Interview with Katsuki/Dean

It’s time for another interview, this time with Katsuki/Dean! She’s a lovely cosplayer from Germany, who is quite talented!

Katsuki/Dean as Draco from Harry Potter, photo by Nicole Schlichting

What’s your cosplay alias and why did you choose it?
My real name is Katharina and my cosplay alias is, most of the time, Katsuki(-sama). But most of my German friends know me under my other nickname ‘Dean’ which I use for years now on the German cosplay site ‘animexx.de’.

How many years have you been cosplaying and what got you started?
I started with cosplaying in 2008 and my first cosplay was Draco Malfoy. My first introduction to cosplay was on animexx.de and the internet in general. I was really fascinated by it and shortly after that I wanted to make my own costumes. And that’s how it all started.

Katsuki/Dean as Jibril from Angel Sanctuary, photo by Svenja Sinjen

What has been some of your favorite things to work with when constructing costumes and why?
Ohh that’s really hard to choose… I worked with a lot of different materials for weapons and props such as wood, leather or feathers. But one of my favorite things will always be hot glue (:D). I made some jewelry-stuff with it and use it a lot for things I can’t sew on the costume. But I also like working with different kinds of fabric since every single fabric is different to work with.

What are you excited to be working with in the future and why?
I would really like to work with real metal even it will be really challenging and I’m going to work a lot with foam rubber in the near future.

What are some of the traits you like to see in other costumes and who do you think does well in them?
I don’t want to say names, but I really like it when the cosplayer works with many details and makes the costume as real, but still true, to the character as possible.

What is your view of the “cosplay scene”?
Another tough question… In Germany there is a quite big cosplay scene and it’s still growing. But I’m a bit annoyed by the scene sometimes because there are a lot of superficial cosplayers. But otherwise I’ve met a lot of great and awesome people in the scene so it’s a bit like 50/50.

Katsuki/Dean as Dietrich from Trinity Blood, photo by Svenja Sinjen

What are some of the things you want to see change in the scene?
I kinda answered it in the last question but I would like some cosplayers to be more tolerant about others. Cosplay is a hobby and not a competition on who got the biggest/best/most expensive costume. Some people should really realize that, even if it’s important to make good costumes.

What is some advice you could give people starting to get into cosplay?
The best is to look for someone in your family or your friends to see if someone has some experience in sewing, because at the beginning it can be really complicated and frustrating. But it will get better after some practice.

What are some of your favorite conventions you’ve attended and why?
In Germany, there are a lot of big conventions, but personally I like the AnimagiC in Bonn and the Bookfair in Leipzig the most. They were my first big conventions in 2009 and I still go there every year. I met a lot of friends there and so it’s always nice to return to the place where we all met first. And I like the Connichi in Kassel a lot.

Give a random fact about one of your costumes that you’re proud of!
My Bubblehead Nurse Cosplay was the most fun to make. We wanted it to look dirty and old, so we rolled it in mud and drove over it with the car. After dyeing it with black tea it looked too pinkish so… it was hard work to get the right color. But I really love this costume and it’s one of my most famous ones which I’ve never expected before.