
But you're not gonna have your boobs hanging out like that, are you? Yes, I'm gonna put my boobs everywhere.
Please tell me you're wearing underwear under here.
Stop nagging me.
I just wish you could choose costumes where it's all the way up to the neck.
At the age of 13, Monika was discovered by professional cosplayer Yaya Han, who quickly took the budding superstar under her wing and began developing her cosplay talents.
I got my little summer job working for Yaya, making cat ears.
I do look back fondly on those days.
There better not be green dye all over the place.
Stop complaining.
Veteran cosplayer Riki is in Los Angeles to have her costume portfolio reviewed by a Hollywood legend.
Thank you so much for meeting me.
Sure.
My name is Riki, and I've been cosplaying for over ten years.
I started reading comics when I was a little girl, but I lived in such a small town.
We didn't have access to them.
So when my dad would go grocery shopping, I would run down the magazine aisle, and then I'd just read the comics for the hour and a half my dad was grocery shopping.
- My name's Jose.
- I'm Riki.
I'd love to have you look at some of my stuff.
If anyone is going to know if Riki has what it takes to turn pro, it's renowned costume and creature designer Jose Fernandez.
I've been reaching out to different prop makers in L.
A.
, and I finally got a hit.
Jose Fernandez has worked on Gremlins, Tron, Godzilla, Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman, suits for Batman & Robin.
I mean, he did the Wolverine suit.
Every movie prop that I can think that I really appreciated, he's probably done it.
This is a neoprene and leather and also sculpted chest.
Looking at my stuff, what can I work on? If you look at this piece right now, what I see is, this edge is relatively simple and not really interesting.
Okay.
If you take this edge right here, and you lean it over now and make a facet out of it, so now you're looking at two surfaces.
Oh, okay.
And where do you want to go with it? Do you want to make a living at it? What do you want to do? I would love to, like, get the chance to make a living.
If you wanted to take it to the next level, there's that last 10%, 15% that I don't see.
Okay.
Train your eye to see those things.
Once you see it, I think you'll get it.
I really value the input that Jose gave me, because I think it'll be really valuable when I compete at Emerald City ComiCon.
And my goal is to create costumes from here on out that have that last 10%, 15%.
Well, thank you so much for your time.
- Yep.
- And I really appreciate it.
- It's a pleasure.
- Thank you very much.
Disappointment at Wizard World behind him, Jesse knows the next con could make or break his reputation and chances of becoming a professional prop maker.
Before he begins his next creation, he needs to blow off a little steam.
Steampunk, that is.
I'm gonna fall on my ass, is what's gonna happen here.
Steampunk's a lot of fun.
You take this victorian age, and you mesh it all with modern technologies, and you get to put a lot of brass and a lot of very shiny bits and goggles on everything.
So is this, like, a normal, everyday thing for you guys? Uh, it's what, casual Sundays, we call it? - Casual Sunday.
- Yeah, casual Sunday.
Emerald City ComiCon is five days away, and they add a spotlight on steampunk and superheroes.
I'm gonna build myself the best steam trooper I've ever seen.
Cheerio, cheerio.
Cheerio, cheerio.
After her no-show in Portland, Victoria and Jinyo have to come up with a top-notch costume idea to win back the respect of Yaya and the cosplay community.
I've been trying to figure out something to do for Emerald City coming up.
I was a total fail whale at Portland Wizard World, and Emerald City needs to be my redemption con.
I want something that will look good and have that wow factor and everything.
Well, here's an idea.
You know, we were watching Tron the other night.
And I think, visually, it's very striking.
I want to do a dress.
But there were no dresses in Tron.
Exactly.
I want to bring the fun and sexy to Tron.
So this is my concept for the dress.
It's gonna be electroluminescent wire for these parts.
This Tron dress is easily the most intricate thing that I have made, in terms of my costumes.
I wasn't even able to compete at Portland.
But I'm gonna have a great costume for Yaya to judge at Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle.
