Yaya Han: Conversations with an OG cosplayer

Interview Date: 4/5/2026 Interview Location: Anime Boston 2026 Interview Format: In-Person, Round-Robin Anime Herald: Your last book came out in 2020. How do you feel cosplay has changed in the past five or six years? Yaya Han: I wrote my book in 2019. It has changed a lot. I think the pandemic shifted some priorities. There have been some positive and some negative changes. I think the pandemic forced a lot of gaming and tech companies to seek more digital marketing. There’s been a new trend since then towards hiring cosplayers to promote their games and products. That’s been really great for the industry, but it also opened this new rat race where every cosplayer now feels kind of invalidated unless they get a chance to work with a gaming company. It sort of makes everybody a little more frantic. Some people have trouble with enjoying the hobby for what it is. Now, it is about the hustle and trying to get noticed by these companies. But at the same time, some cosplayers have now been able to make a career with it and become full time influencers, so it is a double-edged sword. That’s a huge change. I think TikTok and short-form video has been the other major change since my book. The rise of easily accessible, pre-bought costumes. I think now, at conventions, you’ll see way more people in costume than you did in the 2010s. Now, everyone is in a purchased costume. Everybody kind of looks the same. There is not as much emphasis on being creative, and choosing your own materials, and your own way of representing the character. All in all, it has been a snowball effect. We have developed very well, but also are struggling to find our place in this community. Dead Rhetoric: You are in collaboration with Michaels with your fabric line. What sort of decisions did you have to make when it comes to the types and styles of fabrics that you would put with them knowing that your name was on the line? Yaya Han: Oh yes. I had a working relationship with JOANN for close to ten years. That experience definitely gave me the preparation in talking to Michaels. From the get-go, me and my partners at Cosplay Fabrics, we were able to set the best-selling, the most tried and true fabrics in front of them and say “This is stuff that has been proven itself to be valuable and that people are using over and over again and they’re relying on when they’re planning their new costumes so these are the items that you should stock.” With JOANN, there was the interest in every season, something new. Something new that people had never before seen. Something kinda crazy, out there. But, I think it’s equally important to keep the really reliable fabrics always in stock for people: the Ultrapreme, the gold pleather. Things you can use over and over again, ten years, fifteen years. With Michaels, we’re building the foundation with these staple fabrics. I’m hoping to gain enough momentum with that so that we can bring in some new and interesting fabrics. So, I haven’t technically gotten to design new fabrics in about two years, since the transition. But, it’s been very important to continually present to them, and validate to them, that this is why they should carry these specific fabrics. I do kind of miss the creative aspect of it, and I look forward to when we can expand the fabric collection to add some really fun new stuff. Textile development is always changing. There’s always new technology and such, and it’s always very interesting and exciting to play in that. © 2019 by Yaya Han A-to-J Connections: How did you get started in cosplay? Yaya Han: Ah, this question! I am definitely one of the OGs. I started in 1999 at Anime Expo in Anaheim, CA. That was my first convention. I was part of an anime club in Arizona. They were planning a trip out to AX. It was actually a really big anime club, so we had rented a bus to road trip out to California. I knew of the convention. I knew that people dressed up. I loved the idea of dressing up, so I made a couple of new costumes. I did sew them, but they were very rudimentary. I love the experience of transforming into a character, as well as what it feels like to have a pile of fabric and make it into garments that you can wear on your body. I just think that’s fascinating. To go from completely 2D flat, to something that molds to your body. That sparked my continuous interest. So, I was 100% just a fan. I did not think this would become my career in any way. I entered a lot of contests. I volunteered at one convention, because I couldn’t afford to go otherwise. I also did artwork for the art show. Back then, there wasn’t so much an Artists Alley. You would draw or paint something, and put it in the art show, and people could bid on it. I won a lot of cosplay contests, and also sold my art at the art shows, so that kept giving me a reason to go to conventions. So, my freelance job was art, but I would cosplay every day. Eventually, the conventions were like, “Could you stop competing and winning Best in Show? Can