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Kyouyama Anna: |
I began reading Shaman King not too long ago, and I fell in love with Yoh, Amidamaru, and Anna. I started working on Anna for Halloween 2k4, but for one reason or another never got around to actually finishing it until A-Cen 2k5.
Erika's aid was invaluable in finally getting Anna completed. The fabrics I had purchased back in October were what was on hand at the time, but were not very satisfactory for the purpose. She provided new materials, sacrificed her old Chii wig, taught me how to make tassles, and helped immensely with the form-obscuring dress by modifying a shirt pattern.
Anna is a very simple costume, so I wanted to do it right. I had wanted glass beads for the clinking sound, but was unable to find any in blue (or in the proper diameter ...), so I settled for hand-painting wooden ones. The greatest challenge for me was maintaining the discipline necessary to put three coats of paint on every one of the over 140 beads (two "cobalt blue" base, one sealer), making sure I got as much of the inside bead shaft as possible.
Her necklace seemingly changes length as necessary for dramatic impact. Since I am not a true itako and such things are beyond my capabilities, I had to pick dimensions to stick with. I also really love the art style of Shaman King, so I tried to mimic the exaggerated appearance of the figure by selecting very blocky, too big sandals, and making the bracelet large so that it hung lower on my hand.
The manga seemed to indicate wooden sandals, but researching reference images online revealed the fact that many anime images, her sandals sometimes appear to have a black base. I decided to return to the black version ... partially out of convenience, partially because I like the way it matches the black of her dress.
The last picture includes my buddy Erika in her Starlet costume.
Picture credits go to Eurobeat King and Lionel of UsagiChan.Com. Thanks guys! Manga reference images of Anna scanned by yours truly.