Jinyo has come up with a great design that was his idea, and I know I have a good chance of winning first place.
Nothing can go wrong.
I trust you know what you're doing.
After receiving a concerned call from Monika's mother, Yaya has set up a meeting with her protege to find out more about the troubling turn her cosplay has taken.
Today I'm meeting my former protege and intern, Monika, for lunch, because I'm a little concerned about how her friend, Jessica Nigri, is influencing her cosplay.
You're going to Emerald City, right? Mmhmm.
What costumes are you gonna do for Emerald City? I'm doing a costume for the contest, so Oh, you're gonna enter the contest.
I take personal interest in Monika, because I judged her in her first competition, and I took it upon myself to be her mentor.
And we have become good friends.
But you're moving on.
You're doing your own thing.
Yeah, I mean, Jess sent me a message.
It was like, "oh, look at these costumes.
Let's do them together.
" And, yeah.
Oh, Jessica, okay.
I'm a little worried that Monika will be seduced by Jessica's sexy cosplay style and forget about the importance of craftsmanship that I've instilled in her.
I think Jessica and I, we approach cosplay from very different angles.
You know, for me, it's all about the craftsmanship, really paying a lot of attention to detail.
The content that Jessica Nigri puts out really displays cosplay in the wrong light, and I don't really want my little Monika to go down that path.
She doesn't ever produce anything that showcases anything beyond the sex appeal.
And I think that it's okay to show sex appeal in cosplay.
I do it myself.
But you've got to have a balance.
I really wish Monika would maybe follow me in my footsteps more than just going to have fun with Jessica.
As time goes on in your cosplay career, it is definitely tempting to just go for the easy, cheap route.
You have to promise me that you're not gonna sell yourself short.
It was really nice to catch up with Monika.
But I'm a little concerned about what costume she will make and compete in at Emerald City.
I really hope that she took my advice and listened and is gonna put that to work.
Coming up That's incredible! It's flickery.
Emerald City needs to be my redemption con.
The entire point of this thing is to light up.
Back from Los Angeles, Riki is ready to apply the advice she's gotten from Jose Fernandez to her Emerald City ComiCon costume.
Jose did a lot of the makeup work in both the Hellboy movies, and I think he did a great job bringing Mike Mignola's Hellboy to life.
So I thought it would be fun to do, like, Hellboy's little sister.
So it's not a female version of Hellboy.
It's, like, hellgirl.
Hey, Chris? Yeah? I'm gonna need your help to cast that.
It's just gonna be a little too heavy for me.
The most important aspect of my costume is my Hellboy right hand of doom.
It is literally the most iconic piece of the whole outfit.
So I have to make sure I get it right.
I think I'm gonna need some help rotating the forearm.
I already have the mold made, so at this point, I just have to pour the resin into the mold, let it set.
And once I de-mold it, I have to sand all the edges and then just add some final touches, and it should look like the key to hell.
Your lines here are a little uneven.
It's from hell.
There's no straight lines in hell.
Yeah, good one.
As she gathers the materials for her sand worm prop, Chloe knows she is risking her credibility on the Nerdist Channel if she can't deliver.
I bet you could make the sweetest fort in here.
Have you seen Beetlejuice? I've seen Beetlejuice.
Okay, so you know, like, the weird creatures that roam around the dunes and stuff? I'm making one of those.
My friends, Holly and Jessica, said that I also need something called "barge.
" Barge.
This is barge? Yeah.
It's flammable liquid and vapor.
Fatal if swallowed.
Harmful if inhaled.
Oh, that's exciting.
I like the element of danger to my cosplay.
- $191.
57.
- What? I am spending $200 on foam and cosplay supplies.
I could get at least three video games for that.
This is crazy expensive.
Still feeling the sting of humiliation in Portland, Victoria has Jinyo hard at work, creating an elaborate costume to salvage her reputation at Emerald City.
Come on.
Jinyo's role with this costume is pretty important.
