Thanks to all the fans who visits invenglobal cosplay page, we planned a series interview with Korean popular cosplayers.  The first guest of this series interview is Nari, who is recently practicing lots of cosplays in these days. We hope that this inerview would be a chance to introduce her to her fans and see Nari behind the photograph. 

The following is an interview with RZ COS Nari. 

Hello. Please introduce yourself to the foreign fans for the first time.

Hello, my name is Nari. I’m very happy at the fact that I have this cool opportunity to introduce myself to the foreign fans through my cosplays.

Whether it’s through Halloween or various festivals, cosplaying has become very mainstream. How did you get into cosplaying?

I really love gaming, and I enjoy it on a regular basis. Through gaming, I’ve naturally come across many different cosplay photos, and thought to myself, ‘Wow~ I want to try it myself.’

Thinking how cosplaying is such a cool thing, and actually cosplaying yourself are two very different things. Were you nervous at all to be in front of a camera?

I thought to myself that not a lot of people will recognize me when I put on costumes, wigs, and make ups. I remember that it seemed very cool, so I just started right away. I’m always open to learning and attempting something new in life.

When you first started cosplaying, I reckon that you wouldn’t have known where to start. For example, did you worry about where to get the wigs and costumes, how to take pictures, etc?

When I’ve searched cosplaying on the internet, there were many sites to take references from. At first, I just wanted to pay for everything (laughter). I tried to just solve everything with money by going to the most expensive, high-end stores.

However, through the many purchases I’ve made, there were things that I started to dislike, such as quality or design. So I’ve learned how to make my own clothes for a year. I couldn’t continue learning because I had to come to Seoul for work, but the things I learned through that process, such as body size, helped me become detailed with my orders.

Being a cosplay model is your job. How did it become your job?

I lived in Busan, but because of my work at a game company, I moved to Seoul. At the time, cosplaying was something I enjoyed as a hobby, but a professional cosplay company offered me a job as a professional cosplay model. Cosplaying on the side while working for the company was so fun that when the opportunity came, I happily took it. I always like tackling on new challenges, so I didn’t hesitate from diving into this line of work as well.

Who is your favorite character that you’ve cosplayed?

I love to be showered with attention, so the part where I get to review the photos and the character is what I love more than preparing for the cosplay. The response for Girls’ Frontline, Ithaca and K-11 was massive, so I love them a lot.

I assume there’s a lot of reasons why people cosplay. For me, I want to show others what I’ve cosplayed, and I enjoy the response that I get from different people. Even if I work hard on a cosplay, but don’t get a good response from people, I feel that because I expressed the character wrong, there’s a lot less affection for the photos. However, good photos mean the very opposite, and I have a lot more affection for them.

What’s the main focus in preparing for your cosplay?

First, I prefer characters that fits me well. I think the fit for the clothes is very important, so I prefer to shoot in clothes that fit me perfectly. I’m usually very shy and not very good at verbally expressing myself, but I forget about all that when I step up to do something. That’s why I’m not afraid to make different facial expressions or even act in front of a camera.

Although I’m only cosplaying characters that are pretty, sweet and innocent, I’ve tried cosplaying unusual characters like The Joker. Even if I had a strange facial expression, since it’ll be refined through photos, I wasn’t worried.

Since cosplaying is very scantily clad in nature, you must be on a strict diet and work hard to keep yourself in shape.

I love eating, so I’m very bad at keeping a strict diet. You can even say that I sleep and wake up to eat good food. I can’t give it up, so I work out that much more. There aren’t that many that control how much they eat through exercise, but for me, the amount of exercise depends on how much I eat.

I heard that you’ve cheered for London Spitfire. Are you a fan of esports?

I still am a big fan of esports. I grew up alongside my older brother who loved to watch competitive Starcraft matches. At first, I didn’t understand the viewership experience, as I thought that games should be directly enjoyed, but later on, when I saw how great Lee ‘Flash’ Young-ho was playing, I fell in love with esports.

Which games do you enjoy watching these days?

I love playing and watching PUBG, Overwatch, and Blade & Soul. I started cheering for London Spitfire, when the GC Busan squad was acquired by the organization. Since I main Support, I tend to cheer harder for Support players.

Out of the many cosplayers that you’ve come across, what style of cosplay do you like? Do you perhaps have a cosplayer that you respect?

I don’t look at other cosplays with adoration. What I mean is that I tend to look out for my own strengths and weaknesses in myself, but looking at other cosplays tends to bring down my confidence. That’s why I shy away from looking at other cosplays.

Are there any new cosplays that you want to attempt?

Since all the characters I cosplay are all cute and pretty, I realized that some people think I can only cosplay those characters. I want to break that prejudice and try something weird and unusual.

Lastly, is there something you want to say to the readers across the world?

Until recently, I’ve only shown myself through my cosplays. However, I’ve opened a Youtube channel and interact with people through videos. Please come by and check out my Youtube channel as well.