Ketchup Kosplay - Who We Are

IT ALL STARTED back in 2006. A group of friends decided to coordinate a Kingdom Hearts cosplay for JACON, a Japanese animation convention in Orlando, Florida. Since then, our dedication to only our best has grown into several other projects. Our aim is to debut at least one new project a year, but what's most important to us is the time we spend together as very close friends. Our group enjoys guest cosplayers for various projects, some of whom we would not be complete without. Our core members are listed below.

KIMBERLY

Kimberly, also known as "Orca", has a degree in English Creative Writing. Since for as long as she can remember, Kimberly has always been active in creative means including drawing, graphic design, and three- dimensional projects. She has been cosplaying since 2000, starting with a Hermione Granger costume for Harry Potter. It wasn't until 2005, however, when she got seriously into the hobby. Practice, experience, and the guidance of experts have greatly improved her knowledge and skills of sewing and prop construction. Perhaps the closest to the "mascot" character of the group, she usually takes on the role of main characters who are optimistic, driven, loyal, and even a little naive.

Aside from cosplay, you can find Kimberly reading, watching anime, and playing video games. Her goal is to publish a novel and when not working her day job, she's involved in personal manuscript projects. She currently does freelance writing for Animation Insider, Girls Entertainment Network, and is a local editorialist for manga at Examiner.com.

For all of Kimberly's projects, visit her cosplay.com profile here.

MYNA

Myna, the “Kairi” of the group, is a graduate of UCF with a BA in creative writing and currently works full time at a library. Her first anime series she followed religiously was Sailor Moon when she was in the third grade and from there, branched off. While not new to sewing, she is new to sewing clothing for people, versus her dolls, and her first independent sewing project was completed in October of 2005: a Ravenclaw Hogwarts costume robe. Luckily, Ketchup Kosplay is here to help with the more… loftier projects in mind. Myna generally takes on the more "feminine" roles, and characters who posess a unique sense of sophistication - generally, the "wild type".

Her other fan obsessions include comics, such as the fabulous Elfquest and X-Men, along with Spider-Man in any incarnation she can find it in. Enjoying memoirs and literature, Myna is also a fan of Asian and Spanish cinema, finding a certain liking to both horror and drama. Her big hope is to publish a book of fiction within the next few years.

For all of Myna's projects, visit her cosplay.com profile here.

KRIS

Kris is the (usually) respected elder of the group. While new to the hobby of cosplay, she has been making costumes of many varieties since elementary school. Coming from a long line of needle workers, Kris' mother started teaching her to sew when she was about seven years old, and she hasn’t looked back. If it involves fiber or a threaded needle, it’s likely she’s at least given it a go, from embroidery to beading to knitting with many side trips along the way. Kris' adventures with cosplay began at Nimbus-2003, the first Harry Potter conference. It was there that she met Kimberly and Essay. Within two to three years, they had her buying a PS2 just to play Kingdom Hearts, reading manga, watching anime, and attending additional cons. She first joined the rest of Ketchup Kosplay’s Kingdom Hearts cosplay at Anime Festival Orlando in 2007 as Mulan. This costume has since been retired.

Kris tends to approach cosplay from the “costume” side rather than the “play” side, focusing on the technical and artistic aspects of costuming more than on the role-playing ones. She continues to make original design and historical costumes and those for other fandoms such as Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica in addition to cosplays from manga, anime, and video games.. She resides in the Philadelphia area where she works in human resources by day and attends law school by night. She loves millinery, luggage, and obscure sewing tools.

For all of Kris' projects, visit her cosplay.com profile here.

SARIENA

Sariena, or "Roxas" as she is mainly known as, is currently an 18 year-old high school graduate and hopes to enroll with the Savannah College of Art and Design in Fall 2010. Her first convention was MegaCon in 2007 where she debuted her first costumes: Hinata from Naruto and L from Death Note. Loving the experience, she had many more conventions to come. Her skills in sewing have grown a bit and she believes they will only continue to grow as she goes along. Sariena likes to take on roles that are similar to herself, from angsty boys to bubbly girls. Cosplay quickly became a passion as she loves to do anything that involves a sense of art and making something. Learning to sew from her mother, who used to make her own clothing, Sariena's determined to learn many new things to improve her skills.

Sariena can usually be found with a headphone set blasting her favorite music and a sketch book in hand. During freshman and sophomore year she majored in Orchestra playing the Violin which she had been playing for 8 years. Though she decided to quit due to the lack of passion, she plans to one day pick it up again. Her art picked up after that as she had started in 7th grade - based off one of her first animes, Inu Yasha. Other things she can be found doing are playing the keyboard, role-playing, reading manga, playing videogames, and other random things like dancing. At the moment, Sariena still doesn't know what she wants to do for a career but one of her dream jobs is to be an actress.

For all of Sariena's projects, visit her cosplay.com profile here.