The main point of this outfit is that it lights up, and that was definitely something that was all Jinyo's corner.
I'm gonna take about 20 nice, bright, little leds and line them all the way up through here.
These better be, like, the best shoes ever.
I'm not gonna have another Portland.
I'm gonna go to Emerald City ComiCon with my ducks all in a row.
Nothing is going wrong when I get to Seattle.
I'm sorry you didn't finish Lulu, babe.
But I promise you that we are going to finish this dress.
Meanwhile, in Portland, Jesse is working on his steampunk Stormtrooper helmet, his signature costume piece for the Emerald City competition.
This week has been hell.
9:00 to 5:00, my normal work hours, then all I've done is come home at night, and it's been steam trooper, steam trooper, steam trooper, all night long.
There's a ton of stuff left to do on this outfit.
It's got to be perfect.
Coming off the loss in Portland, Emerald means a lot to me.
I have to win something here.
You know, this is my home turf.
This is where, you know, I'm trying to grow my business out of.
We're gonna lift this up, turn on the vacuum, and then straight down on top of it.
Okay.
When vacuforming, Jesse knows that every second counts to get the right shape for his helmet.
A mistake here could set him back days.
Three, bring it down.
I can't believe what just happened.
I mean Stupid thing.
Without the vacuum running, the hardening plastic can't be molded into the correct shape.
That's gonna everything up.
This line needs to be adjusted.
It's back to the drawing board on this one.
The helmet's what ties the whole costume together.
It's what brings it back from just being steampunk and armor, back to being, you know, a trooper.
It's got to be perfect.
Meanwhile, back in Atlanta, tensions run high as Monika struggles to finish her sexy Poison Ivy costume against the advice of Yaya and her mother.
Does it have to look like that? You say that every time, and I say don't worry about it.
I want to keep doing what I like and what's gonna make me feel good.
And haters gonna hate.
I don't like it.
As a judge for the upcoming Emerald City ComiCon, Yaya has to work night and day to make an impressive costume in order to maintain her status as the ambassador of cosplay.
I've been working really hard on a new costume for Emerald City, and it is C2 from the anime Code Geass.
I am constantly striving to stay on top of cosplay.
It's important that I debut new pieces at as many conventions as possible, giving the fans what they want.
God, I hope it's gonna be okay.
Concerned that she's in over her head, Chloe reaches out to Holly and Jessica to help with her sand worm prop.
The convention is only two days away.
I'm freaking out, because this is kind of last minute.
So I'm going to ask Holly and Jessica, who are the best cosplayers I know, to help me with my costume.
The first thing we're gonna do is build the two top parts of his head right here.
Does Ross ever just, like, jump you, because you're so hot when you're doing stuff like this? Uh, no.
So we're helping Chloe with fabricating the puppet, but we're not gonna be able to make it to Emerald City ComiCon, so she's gonna have to find some people to help her when she's up there.
They'll be able to put their hand in here, and then they'll be able to move the jaw.
It'll have, like, a ton of motion like this.
That's, like, perfect.
In Atlanta, Riki hits an unexpected snag that could undermine her reputation as a top-notch fabricator.
Uh, I don't know how we are going to attach the tail to me and through the skirt.
I don't think the belt's gonna hold it.
It's really It's not that much.
So you think that's gonna hold? It seems droopy.
But, look, it's going between my legs.
I've never had erectile dysfunction with any of my costumes before.
Normally, it's the opposite.
I don't know what to tell you.
As Emerald City ComiCon quickly approaches, Jinyo is ready to unveil his Tron dress to Victoria.
That's incredible.
Oh, it's gorgeous.
That's awesome.
It's gonna look insane at night.
The Tron dress, I've got electroluminescent tape, and I also used an electroluminescent wire.
And I've got a decent amount of power running through this thing, and This dress has 15 AA batteries.
It's flickery.
Emerald City needs to be my redemption con.
It's a Tron dress.
