This months feature is DreamCherries.Cosplay! Cherrie is a UAE based cosplayer of Egyptian/Russian descent who has been an active member of the cosplay community since 2015. Known as the unofficial “JoJo of Dubai” Cherrie won the 2020 World Cosplay Summit preliminaries alongside veteran cosplayer Sumi.Cosplay at MEFCC 2020.
We sat down with the fashion/art student to bring to you this Cosplay Arabia exclusive.
CA: You recently won WCS 2020 as a representatives for UAE alongside veteran cosplayer Sumi.Cosplay – how has that been?
Cherrie: Choosing our characters was a doozy n itself ! The amount of times we’ve switched plans and characters.. We wanted to wow the audience and judges with both our skit and cosplays ! So we chose Super Smash Bros since, if you’ve played the game, you’d know it’s incredibly random with endless possibilities for the skit and characters everyone would know and love! It was a good option for the both of us, because we could include lots of comedy in our ‘fighting scene’ and look good too!
2 months before MEFCC me and Sumi barely slept, with all the sewing, wig work, resining, sanding, practicing and the endless trial and error. The video and audio for the skit itself took a full day! Plus alongside all of this we still had a life to tend to, I had school and college work to do while Sumi had commissions to finish, not to mention we also had to finish our other cosplays! We worked really really hard for this WCS, but not because our main objective was to win, it was to show that we are extremely passionate about Cosplaying and portraying our characters perfectly in both look and act.
I put all my worrying energy towards my full act on stage, we both gave it our absolute all. We had a delay with our video and a mishap with the stage, but we played along as if it didn’t happen. The audience roared with screams and laughter, the judges smiled, this was when me and sumi both knew that we have achieved our goal of entertaining everyone and being legendary!
When they announced our winning, I fell to my knees hahaha. I’m so surprised I managed to keep face till we ran backstage, and that was when the real waterworks happened. All our hard work has paid off and more, through all of this we’ve managed to succeed and have the honor to represent the UAE in WCS ! It’s something Sumi has already done, but a dream I never would’ve thought I’d actually even experience. We were both very Happy Princess’s.
Shyly entering my first ever con in my first ‘official’ cosplay (Aradia from Homestuck) with no friends and not knowing anyone, expecting to be unrecognized because homestuck is an underrated web-comic here. But then meeting A WHOLE GANG of homestuck cosplayers that loved my cosplay and invited me to hang out with them!
CA: Apart from WCS preliminaries, what else have you accomplished in the world of cosplay?
Cherrie: I have won an online cosplay contest! And me and Sumi won 3rd place on our Elsa and Anna cosplay competition skit a long time ago. But other than that I haven’t really ‘won’ anything.
Accomplishments for me don’t only end with a lovely cash prize. In this big cosplay world I’ve learnt to better my makeup and sewing skills and meet friends from all around the globe and make memories I’d cherish fondly. Learn to love what I love and do what I do.
My biggest cosplay accomplishment to me by far is inspiring younger cosplayers that they can do it too, no matter what skills they posses. That everyone can do great things with time and patience.
CA: First major cosplay challenge & how did you overcome the same?
Cherrie: MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE WAS MAKING MERCY, FULL STOP PERIOD !!!! Yes looking back at the cosplay now she isn’t spectacular at all but she was a big first for me for many things. First Armour, first wig style , first big prop with light. I was a clueless 14 year old with a tiny Budget and not a single clue about anything cosplay/foam related. I made her out of cardboard covered in craft foam and used cut up orange paper files for the orange parts on the wings. I somehow went over budget on her to. But at that time I was so proud of my work and cosplay, could you blame me ?! It was my first Armour and had huge wings ! Of course I was happy haha, even though I now have a permanent scar on my back thanks to the sharp pvc pipes of the wings (which also kept breaking during con , and I was all alone till I met a great friend who basically washi tapped the entire thing to my body during the con haha, bless him). I take that scar like a medal of my suffering haha.
Here’s is my advice to new cosplayers struggling:
-NEVER overestimate your abilities and self
-PLEASE consider your Budget
-PLEASE make use of tutorials and/or reach out to cosplayers with obvious experience to help you out and give you advice with your cosplay project
-PLEASE consider your safety first always
-ALWAYS bring a friend our guardian or someone to help you around the con, as a cosplay can be a bit disabling especially if you’re in big Armour.
-HAVE FUN ! Whatever you’re wearing, you most likely made it. Show it off and have fun ! You talented person you.
CA: Any interesting stories from conventions you’d like to share?
Cherrie: Shyly entering my first ever con in my first ‘official’ cosplay (Aradia from Homestuck) with no friends and not knowing anyone, expecting to be unrecognized because homestuck is an underrated web-comic here. But then meeting A WHOLE GANG of homestuck cosplayers that loved my cosplay and invited me to hang out with them!
