Yumidun - Creator Interview
We have followed and enjoyed the amazing cosplay from the super talented Yumidun for years now; so we were very excited for this opportunity to collaborate with them and learn about their amazing cosplay journey. With a passion for bringing beloved video game characters to life, Yumidun has captured the hearts of fans through her stunning portrayals of iconic figures from the realms of Final Fantasy and NieR and many more.
In this interview, we delve into Yumidun’s creative process, her favorite characters, and the magic that happens when they bring beloved characters to life. From wielding swords as fierce warriors to embodying enigmatic androids, Yumidun’s cosplays are a testament to her dedication and talent. Join us as we step behind the scenes with Yumidun, exploring the meticulous details of her costumes, the challenges she faces, and the joy she finds in becoming the characters she loves. Our Gi Channel followers of Nier Infinite and Final Fantasy Infinite will be excited for this one for sure. Whether it’s the haunting elegance of Kaine from NieR Replicant or the futuristic allure of 2B from NieR: Automata, Yumidun’s transformative artistry leaves an indelible mark on the cosplay community. Her Cindy, Lightning, Noctis, Tifa, Aerith, and Jessie, are all just absolutely amazing and show a true love for the Final Fantasy universes.
Yumidun Interview:
Game Infinite: What inspired you to start cosplaying? It’s always interesting to learn about a cosplayer’s journey and what sparked their passion for bringing fictional characters to life. Tell us about your journey?
Yumidun: I’ve always been someone who loves to express myself creatively. When I was younger, I used to draw, write and sing. In my teens I fell in love with photography, planning concepts, finding the framing and editing it. Around that time my friend also got a real and fancy camera, which gave me the opportunity to practice not only behind the camera but also in front of it.
When I found out about cosplay it was through Deviantart and seeing all the photoshoots people were having. My love for video games, movies and cartoons were something I was already expressing through my other creative outlets like drawing, writing and singing… what if I could bring it to the photoshoots? And that’s what initially sparked my interest in trying to cosplay. I didn’t start until later, thanks to the friends I made in the convention community.I learned a lot from them and could finally start figuring out where to get the information and materials needed to create my first cosplay.
Later on I learned more about cosplay competitions, CMVs, performances, and that just made my interest grow even more. Photography wasn’t the only creative outlet in cosplay, but it could be so much more. It gave me an opportunity to not only use my previous creative outlets and knowledge, but learn new things that I wouldn’t have otherwise. All that creativity and wanting to learn new things, kept me going and here we are today!
See Yumidun Featured on Gi Channel Nier Infinite
(Nier and Drakengard Cosplays) Photography Credits: solliefoto.se, jacob.cr2, lovijphotography
Gi: Which cosplay was the most challenging to create, and why? Please share insights into your details, materials, and techniques used in your cosplays?
Yumidun: My most challenging cosplay is actually the one I’m working on now: Catwoman! She’s so different from anything I’ve ever created before, both in terms of materials and techniques. New things for Catwoman include pretty much everything: stretch vinyl, tight fitting clothing, cowl with ears, bullwhip, dark smokey makeup etc… it’s alot! This uncharted territory can be a bit frustrating and scary but I’m learning so much and having alot of fun with it.
Speaking of cosplays I’ve already finished, however it’s likely Noctis! I actually started my Noctis cosplay back in 2016, only worked on it for a couple of months before giving up… I couldn’t get the cosplay to the quality I wanted… I had only cosplayed for a couple of years and I was in over my head. I put the cosplay to the side for years and picked it up again for World Cosplay Summit 2022. So SIX YEARS later!? But this time I could tell how much I’ve learned. Where it before was overwhelming and anxiety inducing it was now a fun challenge.
The cosplay includes so many techniques, and I’m very proud of the end result. Hand stamped lining, sculpted and cold casted buttons, pants with 81+ pieces, glove with EVA foam raviolis, 3D modeled and printed sword that lights up, square enix male (yes it’s own breed of person haha) makeup, spliced wig styled with mainly heat, more pockets that I can count, bootcovers made of randomly sourced materials, and so much more! My Noctis cosplay is my most advanced cosplay, a true challenge, but I’m so happy with it.
See Yumidun Featured on Gi Channel Final Fantasy Infinite
Final Fantasy Cosplays: Photography Credits: lovijphotography, solliefoto.se,
Gi: For our Gi Channel Final Fantasy Infinite community, can you tell us about your many amazing Final Fantasy cosplays? You have incredible characters like Cindy, Noctis, Tifa. Tell us about your love of Final Fantasy.
Yumidun: Don’t get me started on Final Fantasy, we'll be here all day haha! As if my previous replies weren’t long enough, I'll do my best not to write a novel about the subject…
I originally found out about Final Fantasy thanks to the amazing AMVs on YouTube. Fun fact: Yuna and Tidus was my first ship before I knew anything about what “ships” or Final Fantasy even was. I could watch all those iconic FFX scenes over and over again… it wasn’t long until I figured out what Advent Children was, watched tons of AMVs with that too and that’s how I spiraled into loving the series before even getting my hands on the games.
My first FF game ended up being FFXIII! I remember the trailer showed up on Nickelodeon with the song “My Hands”… I had never seen a game looking that good. With enough begging I managed to convince my parents to let me play the game and it was magical. I fell in love with the world, the characters, the creatures and the music. I had never played a JRPG before but even though I was terrible at it, I loved every second of it.
