Finland 🇫🇮

Ii (solo): Moikka moii!! or Hellou Hi!  Im Ii also known as Iinaban. I work as a scenic painter/builder and theater tech in theater and on my free time i have been breaking my back on my kitchen floor by making cosplays since 2014 so this year im celebrating my 10th cosplay anniversary. This is my first international competiton and im so exited to see you all, see new places, and feel the new convention energy. 

UruharaFC (duo): Hello everyone! We are Päivi and Satu, cosplay duo UruharaFC from Finland! We started cosplaying in 2009. Päivi is a professional costume maker. She draws patterns, chooses the materials and sews the outfits. Satu works with wigs, props and stage shows. We have been competing as a team since we started cosplaying.

How did you discover cosplay and what made you start in this hobby? How long ago?

Ii (solo): Like many others so did I find cosplay through my friends while i attended my first convention during my adulthood.

UruharaFC (duo): For us, cosplaying means a way to say that you are a fan of something. Some people draw fanarts, some people write fanfictions and we cosplay the characters from our favorite stories. Cosplay is a great way to challenge yourself and learn new crafting techniques.

What does cosplay mean for you? And what is your favorite part of the hobby?

Ii (solo): Cosplay is an outlet for me to be creative and better my skills. I love to learn new techniques when making cosplays, i always want to better my self. Even if its just a small amount i try to up my skills.

UruharaFC (duo): In general we love everything related to clothes and dressing up. Cosplay is a very visible way of expressing your interests. Especially at cons we meet new people who have the same interests because we recognize each other by our cosplays. We know nothing is perfect, but for us cons are a safe place to express ourselves.

What changes do you see in the cosplay community in your country compared to when you started?

Ii (solo): There is a younger generation goming in hot with their new skills and passion for the hobby so all the conventions are sold out in minutes and you can see cosplayers alot more in social media than before.

UruharaFC (duo): Cosplayers in Finland are very skilled and friendly. They make very accurate cosplay outfits and invest in details. During the pandemic, the cons were on hiatus for a couple of years, and since then it has been great to see how many young people have started the hobby!

Why did you choose that project for the ICL national selection? Is this your first time joining an international cosplay competition?

Ii (solo): I was supposed to compete with Yunjin earlier this year in craftmanship category in a different convention, but life happened and I couldnt enter for that competion. For beating myself down for not entering that earlier competion I got courage from my friends to enter ICL  which happens to be my first international competion.

UruharaFC (duo): ICL is our fourth cosplay competition abroad. This time our costumes are Silas and Rantaro from Beyblade Burst Evolution. We have a long history of more than 20 years with Beyblade. We like both characters and feel that they suit us. The characters interact a lot with each other, which made it easy to make a good show for them. The costumes are ready, but we are currently improving them for the finals.

What do you expect from your visit to Spain? Is this your first time visiting the country?

Ii (solo): This happens to be my first time visiting spain so im really exited. I’m coming in with open and happy mind, I wanna enjoy the experience to the fullest meet new people and collect new experiences

UruharaFC (duo): This is our first time visiting Spain. We hope the finals go better than the semi-finals where we had some problems that we luckily managed to overcome. We are very curious to see what kind of event Japan Weekend is. Of course we want to write about everything we experience in our blog!

Have you decided your project for the finals in Madrid? May you give us a clue? 

Ii (solo): I will be competing with the same character and costume as in the preliminaries, but i will be making some changes for better by following the feedback given by the judges in preliminaries.

Describe the cosplay community in your country using five words.

Ii (solo): Skillfull, passionate, welcoming, Helpfull, rising.

Link to your Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter (add other social media if relevant):

Ii (solo): https://www.instagram.com/iinaban/

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Ii & UruharaFC were selected at Comic Con Finland.