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2021.03.04

[Cosplayer: Clow] He Came to Japan With All The Fire Of A Passionate Country!

 

Cosplay….no, the passion for anime and game culture… transcends borders and crosses seas. Today we have a messenger of that from the ever-passionate country of Spain!!!

 

That cosplayer is… Clow!!!

 

 

I have to say that I was a little worried about the subtle nuances of the Japanese language during this interview, but Clow is so talkative that I completely forgot about it. 

 

 

 

Your Japanese Teacher Was A Video Game?

“It was about 6 years ago that I came to Japan. I had studied Japanese before coming for a year and then studied at a Japanese language school for a year after moving to Japan. I have passed the N1 level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test and I can understand about 90% of everyday Japanese conversation.” 

 

Whoa! Apparently, N1 is the highest level you can get and you can’t just reach that level halfheartedly. 

 

 

“I did learn Japanese at school but I also learned through gaming. Falcom Japan’s Legend of Heroes: Trail series has a tremendous amount of text, so it was a really good tool for studying. It’s the best way to read and memorise. Moreover, games like Persona have a lot of spoken dialogue, so they are really good for practicing how to read kanji. As a foreigner learning Japanese, I hope that there are more and more fully voiced games that get released. I also learned a lot of slang from my Japanese friends.”

 

I see… So you can learn Japanese while you game… He’s really killing two birds with one stone here. 

 

Leon Scott Kennedy from Resident Evil (Photographer: cozy/ Twitter:@cozy1215 )

 

 

 

I Had A Dream I Wanted to Realise…

On that note, what is it that inspired him to come to Japan, learn Japanese and to go as far as to even work in Japan?

 

“My dream was to become a game engineer. The first RPG I’d ever played was FINAL FANTASY VII. It was sensational and profoundly memorable to me. There are many major titles in Japan, but there are also pretty interesting hidden gems in terms of minor titles out there and someday I would…”

 

Yes, simply coming to Japan is a feat in and of itself but it’s not the highest mountain to climb. But working in Japan and on top of that at a game company, who could imagine that coming true?

 

“However, I made my dream come true. I was extremely happy when I was hired as an engineer at a game company here in Japan.”

 

Whoa… It’s even difficult for Japanese people to work as engineers at game companies here. On top of that, Clow works as the official cosplayer for Capcom. 

 

Leon Scott Kennedy from Resident Evil 2

 

 

 

Talking About Being The Official Capcom Cosplayer

“Around the time that Resident Evil 2 came out I had been cosplaying a zombie at a game show. I was told that I made a really handsome zombie and the talks began from there.”

 

No doubt he’s a handsome guy. Moreover, the main character in Resident Evil 2 has uniquely foreign features, so Clow is a striking match. 

 

Leon Scott Kennedy from Resident Evil 2

 

“Thank you! Although it’s pretty easy for me to play foreign characters in real life, Japanese characters are pretty difficult. For characters like Sakamoto from “Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto.” and the chief from Persona, just wearing the school uniform makes me feel like I’m in cosplay, so it’s really difficult for me to feel natural. But I hide it with makeup and love!!”

Yeah! I would expect nothing short of a passionate, straightforward profession of love from a person who hails from such a passionate country himself!!

 

“That being said, recently the characters in mainstream anime have such large eyes it isn’t even a matter of them looking more foreign or Japanese, they might be closer to someone from an entirely different world. (laughs).”

 

The main character from Persona 4

 

Ren Amemiya from Persona 5 Dancing In Starlight

 

Rin Matsuoka from Free!

 

 

 

How The Coronavirus Changed The Landscape Of Cosplay

It seems that Clow has been cosplaying since his time in Spain, so what is the difference he feels between Japan and Spain in regard to cosplay?

 

“Actually, I know that I said earlier that I use makeup to cover up but back in Spain I didn’t use makeup at all. When I came to Japan I was surprised at the level of makeup artistry cosplayers had. Seeing how they did makeup like true artisans, I felt I had to level up my cosplay. So a male cosplayer that I became friends with taught me how. Putting in colour contacts was first, then I went to how to put on foundation and then studied how to use concealer and how to apply eye makeup. I start by figuring out the character’s most distinctive features and then I try to recreate them through trial and error.”

 

The term “artisan” is a very honoured title to Japanese people! I am often told by people that they “became interested in Japanese culture overseas” through their “love for cosplay”, but what difference is there in his experience between cosplay in Spain.

 

Cloud Strife from FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

 

Axel from Kingdom Hearts

 

“Of course the main point of my efforts back in Spain was to just “Have fun!”. But recently more and more cosplayers are gaining fanbases. With the influence of coronavirus,  events have been cancelled and the amount of fun has decreased. Because of that, a lot of us are shifting over to social media.”

 

I see… For sure, even events in Japan are being cancelled or reduced, and regulations are becoming stricter. So when we think about Spain and how much larger the influence of the virus was there, you can definitely imagine how much more challenging their situation is. 

 

“In my opinion, as an otaku cosplay was like a way of communicating the fun I have with the hobby even more. And even now my opinion hasn’t changed. I hope that next year things settle down and it becomes a world we can have more and more fun in.”

 

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne from Fate/Grand Order

 

Sherlock Holmes from Fate/Grand Order

 

 

  • Clow 

Twitter:@clowcos

 

Instagram:@clow_shirow

 

 

Ryutaro Okabu from STEINS;GATE

 

Shoto Todoroki from My Hero Academia

 

Lelouch Lamperouge from Code Geass

 

 




Writer

Shiro Sato

Having started an advertising production company in 2010 whose main business partner is a mail order company, he specialises in direct response advertising.

Translator

Rhiannon Charles


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