[ACC 2019] 13 years and counting in cosplay, interview with A. K. Wirru

A. K. Wirru – the A. K. stands for AmenoKitarou – is a name you’ve likely heard of, especially if you’ve been involved in cosplay in any way. The Australian has been cosplaying for 13 years now, which is, needless to say, a pretty long time! As for the story behind his name, “AmenoKitarou” is a name of a character he made based off himself. He used to draw, and being a manga artist was something he thought of becoming back then. “Wirru” is from his Japanese friends who found it difficult to pronounce “L”s. He found it to be a nice nickname, so began using it.

Wirru admits he realized he wasn’t very good at drawing, but he still wanted to create things. Cosplay is a way for him to create things he couldn’t do in manga, hence the branching out. He mentions the work in cosplay – from wood work, sewing, drawing and performing – and it involved all the creative things he liked coming together as one.

2005 was Wirru’s first anime convention, thanks to a friend’s invitation, having noticed he liked drawing manga and watching anime. It seems funny to think that Wirru once thought it was weird to see everyone be dressed up, but he went back the following year to cosplay. Today, his most favourite cosplay is the Azure Starlord Armour Set from Monster Hunter World. With his World Cosplay Summit partner K Cosplay, they entered with the set and won. 7 months went into crafting the set, and it’s become a favourite of his to show off.

Why this particular set though? Wirru reveals they had a powerful action skit in mind, and wanted something to make fit to their bodies as well as to match the aesthetic they usually liked. The Japanese feudal lord look of Azure Starlord, along with its various touches, proved the best choice. He considers the set the second most difficult to put together, giving his Bahamut cosplay from Final Fantasy X the most difficult. He says the techniques used were exactly the same as Azure Starlord, but bigger, heavier, and more of a hassle to travel around with. He mentions having a team of people just to carry things around while in costume.

Despite his prolific lineup of Monster Hunter World armour sets, Wirru says he doesn’t actually the game very much. “It’s really grindy,” he says of the game. “It takes a lot of time to gather materials and ranks.” Cosplay, like the aforementioned Azure Starlord set, took so long, so he doesn’t have much time to play. He gets a friend to play it while he watches and makes his costume, to learn about the game and its world.

Laughing a little, Wirru also admits he generally doesn’t redo costumes due to laziness, mentioning he doesn’t want to do the same thing again. He does say he’d like to do Tidus (Final Fantasy X) which he has already remade a few times before. He’d like to do that one more time “to get it just right”.

Wirru mentions getting into “the zone” and having tunnel vision, so he’d prefer cosplaying solo. That isn’t to say he doesn’t like working with a partner, saying it can bring out a side of him he wasn’t aware of before. He just considers it quite a bit more work and stress, as they’d have to shoulder each other’s stress along with their own, and requires more trust and coordination. In that way, solo cosplaying is more relaxing.

In regards to the cosplay community, he says those in the Philippines and Malaysia often have really high energy levels, providing lots of feedback and really warm reactions. It stands to reason he can ride off such enthusiastic energy. As for why he keeps cosplaying, he doesn’t have a set answer per se. He enjoys the creative process, joking about staying up in the night to work on costumes. It is the one thing he’s really passionate about, and so he will continue.

When you think about Wirru’s stage presence, it may be surprising to think he’s not that confident in stage performances outside of cosplay. He mentions not having formal training, and much of his entry points into creative arts is through cosplay. Cosplay is his comfort zone, but should there be a chance, he’d probably take it.

Thanks, Wirru, for taking the time to talk to us! We hope to see you again soon, too!

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