We had a lot of fun playing games and taking pictures and talking about the franchise and other anime and art. I was so happy! All my worries shed away, because I was so used to getting bullied for liking such things back at school and home. They were my first real friends.
I’m still friends with most of them actually, shoutout to @nimchaan & @karkatinq for giving me one of my most precious memories. If I didn’t meet them at that time, cosplay wouldn’t have the same place in my heart as it does now.
CA: What has been your favorite convention so far? What made it special?
Cherrie: I’ve been fortunate to have good memories in most cons I’ve attended but if I must pick I think it’s a tie between MEFCC18 and MEFCC20?
In MEFCC18 I cosplayed Mindfang in a huge homestuck group consisting of my great cosplay friends! The venue was nice and spacey too with an outdoor area, and I got to meet the one and only Gaku Space !! It was also the first con I debuted my infamous Lili cosplay.
For MEFCC20 Mainly because it was a lot less crowded than usual (we know why) but also I got to cosplay JJBA 2/3 days ! And meet a lot more Jojo fans muwhaha !! Also winning the WCS hehehe~
CA: Have you ever cosplayed outside a convention ? How has that been?
Cherrie: YES EMBARRASSINGLY ENOUGH! This was the first time I’ve heard of cosplay but didn’t know that conventions here existed. For one Halloween I dressed up as a ‘scary’ version of Cronus using my dads old shirt with the Aquarius symbol lazily drawn on with sharpie, a leather jacket and cardboard ears and horns and ‘gore’ makeup and went to Dubai mall to scare people in Sega republic. I was literally a child so I don’t beat myself up that much but it still makes me shy haha.
But most importantly the god darn malice and rumor spreading. Our cosplay community is small enough as it is. If one fight breaks out we all know. Rumors are words that can potentially break the whole life and even career of a person. Avoid spreading of negative information whether it is true or not.
CA: What do you think about the future of cosplay in the region? Are there any glaring faults you see which could potentially kill cosplaying if nothing is done about it ?
Cherrie: I think it’s safe. We have some good youngins and a friendly community. But it can be easily killed with the few things that is currently going on.
The unfair, unclear, incorrect and even biased judging during some of the cosplay competitions destroy the motivation of talented cosplayers who work hard on their cosplays & end up losing to someone who very obviously bought their cosplay. This stops many from cosplaying because ‘Why should they even bother anymore? It’s effort spent but no return’
But most importantly the god darn malice and rumor spreading. Our cosplay community is small enough as it is. If one fight breaks out we all know. Rumors are words that can potentially break the whole life and even career of a person. Avoid spreading of negative information whether it is true or not.
You’re basically bullying someone indirectly. And as someone who was once a victim to heavy bullying and harsh rumor spreading, you might really be hurting that person a lot more than you think. Intentionally or not.
The general bullying of ‘oh you can’t cosplay this character because you’re not the same height’ or ‘you’re not the same weight and skin color’ aggravates me too. Seriously ?!!!! We are both people in costumes of fictional characters that don’t exist! Get a grip!! This is all purely for fun and to show our love for the characters. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen much in our community.
The other problems we were having are thankfully being noticed and actively worked on to change by the community, and I’m proud of that.
CA: What are your thoughts about the now successful Lunar_Idol’s group? If you had one piece of advice for them, what would it be?
Cherrie: Like the legendary Lady Gaga once said: “Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopper, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not to reference”
I LOVE THEM !!!! They’re a beautiful group of talented individuals who’re all very obviously passionate on what they’re doing. I am their biggest fan! They have all my support and more, you can even see me in the crowd dancing along to their choreography and chanting. They’re great! Please support them too !
I cant wait to see what the have in store for the future, all I know is that whatever they do , they do it great !
My advice ? Aaah I don’t have any haha. Just keep doing you ! And never give up !
CA: Biggest fangirl moment?
Cherrie: Meeting Gaku Space in mefcc18 (Genjis voice actor) !!! aaaa I was so happy I didn’t know what to say to him other than “oh my god, I love you, I love you so much” on repeat haha!! I only got to meet him because of my friend @hassanbutaweel, so it was really a huge surprise for me as I wasn’t expecting to get the chance!! I’ll remember that forever.
CA: Name a few cosplay’s (characters) you are planning to do in the next year or two? Which cosplay scares you the most ?
Cherrie: This year I’m really hoping to do atleast one or two more JJBA cosplays! I’m thinking Squalo, Kakyoin, and/or Lisa Lisa? Maybe Prosciutto??