It needs to be glowing.
And if it's not working, then there is no costume.
I will lose it, 'cause the entire point of this thing is to light up.
I mean, Yaya is a judge, and I don't want to be embarrassed.
There's a lot at stake here, and I can't have another failure.
I can't go on stage with this.
It's the first day of Emerald City ComiCon, and already, the convention is filling up with eager cosplayers and fans for the most important ComiCon in the pacific northwest.
Hi there.
How are you? - Hi.
Good.
- Very well.
Checking in for Han.
I'm really excited about Emerald City.
It is an honor to be selected as a judge.
Man, Monika, your costume is barely anything.
How did you take up three suitcases? Screw you.
You have two costumes in this one bag.
What's in here? 63 pounds.
Emerald City ComiCon has a large attendance, and I'm on the west coast.
So who knows from what studio or maybe, like, a prop shop is in the audience, and they'll like what I'm doing.
And not to sound cliche, but maybe I'll be discovered.
It should be under schmidt, s-c-h.
Jinyo and I arrive in Seattle for Emerald City ComiCon.
This isn't Wizard World Portland.
My costume is 90% done, and we're in a great position.
I'll just lay here.
- Yeah.
- Mm.
Mm-hmm.
I can't! Oh, my God.
Chloe's arrived at Emerald City for her first comic competition with a problem.
She must find people to help puppet her sand worm, or she'll have to take the stage with an incomplete costume.
I got to tweet.
God, I hope someone replies, or I am screwed.
Ohh, I hope my Twitter followers come through for me.
I packed my scissors in the box.
With her Tron dress almost 100% complete, Victoria and Jinyo change into their floor costumes to head to Emerald City's grand opening first day.
The thing about that is, it's, like, really adorable, but then, like, really freaky.
But before she can hit the convention, she gets a text from Yaya to join her for a quick cup of coffee.
Yaya texts me that she wants to talk with me.
And for some reason, that's making me a little nervous.
Hey, thanks so much for coming to see me.
Oh, no problem.
What happened to you last weekend? You just literally disappeared on us.
- Yeah, I did.
- I was so worried about you.
It was bad enough that I didn't have everything figured out and had to pull out of competing in Wizard World.
I don't need the Yaya spotlight on me before the competition.
You know, Jinyo and I, we rushed into it.
And then you're taking a costume to a con, and it's still mostly unfinished.
It's a clear sign that you shouldn't be doing it.
Oh, my God.
Because clearly, it's not gonna be the best that you wanted.
I've known Victoria for a few years.
And since she met Jinyo, her quality in costumes has shot through the roof.
Jinyo is here to help you this time, right? Yeah, yeah.
Jinyo is a really amazing fabricator, so the two of them together create absolutely astonishing costumes.
I'm excited to see what you're gonna do tomorrow.
You know, I wish you all the best.
Thank you, yeah.
Okay, bye.
You look amazing.
- Thank you, thank you.
- You look wonderful.
With her tweet sent, Chloe hopes that some of her fans show up to help her puppet her sand worm, or else all her time and money have been wasted and her first attempt at cosplay will be a failure.
I got the worm to the convention center.
I'm sitting there by myself, nervous that no one's gonna show up.
It's gonna be like one of my birthday parties from middle school.
I don't know if this was the best plan.
- Yeah.
- Hi, I'm Boxy.
- What's your name? - Donnie.
Donnie, are you here to help me with the puppet? I sure am.
Oh, my Cthulhu.
I have all these followers helping me with my worm.
Hey.
Sorry to bug you.
How are you doing? You look amazing.
And then I run into Jinyo and Victoria.
I know so many people here.
Very Tim Burton-esque.
That's the point.
Why are you doing I'm not used to you competing.
I have never competed before.
Yeah? This is your first one? - It is my first one.
- That's awesome, though.
Since I've never done it, and I have a show about cosplay, I'm like, "I need some street cred," right? Yeah.
