Meet Yama, or is it Haru, or Makoto? –Gallery 

Cosplay Name: Yamaki

Location: The Bryanston Shopping Centre, an ideal place to find a Chef and a Fireman, South Africa

Characters: Tachibana Makoto (Yamaki) and Nanase Haruka (Yamaki) from the anime Free! – Eternal Summer

Assistant: Little Penguin Cosplay, (See her photo shoots here and here) who came along to help Yama and gave invaluable help suggesting scenes, holding lights and fending off rats in the basement scene. 

It’s difficult task deciding which character to Cosplay. Many will spend months deliberating on their apps, looking at outfits online and checking to see if they have enough budget to buy the materials. Unless you are Yamaki, who chooses to do them all.

“Wow, where do I even begin… I am a HUGE fan of the sports anime, Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club and Free! – Eternal Summer. It is my favourite anime of all time, I’ve Cosplayed 8 characters from it (and plan on one more). I have a massive anime crush on Mako-chan, and with Haru, I relate to his obsession with wanting to swim all the time. I really just love the personalities and quirks they each have.”

“As for the outfits I chose for them, it’s from the second season’s ending credits, where each boy wears a different career outfit, (Makoto is a fireman and Haruka is a chef). When I first saw the ending credits I immediately wanted to start making the career outfits, not that the career outfits have anything to do with the actual story but heck if it gives me another reason to Cosplay from my favorite anime I’ll take up the challenge!”

Behind the Scenes Photos Courtesy of Little Penguin Cosplay

It’s an ambitious weekend to meet up with Yamaki; the Cape Town resident, flew up to Johannesburg to join in the biggest Cosplay event of the year rAge ( the really awesome gaming expo). Squeezed into in her bag are five Cosplays that weighed almost as much as her weight limit for the flight.

“I’m a sucker for Cosplay events. This year I worked as a Cosplayer at the ASUS stand as well as a Cosplay Judge for the annual rAge Cosplay Competition. From a Cosplay perspective, I’m not sure if there’s a “big deal”, other than most Cosplayers wanting to spend time with each other. That’s at least my plan when I attend the expo,” says Yamaki.

From her designated “Cosplay station”, Yamaki slaves away at her sewing machine to create all manner of cosplay outfits; what’s more, she’s known across the country for them.

“I feel I’ve done my characters justice when I get called “he” or “sir”,” she says.

“I guess if I had to be “known” for something that would be it. I have Cosplayed a few female characters but at least 96% of my Cosplays are male characters. My reason is simple, I like the male characters more.  I’ve been lucky and had mostly positive reactions, of course there are the few who have negative views on it but I’m mostly supported on it, which is truly fantastic.”

“I sometimes get asked: ‘Why do you do crossdress so much?’ and ‘You dress like a guy, are you gay?’ It really has nothing to do with my orientation, I prefer the male characters so I am going to Cosplay them, simple as that.”

Dressing as a guy can have its risks.

“Unfortunately the odd bad one too, such as strangers coming up to me and pressing their hand to my chest and saying ‘whoa, it’s really flat! Where are your boobs’ don’t do that to anyone, it’s really disrespectful.”

It’s a good thing Yamaki found Cosplay when she did. She admits to living a slow paced life in Kommetjie; a 40 minute drive from the nearest movie theatre. She also enjoyed South Africa’s best surfing beaches until she couldn’t stand the cold water.

Yamaki’s studio at home in Cape Town

She works part time as an au pair and at the town’s only, but very popular, sushi restaurant. One of the perks is that she gets to eat sushi at a discount. Along with being able to speak Mandarin, Yamaki is also a part-time student doing online courses to teach English as a foreign language.

Unlike many anime fans, Yamaki came late to the scene. Ask her about Pokémon and the animated shows you watched growing up and she gives you a blank stare. This is because she was watching animal documentaries on TV.

“I also did horse riding for 12 years and did so competitively for 10 of those years on my horse and pony, winning provincial showing championships, riding for my provinces in showing and equitation as well as competition and placing in SA showing Championships, that might be more interesting than surfing,” she says.

Behind the Scenes Photos Courtesy of Little Penguin Cosplay

Setting up the Tripod for the superimposition shot–Behind the Scenes Photos Courtesy of Little Penguin Cosplay

So where does Yamaki’s Cosplay journey begin?

“I honestly don’t remember the exact reason but I’ve always loved dressing up since a very young age, starting with my annual Harry Potter parties as a child. My stumbling across anime one day only made it spiral out of control.”

“My first Cosplay was in 2006 but I only found out and joined the South African Cosplay community in 2009/10. Since then it has grown at an immense rate, I have met so many wonderful people and made the most fantastic friends, I wouldn’t give it up for the world.”

To her eye it’s a lively community filled with friendly faces and warm embraces, most of the time.

“It truly is a wonderful thing to be a part of. I mean it’s not often you come across people who are willing to spend hundreds of hours and hundreds of Rands on bizarre looking character clothing! Not to mention the blood, sweat and tears that are all behind the scenes.”

It might be a man’s world, but it would mean nothing without a Yama.

When Yama and I started talking about the shoot we discussed playing with her obsession of all eight of the characters from Free! – But because of the weight limit we would only do two of them. Yama suggested we do a ‘Makoto stopping Haru from jumping in the water scene’ where she would play both characters. It came out pretty well in the end. 🙂