“When people are complimenting me on things that I’m wearing or how I look, it still comes as a shock to me,” explains Buttercup Bunny on the comments she receives when cosplaying. “I don’t expect it to be something that happens to me in a way.”

A London based cosplayer, when Buttercup Bunny learnt about MCM London Comic Con she decided to cosplay Orihime from Bleach for her first convention back in October 2012. “It just gradually progressed from there and I got more and more into it,” she said. Since then she has cosplayed Shimakaze from Kantai Collection, variations of Kotori Minami from Love Live!, and gained popularity on Instagram after cosplaying Hestia from Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

Our interview was conducted on the Friday of May’s MCM London Comic Con, with Buttercup Bunny cosplaying Kongou from Kantai Collection. As she was still in the process of making her cosplays for the weekend, she explained that she had only slept five hours the night before (she had also planned to cosplay Kotori Minami’s maid costume from Love Live! but was unable to finish it on time). Despite this, she was cheerful throughout as we discussed cosplaying on a budget, her favourite cosplay and comments on Instagram.

Who are you cosplaying at MCM London this weekend?

This weekend I am cosplaying Kongou from Kantai Collection, Vanilla from Neko Para and Kotori Minami from Love Live!.

I understand you’ve been working on your cosplays right up to the convention.

I’m very unorganised. My mum says, “How do you have this much time and get nothing done?” I am a champion of procrastination (laughs). I’ve turned procrastination into an art form. I always end up leaving the things that I don’t want to do until the last minute. I’ve still got one cosplay to finish, and it’s Friday today!

Oh, so you’re still working on your cosplays?

Still working! I haven’t finished my Sunday cosplay yet. I will panic until it’s finished (laughs).

How did your interest into cosplay begin?

It was about three years ago, my friend told me about Comic Con in London. For some silly reason I didn’t realise that we had one in London, I thought it was exclusively an American thing. So I decided to go. At the same time he’d lent me the DVD of Bleach and said, “Watch series one, just watch it.” I loved it and ended up cosplaying Orihime from Bleach for my first MCM, which was October 2012… that’s a very long time ago. I went out to Primark the night before and bought a skirt and a blouse to cosplay Orihime. From then on I realised I could make my own cosplays and I could start to do different things.

Your first cosplay at your first convention, what was that experience like for you?

It was really interesting, because it was completely different to anything I had ever seen before. I’d never been to an event like that and it was just magical. I got to meet people who enjoyed the same things I did, whereas when I was at school none of friends really enjoyed that kind of thing, apart from one or two of them. To go somewhere where you felt totally included and just part of something was really nice for me.

You have said that you were, “too poor to buy cosplays, so started to make them.”

When I was younger I didn’t have a lot of money. I spent money on my MCM ticket, which for me was quite expensive at the time. Some of the cosplays online are about £60 – £70. So rather than spending that much, I can make it for about £20. Just to buy the fabric is so much cheaper. It was something I decided to look into more, because I couldn’t really afford to fork out £150 on three different cosplays for a weekend and the ticket as well.

Given that you’re cosplaying on a budget, what is the most that you’ve spent on a making a costume?

The most I spent was £100 on Dead Master. It was the only time I’ve ever let myself spend that much on a cosplay. I bulk buy fabric as well, so with the added cost of the extra five metres of fabric it came to a lot more. But it was mainly spray paint that cost me the most. I had to buy four cans that came up to about £40… just in spray paint (laughs). Two cans stopped working before I’d even used them. So (holds head in hands), it was chaos. Especially with props as well; buying foam and making the scythe, having to head to B&Q to buy spray paint and PVC pipes, it did come to a lot. I started to get to the point where I was like, “Is this really worth it?” But when I finished it in the end it felt like I’d really achieved something and I was happy about that.

You have described Dead Master from Black Rock Shooter as your favourite cosplay. Is that still your favourite?

