Rainer Tachibana – A Cosplay Carnival Interview

Rainer Tachibana was one of the special guests of the first ever Cosplay Carnival, hosted by cosplay.ph. A highly versatile cosplayer from Singapore, Rainer has several fantastic cosplays including characters from the Final Fantasy franchise and the criminally, underrepresented Dynasty Warriors series. Dressed as Tifa Lockheart from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Rainer answered a few questions from her Filipino fans, during Day 1 of Cosplay Carnival.

Interviewer: Will you be do more Tekken Cosplay?

Rainer: “Thank you for the question! Yes, I will be doing more Tekken cosplay from the newest Tekken, Tekken 7. I haven’t played it, but, after I do play it, I will. I was thinking of trying Ling Xiaoyu!”

When did you start learning about cosplay?

Rainer: “Oh wow, I think it was 11 years, no, 12 years ago! I attended an IT convention back in Singapore where I’m from and I saw for the first time the cosplayers. They were doing D.Gray-man. It was a new anime back then, D.Gray-man.  I thought it was kind of interesting. So I had this classmate who was already doing cosplay, and she kind of introduced me to it. I started in 2006. That was my first time!”

If you have a cosplayer crush, who is it?

Rainer: “I do not have any cosplayer crush. Sorry.”

Out of all your cosplays, which is your favorite character?

Rainer: “I think every time someone asks me this questions, my answer changes. So instead of telling you guys just one cosplay that I really like, I will list a few. This is one of them, Tifa. There’s also Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII. There is Zhao Yun from Dynasty Warriors. And Sasuke, all the versions of Sasuke I’ve done.”

What are your future cosplay plans?

Rainer: “My major plan for this year would be Commander Shepard from the Mass Effect Trilogy. Is it popular here, Mass Effect?”

What do you consider is your trademark cosplay?

Rainer: “Well, people have told me they like my Lightning cosplay the most, so I guess that would be one! Right?”

What are the inspirations to your cosplay?

Rainer: “Usually when I do a cosplay, I try to envision it would look like if it was a live-action movie. So the fabrics that I choose, the finish on my props and armor, how I style my wig, how I do my make-up is all based on what it might look like if it was seen in a live action movie.”

What materials are good for armor-type costumes and do you have tutorials?

Rainer: “The only type of material that I ever use for my armor is craft foam. I’m not sure what you guys call it here. E.V.A. foam? That’s all I ever use….I think it’s the most versatile material. You can make almost any shape with it. You can heat it, you can form it. You can achieve almost any kind of finish you want. And it’s quite cheap, cheaper than wonderflex or thermalplastics….It’s convenient to use.

And to ask the second part of the question. I don’t do tutorials but if you guys want… I can put up a few when I get back home on my Facebook account.”

If you have been given an option to live in an anime or game world, what world would you decide to stay in and why?

Rainer: “Mass Effect! I’m quite big on sci-fi. I really love Star Wars. The thing about Mass Effect I really like is not just so much about the human characters like Star Wars where the main few characters are either droids or human. In Mass Effect, there are wide variety of characters, as with all Bioware games. Great characters, great concepts. And who doesn’t want to be Commander Shepard?”

What’s the main reason you started cosplaying?

Rainer: “Basically for me, if something looks fun, I will try it, at least once. If I find it’s not for me, I move on. In the case of cosplay, I tried it. It looked fun and I really liked it and so I never stopped. It’s one of those things you always tell your parents, you know when you’re a kid, ‘Oh, it’ll only be one or two times and then I’ll move on.’ I’ve been telling that to my mother for the past 10 years and I never stopped. So for me it’s all about the fun. If it’s not fun, I wouldn’t be spending so much money, so much time, putting up my hair… I wouldn’t be doing all that. So, for me, it’s really all about the fun.”

Thanks! Let’s give it up for Rainer Tachibana!

Author’s Note 1: Cosplay Carnival just put up the entire Rainer Tachibana interview on Youtube!

Author’s Note 2: Rainer Tachibana expresses her thoughts during her stay in the Philippines – read it here!