Chloe is new to competing in cosplay competitions.
And I'm really worried for her, because Chloe doesn't know what she's getting into.
Um, I don't know what you're doing tonight, but I think some of us are getting together just to hang out and stuff like that.
We're totally having dinner tonight.
- I would love to.
- Oh, I'll text you whenever? I'll leave you to your worm.
All right.
Bye, guys, - bye.
- See you later.
Settled into the hotel, Riki and Monika get dressed in costume to head down to the convention floor.
Squeeze them together really good.
Yeah, I'll squeeze them.
Okay.
Now you can do it.
Okay.
Riki, Riki, Riki, Riki, Riki.
Oh, right.
Hey, there's Jess.
Ooh! I have to go hug my boo.
Oh, my God.
Someone stepped on my train.
- Put that away.
- Hi, guys.
- No, it's okay.
- Never.
I missed you.
What are you doing? Why you no kiss me? - I don't want to kiss you.
- I love you.
I don't want to kiss - I know! - It is.
Jessica Nigri is a widely-recognized cosplayer.
She's one of my good friends.
She has a really good body, so she likes to cosplay characters and really put her body out there.
But it's, you know If you've got it, flaunt it.
- One.
- Riki, don't look.
Yaya has this, like, beef with her.
I think she does kind of resent that Jessica puts her boobs out, and then she gets a lot of likes and popularity, but Yaya puts her boobs out.
That's all I've got to say about that.
Thank you.
Late into the night, cosplay newcomer Jesse arrives at Emerald City ComiCon.
Let's not sleep.
Let's build the whole costume.
Let's go to Emerald City ComiCon.
His steam trooper helmet finally finished, Jesse is now behind with the rest of his costume.
I'm at Emerald City ComiCon.
This is huge.
I don't have a finished costume.
I'm panicking.
I tried to finish it last night.
I haven't slept.
I'm that stressed out.
Because I want to do this as a business.
I want to build props for a living.
So this is the best showcase I have to do it.
I have until 2:00.
- Okay.
2:00 P.
M.
tomorrow to get this finished One way or another.
It's the night before the big competition, and first-time competitor Chloe is getting the opportunity to sit down with some of cosplay's royalty.
Hi, nice to meet you.
These guys are incredible.
I can't believe I get to hang out with such talented people.
Okay, cosplay pet peeves.
People, obviously, are like, "well, I'm really big.
What can I do?" Yeah.
And it's like, if you're a big, muscular dude, go be Superman.
Yeah.
I think that anybody should be whatever they want to be, whenever.
But the thing is, is if a 300-pound person wears Superman, and they put themselves out there, and then it gets on the net, how is that gonna help them? I guess.
But do you think that, because of that, that they shouldn't dress up as Superman? A lot of people can't handle, you know, that criticism.
Chloe, she's very much so a newbie, and she's really, like, a little bit naive.
I feel like, as a cosplayer, you need to have the responsibility to know what you look like.
You have to really look at yourself in the mirror and know that if, you know, my boobs are out, I'm gonna get the comments.
I don't know who made up these rules.
There's, like, some grand cosplay lord who's like, "you shall not cosplay something if you are overweight.
" That's ridiculous.
Cosplay's about having fun and being who you are and who you want to be.
Why is everything so crazy, like, serious with these competitions? Cosplay is serious business.
Because there's money involved.
I feel a little outnumbered.
The girls really made me feel like I'm not the kind of cosplayer that they are.
I was already nervous about the competition to begin with.
What have I gotten myself into? These people are professional.
I just have no idea what I'm doing here.
Coming up The helmet set me back.
I'm just into sheer panic mode.
I don't know if I can make this on time.
Finishing costumes in hotel rooms while we're supposed to be at the con.
It's utterly terrifying.
It's the day of the competition, and fans are filling the convention center in hopes of seeing some amazing costumes.
But for Jesse, there may be no competition, unless he's able to finish his steam trooper in time.