I’m also hoping to make Rina and also Rin from Love Live (the Beat in Angels outfit because omg I’m in love !), Sailor Mercury from Sailor Moon, and Haru from beastars. If I’m feeling REALLY bold enough and have the finances, I might do Flora from Winx (enchantix outfit) or Cure Parfait from Precure Alamode. In addition to this I’m hoping to do Lili’s Tekken 7 design along with revamping my old Lili.
I’ll tell you my two Cosplans that REALLY scare me though: Bayonetta and Milady from Persona 5.
Bayonetta (her first outfit) doesn’t seem so scary right ? WRONG ! That is no simple body suit, it is actually all her hair. Obviously I’m not gonna make the cosplay from hair (I don’t wish death upon myelf) but I would have to find a way to somehow make her wig blend smoothly into the latex/leather fabric. Plus if you look closely near the seams, there’s decal embroidery on that suit. The wig and shoes alone will be hell to make ! And I love bayonetta, I’m so scared to mess her up and not meet my expectations because I know I’m not at that level yet. You can say I would like to do that cosplay ‘justice’
Milady (Harus Persona) is a huge ballgown when you first look at her. But look at her again. No head. Just a floating pair of eyes in a mask. That’s just one part ! Yknow whats under that ball gown ? A whole selection of guns and other machinery that pops out when the curtain of her ballgown opens, releasing a slew of bullets and smoke towards the enemy! This cosplay is gonna take a very very Long time to make with a lot of patience and money and skills needed. To achieve what I want with that cosplay would be absolutely impossible for me to do with the skills and life I have now (and my very poor knowledge on coding lol).
Bayonetta and Milady may not happen now, but eventually I promise ! They’re my big dream project to do. So let’s hope someday ~
CA: Name a few cosplayers you’d like to work with or do a duet / group cosplay with & why.
– @yourbrojackie on insta !!!! She’s a sweetie ! We are planning to do partner cosplays for Winx, persona 5, but right now we are really focusing on our Rina + Ai from love live cosplay !! We both share similar interests in anime’s our other friends don’t pay attention to, and our bond has thickened due to this ! I’d love to cosplay together with her soon !
– @Sumicosplay ! We’ve cosplayed together quite a bit, but I’d love to do sailor moon and Mercury duo with her ! It’ll look so cool hehe
– @Mahawry , once again we’ve already cosplayed together a few times (Bruno and Abbacchio) and we are definitely planning more Duo cosplays! Both related to Jojo and not haha. Fun fact: she actually encouraged me to cosplay Jojo !
– @Leonchiro ! I’m a fan of him and I’d die to cosplay jjba with him someday. He is just so damn cool~
I don’t have specific people in mind for these ideas, but I’d also love to do a full Jojo cosplay group (mainly part 4 , 5 , 6 or 8) photo shoot !~ also to be a part of a big Tekken group cosplay !
CA: Name a few international cosplayers you look up to (who are not in the GCC) and would love to meet one day. BONUS: A convention anywhere in the world you’d love to attend someday.
Cherrie:
– @LeonChiro ofcourse, look at that dio ! I want to challenge him to a Jojo pose competition. He is so cool.
– @wisperiaworkshop , oh my god i don’t know where to start with them. They aren’t a cosplayer but a wig artist who takes commissions from other Cosplayers. Her wigs are works of pure art !!! I hope to achieve that skill level someday, she is so talented and hardworking
– @aki.wig.4 is both a wig artist and a cosplayer ! And omg their wigs are INCREDIBLE !!!! She does things with wigs that were never deemed possible, literally defies gravity with her work , I can stare at them for hours the wigs are so cool. Her cosplays are very pretty too ! I Love her Halloween lamp miku. I think she’s so underrated and it makes me sad because she really deserves more for what she does.
– @lunatis_donjuan . Look through their account. Need I say more ?!! Embodiment of perfection ! Their work and cosplays are gorgeous ! They’re so awesome, they make me speechless haha
A convention I’d love to visit is of-course AnimeExpo, momocon and Katsucon in USA, they look so crowded and overwhelming but I want to experience any of em atleast once ! But oddly enough, I’d also like to attend Egycon someday, I want to see the cosplay community in my home country.
CA: Parting words for our readers –
Cherrie: Id like to thank everyone who’s actually read my words to the end hahaha. It’s an honor to be the April feature for Cosplay Arabia. I love and appreciate every single one of you as your support means the world and more to me. I hope you’ll continue to stick with me and support me through this journey of wigs and hot glue and fabric called Cosplaying, and that you’ll enjoy my work and improvements !
And when it comes to cosplaying, Remember this: Have fun, be nice, don’t die, keep doing what you’re doing you talented ol you, and watch Jojo. Addio !~
The Team
- Cosplayer: DreamCherries.Cosplay
- Cover Photo: Phantasmphotographyart
- Photographers: @blameitonthebluehair , @cosplay_360 , @zubi29 , @kerusempai , @imluckyhussain
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