you start judging?” So, 2002 is when I started being involved in behind-the-scenes aspects, doing panels, and judging contests. I’m one of the first cosplay panelists ever in North America. Eventually, I quit my job, and started doing this full time in 2005. Which seems ridiculous if you think about it. I’ve constantly wanted to be in this world as much as possible. I’m very lucky and blessed that I get to be after all this time. Anime Herald: I want to follow up on something you just mentioned, prebuilt costumes. Let’s say someone buys a prebuilt costume and the fit isn’t entirely flattering on them. What advice would you give them on how to tailor or fix their costumes, or should they let the professionals handle that? Yaya Han: No. I think you should know basic sewing skills, so you have the ability to alter your costumes. I actually do see a lot of cosplayers that will spruce up a pre-made costume, not only by altering the fits, but also by remaking certain parts to be more up to their standards. They might keep the main coat or dress, but they will make new accessories, or new armor pieces that are way nicer than what came in the package. People are already being very smart about it. I’ve pre-bought a few costumes, or I’ve been sponsored by companies like DokiDoki Cosplay with a pre-made costume. It definitely did not fit right out of the box, so I’ve had to spend time altering it. I think it actually takes more time to alter something than to make it from scratch, because you have to undo all the seams. That can take hours by itself. I do tell people that they should iron their costumes, and they should do basic fits to make it more comfortable for them. Yeah, I think it’s great. Dead Rhetoric: You were mentioning that transition from being in the cosplay contests to judging them. When it comes to judging cosplays, what do you feel is most important? What impresses you the most? Yaya Han: We have a bazillion different skills when it comes to cosplay. It’s not just sewing vs. sewing. It’s sewing vs. armor, vs. 3D printing, vs. electric wiring, and such. As judges, we are looking for clean execution above all. Even beyond details, most important is if you executed the skills you took on as finished and cleanly as possible. Because with each skill, there’s sloppy sewing, and there’s clean sewing. With armor, there’s messy finish, and refined finish. As a judge, you should know what the utmost quality for most skills should be and then you compare it to what the contestants were able to achieve. In the end, you reward the person that put the most effort into it. It’s not about how many skills that they could show, but how cleanly they could execute each skill. I tell people (cosplay) contests are a great place to show off mixed media skills. Do a few different things. We want to see as much as possible be handmade, even if that’s not the requirement. Obviously, the person who hand-makes the most has put the most effort into it. You have to be very objective and look at the overall roster. You do have to speak to each of them, look through their progress and listen to their thought process so you can understand what they were trying to achieve versus what they were able to achieve. I really enjoy judging. I’ve gotten the chance to judge the biggest contests in the world, including the World Cosplay Summit (in Japan), the Extreme Cosplay Gathering in Paris, and the Nordic Cosplay Championship in Sweden. So, I have seen competitors at the highest level possible. I also judged the Crown Championships (of Cosplay at C2E2). I just encourage people to challenge themselves to enter contests, not to win awards, but because it will make them a more refined crafter. (Editor’s note: “Bazillion” is a real word, and it dates back to the 1930s.) A-to-J Connections: What would you say the hardest costume for you to build has been? Yaya Han: The hardest costumes, and I’m saying “costumes,” plural, that I’ve built, are usually ones that are outside of my comfort zone. I’m generally very comfortable with sewing. Less comfortable with armor. And wigs are my personal bane. Any time where it’s a suit of armor… I did a space armor suit for Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy from the comic book. It’s white armor, so the paint job has to be very precise. That was the first time for me. The way I chose to do the armor, which was foam, but coated in resin to give it more stability. That was brand new for me. It was a project where I just kind of suffered through it. It was not as fun, but of course you learn a lot through it, so you want to take on the challenge. It doesn’t always turn out the way you want, but for me, there’s no regret. In cosplay, I’ve made over four hundred costumes. I don’t regret a single one of them, but I do have ones that I like more than others. Anime Herald: Let’s take this in the other direction. What are some costumes where you expected them to be hard, but you found they flowed naturally to you? Yaya Han: That’s a great question. I don’t get asked