Let's try this again.
The piece that you cut is too wide for the buckles.
Crap.
The helmet set me back, but now I have uncut leather.
I'm just into sheer panic mode because I don't know if I can make this on time.
What are we gonna have to do to make it work? That's just why I'm wondering if maybe it was just Screw it.
I'm cutting it.
While Jesse struggles to finish his costume to prove that he's ready to become a professional prop master, Yaya gets dressed in her C2 butterfly gown from Code Geass to remind everybody why she's qualified to be a judge.
I tried this on at home, and it worked.
I'm really excited to see what Monika has made after our talk, and hopefully she took my advice to heart and is keeping her focus on, not the sexy, but the craftsmanship of the costume.
With the competition hours away, Riki and Monika begin their transformations.
Riki, your cooter's hanging out.
And Monika has decided to ignore Yaya's advice, forgoing craftsmanship for sex appeal.
- Can you help lace me up? - Yeah, of course.
I was really surprised when I put on the costume, 'cause I was like, "whoa, look at my butt.
I feel kind of sexy.
" Oh, my God, my butt cheeks are really hanging out.
Don't tell my mom.
I feel kind of nice about it, because I'm in costume.
I'm not Monika just putting my butt out there.
Do you have some piece for the front? - What do you mean? - I mean, are you covering the front? Like, your crotch.
I'm trying to get my costume together, and I'm actually quite distracted by Monika's costume, because I can completely see her camel toe.
So is that it? Oh, my God, I look like a little slut.
But I need to get myself ready.
I need to get to the competition.
I hope they realize, like They're not like, "oh, she's wearing a bodysuit.
That's lazy.
" For Monika, the competition is about debuting a new sexy side to her cosplay.
But for Riki, it's all about craftsmanship.
I came up with a solution, using a harness to hold the tail in.
I had to flip it around, but, you know, sometimes it takes that next level thinking to come up with a solution.
I can't stop staring at it.
I want to take it to a professional level, because what I want to do is constantly create portfolio pieces that can help me work towards my end goal of becoming a costume designer.
It's competition day, and I'm really nervous, because the girls were so intense last night.
And I kind of feel like I'm in over my head.
This is Chloe's first costume competition, and failure here could undermine her credibility as the host of her own cosplay show.
It's showtime.
- I love your costume.
- Oh, thank you.
I'm gonna compete tonight.
- Breathe.
Breathe.
- I know! I'm, like, shaking a little bit.
Breathe in the air.
It's okay.
You know what I love? Finishing costumes in hotel rooms while we're supposed to be at the con.
After Jesse's failure at Wizard World, Emerald City is his chance to prove that he has what it takes in the cosplay world to become a professional prop-maker.
I'm stepping into Emerald City with some of the best cosplayers in the world.
It's utterly terrifying.
But I kind of like it.
All right So I've just got this back section here, then I'm gonna fly her up.
This Tron dress is easily the most intricate thing that Jinyo and I have made.
It would mean a lot to have some type of acknowledgement from Yaya that this is good quality work.
- I'm sure it'll work.
- You are just hoping it works so that I don't, like, freak out on you.
Yeah, exactly.
Knowing that Yaya is expecting big things out of her, Victoria is counting on Jinyo's dress to get her an award and impress her idol.
I feel super smart.
With the convention center filling with thousands of eager fans for the costume competition, having failed at Wizard World, some cosplayers are feeling the pressure to deliver.
I'm pretty nervous right now.
I didn't win in Portland.
I have to step up the game here.
This has to happen.
And for others, this is the first opportunity on the con circuit to prove they have what it takes to be best in show.
Let's go ahead and bring our first judges to the stage.
The creators of Elf Quest, Wendy and Richard Pini.
Wendy and Richard Pini, they've won hundreds of awards for everything that they've done with Elf Quest.
They're big-time.
This This means a lot.
And we also have a costume designer and cosplayer.
Let's welcome Yaya Han.