It wasn’t long after that I got to borrow a PSP to play FFVII… There's no secret how much that game means to me. By then high quality renders, CGI and particle effects were rampant, yet I fell in love with this game that didn’t even have voice acting. I couldn’t get enough of the world and it’s characters, so after that it was straight into Crisis Core. Following that it was finally time to play FFX, then FFXV, FFIX, etc. and here we are today with the recently released FFXVI and FF7R… what a time to be alive!
Final Fantasy is something I can talk hours upon hours about. I care for it so much, can never get enough of its worlds, characters, music, mini games, art, all of it. They never shy away from scary important topics, yet they do it in such a way that they don’t seem as scary anymore.
I promised not to ramble yet I did, so I leave you with: FF is great please try it, you can thank me later!
Gi: In your bio you show that you were the WCS22 World Grand Champion. Can you tell us more about that? What is that, and what cosplay did you do?
Yumidun: That’s correct! WCS is short for World Cosplay Summit, an international cosplay competition held in Nagoya, Japan. Teams of 2 compete represent their country in this world championship based on craftsmanship and performance. In 2022 the aftermath of the pandemic was still lurking and WCS adapted by adding a video division to the competition. Making it a stage division for those able to participate on location in Japan and a video division for the rest of us who had trouble getting to Japan.
Me and my friend Demu had originally qualified back in 2019, before the pandemic, but once it was time to compete in 2022 we decided to change our costumes to better fit the occasion. The new costumes being Noctis and Prompto from Final Fantasy XV were cosplays we had already started working on years ago, we had most of the materials already and it was a lot better suited for the video format. Considering we both had an interest in CMVs from the start of our cosplay journey, the change from stage to video felt perfect for us.
The audio for the video is likely what took the longest to produce as it included directing the music my boyfriend made for us, writing the monologue, recording it, editing it, mixing along with the music. I worked on it up until the very end of the video editing process, as we couldn’t even record the video until the last second due to me taking my bachelors degree at the same time. Recording took about a weekend and a half, with the longest session probably being the part when me and Demu had to figure out how to set up a tent by ourselves... Editing took a couple of more days and voila we had a video!
Extremely long story short, but we managed to win the video division of WCS 2022! Becoming the first official Grand Champions from Sweden ever! It still feels surreal and untrue.
Yumidun TikTok!!!
Do you want to see super fun cosplay TikTok's? Well then make sure to drop Yumidun a follow!
Gi: Can you share any tips for aspiring cosplayers? What advice do you have for cosplayers trying to get into this world?
Yumidun: Something I would encourage to other cosplayers is to look at other people’s work in progress content. There’s so much to learn from watching someone else do their handy work. You might find some new technique, a new way of thinking or just general inspiration. Looking at WIPs rather than just photoshoot pictures help me so much, as it’s alot easier seeing the craft upclose, in progress, the insides etc. In a photoshoot picture it’s so staged, only seeing things from their perfect angle but in a WIP you see so much more. I’ve also tried looking more and more at other cosplayers from my region, to see if there’s any new things they’ve learned about that I’ve missed. Anything from a specific material to a new store or maybe even a location.
Lastly on that subject, I’d highly recommend looking at other WIP content that may not be for cosplayers in particular. There’s so many other crafter-content-creators out there to learn from, that surely may use other techniques than the ones you see us cosplayers use. Take a look to find other creators who sew, cut hair, sew, build, paint and you’ll learn so much new stuff. It doesn’t have to be for costumes even, it can be anything. Get out there, watch things and learn!
Gi: If you could bring any future cosplay to life that you haven’t done yet, could you tell us about a wishlist or upcoming cosplay?
Yumidun: There’s an insane amount of cosplays I wish to do, but it’s so difficult to find the time and money to make them all. I’d love to get my hands on a FF7R Tifa cosplay, as well as try doing some version of Cloud himself. Perhaps Infantry from Crisis Core, Samurai from Ever Crisis or something casual. In a similar area I’d also love to cosplay Yuna and/or Tidus from FFX, whoever doesn’t matter as long as I get to make a Tidus and Yuna shoot happen. Terra from FFVI is also incredibly lovely, then there’s Lulu from FFX again, and Garnet from FFIX…
Leaving the Final Fantasy realm for a second but staying in video games, I’ve always wanted to cosplay more characters from Nier and Persona 5. With my recent Baldur’s Gate obsession, Shadowheart and Karlach have of course captured my heart. Let’s not even get started on my never ending list of character from the Batman series… so many versions of Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Batgirl… the list goes on and on as you can tell!
I try not to overwhelm myself with all that I wish to cosplay. I take it one costume at a time, do what I find the time, money and motivation to do. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to get some financial help on a costume through donations on Ko-fi or wishlist on Throne. Entirely grateful for that, as some of those cosplays wouldn’t have happened without the support! As of now my focus lies in finishing up Catwoman (based on the current comics design), then I’ll get back to working on Jill from FFXVI. I have all the material for her, the wig is finished, rapier is being printed and I just need to get started on the actual clothing. I’ll likely pick up another stray project or two along the way, but as for now that’s the plan!
-
-