what I excel at very often. It’s usually, “What are the challenges?” It’s refreshing. I think I’m very good at choosing materials that complement each other. I’m very good at structuring costumes so that they look effortless on the outside, but they have structure on the inside that holds everything up and makes sure everything is in place. I think I’m very good at detailing: adding details, embellishing and such. I’d say my most successful costumes from in recent years, the ones I’ve been very proud of… for example, Edea from Final Fantasy VIII, where I made a dress that is supposed to be pitch black, most likely velvet with no reflection in the game renderings. I made it with two layers of fabrics to give it a purple iridescent shine, as well as really intricate sequin designs. It just made the costume more real. It made it work for the real world. It also made it the most unique Edea costume. Nobody else has an Edea costume like it. I think I’m very good at envisioning these types of looks and bringing a character from a 2D world to a 3D world. Dead Rhetoric: I noticed earlier you mentioned the word “transforming.” I thought I’d read somewhere that being true to the character when you cosplay is not just putting on the fabric. What are some of the things people might think of as much in terms of becoming the character you cosplay them? Yaya Han: I think a lot of people explore the character, and they’re very good at transforming through TikTok videos. Where they’re taking a scene and emulating a character down to the T. I think that’s really awesome. I love seeing someone being so passionate about it. For me, it’s always been more about conveying the vibe of the character versus 1:1 copy. I don’t do 1:1 copy because I think cosplay is a creative outlet where it’s almost like you meld parts of you with the character. You are transforming into the character, but you’re also bringing something unique that is very you to the specific costume. Like what I said with Edea, it’s unique to mine. For me, a lot of what comes out when I am transforming into a character is in the way that I pose and act for photos and videos. If I’m cosplaying a villainous character, I walk a little differently. I hold my head a little differently, and I definitely pose differently, than when I’m doing a cute, demure character. I love that. That’s why I don’t have one favorite costume because I love being different characters and different types of characters. A-to-J Connections: What are your favorite anime, either of all time, or that you’re currently watching? Yaya Han: Oh my god! I actually, on Discord, have a friend group that we do anime nights with, and we watched all of The Apothecary Diaries until now, and all of Frieren until now. I kind of am always the one who’s like, “These new anime are coming out. We should try them!” I watch a lot of anime. I try to keep up with the season and the ones I am into. Last season, I watched Trigun: Stargaze, Hell’s Paradise season 2, Journal with Witch, and Tamon’s B-Side, which is an idol anime with a very satirical aspect to it. Of course, Frieren. And now, we are anticipating Witch Hat Atelier, and the new Four Seasons anime that I want to check out. I am keeping up with JJK (Jujutsu Kaisen), too. I love it. It’s my preferred form of entertainment. Anime Herald: Let’s go back to 1999 in the anime club. Yaya Han: Oh boy! Anime Herald: What’s the stuff you were into back then? Yaya Han: Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Evangelion. Those were probably the big ones, because it was 1999, that’s what came out then. Escaflowne. Fushigi Yuugi, also. I was also really big into YuYu Hakusho, and so the first costume I ever made was Kurama from YuYu Hakusho. Through the anime club, we had watch nights. It was really great. I think anime should be enjoyed with friends. Dead Rhetoric: When you’re watching a show, have you ever noticed that there was a certain type of character that you say “Ooh! I want to cosplay this!”? Or, are there any particular traits that you look for in a character that you say, “I’ve got to do this.”? Yaya Han: Yes, but it’s not me looking for it. The character comes at me and I’m like, “Oh no! I’m powerless against them! I can’t… okay, I’m doing it.” I definitely have types of characters that I’m drawn to. When we do our anime nights, very often a character will come on, and my friends everybody’s like, “There’s a Yaya character!” Purple hair, and stuff like that. I like villainess characters. I like characters that have a lot on their shoulders, but don’t show it, and try to get through. So both Maomao from The Apothecary Diaries and Frieren. I gravitated to them, even though they’re protagonists, and oftentimes, I’m not a protagonist type of cosplayer. But I had to cosplay both of them for the reason that I related very much to aspects of their lives very much. Also, they’re both short. That’s sometimes… “Oh, we’re doing a group cosplay. Yaya, can you be the short one?” “Fine, I’ll be the short one.” ​But