Emerald City is a really big convention with huge cash prizes.
The categories for judging are craftsmanship, showmanship, and difficulty.
The overall highest scores will receive best in show awards.
Difficulty relates to the level of the costume project they chose, and how well they executed it from design to the actual outfit.
Showmanship is about the overall performance they're giving on stage, and how much they're in character.
Craftsmanship is the technical quality of the costume.
How much detail is there? How much technique was used to create the outfit? Was it just thrown together, or did somebody actually spend six months on it? Let's welcome our first contestant to the stage.
This is the Glider, the Hawkeye, the Mal, the Mark 6 armor, all from Halo.
So let's give these guys a big round of applause.
Howl Jenkins.
Thank you.
I'm about to go on stage, and I hope my tail doesn't fall off.
This is my chance to show my craftsmanship, so I really have to put the best foot forward on stage That is my moment.
Hellgirl Welcome to the stage Riki Decotey.
Riki as Hellgirl, the costume required a lot of body painting, but she opted for a bodysuit instead.
I think that, for a competition, you should pull out all the stops.
What did you make the hand out of, Riki? It's fiberglass.
I had a cast of my hand, and then I put the cast of my hand back in there, and then injected the rest with foam.
So it's not too heavy.
Thank you! Minutes before Victoria is set to take the stage, the electronics in her elaborate costume are failing to light up.
It could mean another contest where she's unable to compete.
It was literally lighting up a second ago, and now it's not, and nothing works.
How can everything have just blown up in my face? I don't know.
When we worked so hard for this.
It doesn't make any sense.
I really wanted to show Yaya, like, what I had.
And now I have nothing.
The entire point of the outfit is that it lights up.
It's a light-up dress.
It needs to be glowing.
And if it's not working, then there is no costume, because then it's just some prom dress that I'm wearing.
It has to work I'm not going through all this to two conventions in a row.
That's the end of it.
I can't do anything about it.
I need to get on stage in a couple minutes, and nothing is working.
It's like Portland all over again.
We bring out our next contestant, Draenei Shaman.
Can we dim the lights a little bit? Think we're going out that way and coming back in.
I don't know what's going on.
So I'm competing for the first time.
I am terrified out of my mind.
I hate competition.
Oh, my God, I can't do this.
My hands are shaking.
But I got to do it, you know.
As somebody who has a show about cosplay, I feel like it's only fair to experience a competition for myself.
Can you just figure out where this goes? I would like you to figure out why you're being so argumentative all of a sudden.
Ten minutes later, we're still working on it.
I don't know why we can't get it working.
I don't know why it's doing it now of all times.
I don't know whether to, like, yell at you or, like, hit you.
Thank you! Someone up there Stop moving around.
Okay, well, then, something's wrong with it.
Like, what's going on? I don't know.
I'm just not gonna breathe for the next, like, hour.
The users got to help me out here, and this has got to be a working Tron dress.
These lights have to stay on.
Steampunk Harley Quinn.
Batman.
I'm super nervous.
I don't know how any of this works, and I feel like I'm probably gonna pee my pants.
Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Uh, well These are kitty tubes.
Thank you.
You know what? I am proud of myself, because I was terrified going on that stage.
And I did it! Okay, do not move.
Go ahead and introduce Victoria Schmidt as she shows us what it's like to live in the world of Tron: Legacy.
This is it.
I mean, the entire point of the outfit is that it lights up.
It's the Tron dress.
It needs to be glowing.
And if it's not working, then there is no costume.
Because then it's just some really pretty, poufy, black prom dress that I'm wearing.
What are those made of? All told, it's about, like, 12 yards of EL tape and wire.
What's the percentage of the costume that you made, or did you have help? Or did you make it all yourself or I wanted to to make this more of a surprise, like the lower half party thing.
So I focused on doing the additional skirt piece and there's actually detail of the sequin on the side that continues on to the sequin of the dress.
