As a kid, I grew up with cartoons and anime. Cartoons after school and on Saturday mornings. It was AWESOME. Majority of the anime supplied to me back then was through my cousins. They just moved from Taiwan all the way to U.S. My guy cousins would watch Dragon Ball and and my girl cousins would watch Sailor Moon. I hung around both genders, so I got the best of both worlds.
Later on, the tv aired Cardcapture Sakura, Pokemon, Digimon, etc. And I would watch with my cousins. But it wasn't until 5th grade when I wanted to "dress-up" as Sakura (Cherry) from Cardcaptor Sakura. I wouldn't call this my VERY first official cosplay since all I did was grab whatever happened to be in my closet and called it a finished product. However, I did have my dad make her wand and glue on wings to my mini bear plush (Kero).
From 5th grade to 9th grade, I took a huge anime halt. I don't recall watching much of anime at that time. But I still watched the cartoons that showed on tv (for convenience?). And back then, there weren't things like youtube. lol~~
I lived in my hometown for my whole life. And I could almost say - for sure- that I was the first official cosplayer of my town. This was due to the fact that my town's population was small (still is small) and not many people really knew about Cosplay and asian cultures.
I guess my first official cosplay would be either Kim Possible (8th Grade) or Haku from Naruto (9th Grade). (I'm not even sure if you could say Kim Possible is a catagory for Cosplay. X3) If Kim Possible is a category for Cosplay, then yes, she would be my VERY first official cosplay. I had my hair dyed an orangish-brown color. I had the complete look. Not to mention her walky-talky thing.
My Haku cosplay (CROSSplay) was poorly made. I pretty much took things and threw it together. However, I did craft his mask very well. It's hella Legit. ^^ Very proud of it. And I would like to say this is my first cosplay over Kim Possible. ;)
So, since 8th or 9th grade, I finally took up cosplaying and got familiar with anime even more. What kept me interested in cosplay wasn't the anime but actually Japan's music and street fashion. I was first stunned by the crazy outfits - but later found it rather daring and attractive. And I felt that their street fashion allowed people to be who they are and express their wild and artistic side through fashion.
As of now, 2010, I have built some good cosplays from Naruto to Loveless to Deathnote, even dressed Visual Kei/Oshare Kei styled, and Gothic/Sweet Lolita and Fruits styled. I am fascinated with the trends and styles from Japan -- and the art of Cosplay has allowed me to further my interest. And in March 2008 - I got to see cosplays in Harajuku (Japan) and attended one of X Japan's Live Performance at Tokyo Dome.
That's How It All Began!
~Apple~
I'm sure everyone at one point saw and/or liked Cardcaptor Sakura. It was probably aired around 1999-2000 on TV. It was one of my most favorite seires - even more than Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball.