sometimes, I like the big sister character who is very nurturing, but is also very vivacious. There is a type. I’ve cosplayed multiple of them. Right now, Pairin (The Apothecary Diaries), she’s one of them. Big sister, vivacious, but very caring for her family. Camilla from Fire Emblem. Big sister, and very caring for her family. I also love villainess characters. Wait, I already said that. Many times! Evil queen, vampire queen, demon queen. That’s why I cosplayed Daki from Demon Slayer. It’s nice to be a baddie sometimes. A-to-J Connections: I believe at Opening Ceremonies you said this was your first time in Boston, or just your first time at Anime Boston? Yaya Han: This is my first time at Anime Boston, second time in Boston, but the last time I did not get to see that city at all. There was no time. So, I almost consider this my real Boston experience. Because we did it all. Most of what I know about Boston is through movies. Boston is a very iconic movie city, so yesterday, we went to the library, and I lost my mind. I was like, “Wait! I’ve seen this in this movie and this movie!” It’s so iconic. Boing to North End and all the Italian neighborhoods. I was like, “Oh my god!” There’s a vibe there that I recognize from the screen. It’s been really awesome. We’re hoping to do a Duck Boat tour, and see the city from the water if it’s not too rainy on Monday. Anime Herald: I’m going to turn the table around now. Do you have any questions for us? Yaya Han: Yeah. What makes Anime Boston unique, compared to all the other anime conventions in the United States? Anime Herald: They talked about how everyone’s a volunteer. This is a passion project that just grew and grew into the Northeast’s biggest anime convention. Now, this was before Anime NYC was a thing. Anime Boston’s obviously much older, so it has a storied history much the way that Boston has a storied history. But, it still remains a con that was built of a love. Built of love for anime. Whereas, compared to Anime Expo, Anime Expo is built on a love for Japanese animation and Japanese culture. It is a much more professional corporate con in a way that Anime Boston simply isn’t. Anime Boston is, again, the people coming together and building something they love together. That’s how I’d describe Anime Boston. Yaya Han: I love that. I think it’s great. All these big industry cons, they lose some of the community aspect. Even though all these people are gathered, their priority is to stand in line for exclusive merch, or go through the giant booths. It’s different than doing the panels. I love seeing so many people at Opening Ceremonies. It was very refreshing to be at a big convention and have a proper Opening Ceremonies. I think most people at other conventions don’t care about opening ceremonies. I miss the way that conventions used to be set up, so I’ve certainly been very pleasantly surprised and continue to be amazed (by Anime Boston). I’m just like, “Give me more! What else is going to happen? Yoko Kanno concert! Tonight! Ah!” I’m excited. Dead Rhetoric: You were saying before about the positive aspects. What do you look at… do you feel that cosplay is more accepted at this point? There are less people saying “Oh, what is that?” Do you feel that there’s a much broader sense of understanding cosplay on a larger level in the general public at this point? Yaya Han: We’ve come a long way, definitely. I think we have made major strides to cementing cosplay as not just a Halloween related hobby, but also a passion and lifestyle. At the same time, while most people may have heard of cosplay or seen cosplay online or at an event, I think there are still a lot of misconceptions about it. Now, it’s like, “Why do you do it? Do you do this as a job?” It used to be, there was no question. Nobody did it as a job. It was impossible to do it as a job. Everybody did it because they loved it. Now there’s questions like, “So, you do this because companies pay you?” Okay. “Or, you do this because you’re competing for big prizes around the country?” Okay. “Do you do this just to make TikTok videos?” It’s more like it has branched out. The tree has grown so big. There are so many different ways to do cosplay, including doing cosplay on OnlyFans. It’s a legitimate part of cosplay. Some of these branches never touch. They don’t ever cross. I think you have to explain now how you do cosplay. “I’m a cosplayer.” What does that mean? Oh, “I do cosplay this and this and this way.” A little more complicated now. But as a whole, we really used to struggle to have the skillset be respected. I’m the most proud of how now, everybody knows cosplayers can make sick shit. That part I don’t have to advocate for anymore. We have shown beyond doubt that an individual person can make a costume equally as nice as a Hollywood studio can make it. We are considered an art form. That is the number one in my book that we have achieved. Now, we just have to get people to understand all the other aspects of it.

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