I had just met with Victoria yesterday, and she admitted to me that Jinyo was helping her on this costume.
So I don't understand why she's sidestepping my question now in front of everybody.
Inner layer of satin, and then two layers of mesh, and everything is, like, six pounds each.
Honestly, that overskirt is only 10%, 15% of her super-elaborate, electronic dress.
So who made the rest of the costume? I mean, obviously, it was Jinyo.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Hello.
Monika's cosplaying style is definitely being influenced by Jessica.
And I really wish she would follow my footsteps more and pay more attention to craftsmanship.
She's She's deadly in a really sexy way.
Mmhmm.
But I felt my face kind of falling.
Like, I was trying to smile, but I felt my lip trembling.
I did not want to be in that situation.
The girl's a bitch.
Monika was severely lacking in her performance.
If you're going to dress as a sexy, confident character like Poison Ivy in a burlesque lingerie outfit, that's when you bring the sex appeal.
Maybe it's because she's still very young.
Maybe she doesn't really know how to.
But I don't know if that was the best costume choice for her to compete in a contest in.
I mean, you really have to sell it.
I could've totally gone sassy and been a bitch and, like, got in her face, but No, you held it You handled it really well.
Please welcome to the stage Jesse Lagers as a steam trooper.
These costume competitions, they're a really good place to show all of my prop work off.
I want to be the name murmured around all the cons.
I want to be that guy.
That crowd reaction is everything rolled into one perfect, fine moment.
That's exactly why I do this.
They look badass.
That's a function, right? I mean, that's Thank you very much.
The crowd went absolutely crazy.
They loved it.
They ate it up.
This couldn't be any better.
I've won this just off of crowd reaction alone.
All right, our judges deliberate.
This should not be difficult.
All right, so who do we like? I mean Monika just kind of did what she always does with every costume, which is walk on, strike a pose, and wait for the applause.
We're talking about Jesse as the steam trooper, right? Good.
I'm not a mind reader.
I don't know what the judges are thinking.
But Victoria works that dress exactly the way that I designed it to be worn.
- Have we come up to a decision? - We got it.
We got the decision.
All right.
Judges, are you finished deliberating? Yes! Judges, are you finished deliberating? Yes! I see Yaya before me, and I see the other judges.
I'm just, like, shaking.
I know I've won over the crowd.
Did I win over the judges? Is my outfit better than everybody else's? Let me just say this was the toughest contest to judge probably ever for me.
The third place of emerald city ComiCon goes to Batman! I was very impressed with his craftsmanship.
Because Batman is such a recognizable character, he had the additional challenge of meeting all of our expectations.
If he's third, I don't want to be, you know, a and be like, "well, I'm totally gonna be second or first.
" But, like, I think I deserve something in there.
Moving on to second place Queen Amidala.
Amidala received second place because her costume was flawlessly made.
So she had really meticulous craftsmanship, so a full transformation into a character.
I've embodied everything that this con wanted.
I've won this.
I've got this thing in the bag for sure.
And now for first place.
It goes to Draenei Shaman from World of Warcraft! The Draenei Shaman, I thought his costume looked very impressive from the sheer size of the armor that lit up.
It's about ambition, you know, what kind of a challenge they give themselves.
One more round of applause for everyone! Emerald City ComiCon, come on! I've lost two competitions in a row.
I'm starting to question, you know, what I'm doing.
I want to make props.
I want to make armor.
I want to make costumes for a living.
I want to quit my damn day job.
Isn't that what everybody really wants to do, is really enjoy what you're doing for work? So when I met with Jose, he looked at my work and he said it was missing sort of the last 15-20%.
I think for my next costume, I'm going to make something that lights up and, like, really showcases a lot of different skills.
Well, all of your costumes are amazing.
Did we None of us.
Not a single one of us placed.
Everyone's bummed that we didn't place, but holy balls, this was so much fun! I've got the competition bug.
My next costume is going to be even bigger and better than this one.