I love it so much. Normally I do cutesy girly characters. To do a character that was completely the opposite of what I’m used to was just so much fun and I felt so proud of it, because I’d made wings, the horns, a scythe and a dress as well, all without a pattern. It was the first time I’d ever done something like that. To see all these photos that were just so nice, of this cosplay that I’d made… I was just in awe of it. When you see it together, it’s like, “Wow, I actually made that from pieces of fabric and foam. I made that!” The whole process of turning something completely flat into something you can wear, it just excites me so much (laughs).

What was it about Dead Master that you like that made you want to cosplay her?

The whole look of the character was what intrigued me. The anime was quite interesting and emotional. Watching the character develop and how she builds a different kind of persona for herself in a way. So Dead Master is a different version of her in another world. She isolates herself off from people and then breaks free from that. I liked the whole story behind it. From the second that I saw the character I really liked the design as well, [which] was something that made me really want to create it and bring that to life.

When you’re here at MCM London and people stop to ask for a photo and talk to you about your cosplay, how does that feel?

I love it so much! I always try and get people to talk to me. I’ve had followers before say, “I’m too scared to talk to you.” Please, I’m just a human being! Come and talk to me, come chat to me about how I make my cosplay. I love being able to give people hints and tips. Having people appreciate something that I myself have made is just a lovely feeling, because they’re complimenting [my] skill.

Before when I used to do textiles, I made the worst dress ever for my GCSEs. It was awful. Somehow I managed to make it fit. To see myself go from doing something that bad to making some of the things I do now, I just feel so proud of myself.

With that in mind, have you thought about taking it a step further with cosplay tutorial videos?

I thought about it at one point. My Cyber Kotori cosplay, with the lights; I’d love to make a video on how I created the headband, because a lot of people have been having trouble making their own. To actually buy the cosplay is very expensive at the moment. I found two shirts in my wardrobe, I sewed them together to create the top half. I think in total my Cyber Kotori came to about £25 in the end (laughs). So I’d love to be able to get people to start crafting their own cosplays. Like, “Don’t spend £70 on this; you can make it.”

I wish I was skilled enough to do scythe tutorials and things, but I don’t think my Dead Master scythe is possibly the best example of how to make something (laughs). There are people a heap load more qualified than I am at making stuff like that (laughs). But it would be nice to be able to help people with things like that. People who do commissions I commend so much because their skill is amazing. If you can personally make something, then give it a go.

I have this lovely lady from across the road and she gave me a lot of her fabric. She doesn’t sew anymore and she wanted to pass it on to me, because she knew I’d do something with it. She likes seeing what I create and my costumes. For example, my next door neighbour this morning saw me and waved and was smiling. They like to see what I come up with. I’m quite lucky in that respect that they all help me out. Of course I get fabric and threads from them, so it’s really helpful.

Have you come across shops online selling the same costume that you’ve made, only to think, “I made that myself, and it cost me less than that”?

Yeah. In total, my Dead Master cosplay, although it did cost me about £100, I looked online at how much the scythe was, and it was £130! So I made the whole cosplay, with everything, cheaper than what someone was selling the prop for.

If you had unlimited funds, who would you most like to cosplay?

Ah, I always find this one so difficult. I go via what’s popular or what I really like at the time. I wanted to do Thor a while ago, but failed at armour making, so that will happen at one point (laughs). I’d love to do Thor, because Thor’s one of my favourite superheores (laughs). But I’d love to just do something with armour and a lot of props; something really big. That’s the goal. Just something big (spreads arms out), with armour, because I can’t do that and I’d love to be able to learn.

You’ve cosplayed variations of Kotori from Love Live. What’s it like when you see people commenting on your Instagram page, saying things like, “You’re the cutest Kotori I’ve ever seen”?

I’m kind of in shock when people [leave] comments like that, because I don’t expect it to be something that happens to me. My friend, who’s very picky about Love Live! cosplays, he says I’m not the best (laughs). But it’s nice to receive compliments from people. At the same time everyone else is amazing for their own cosplays for different reasons. I just put make-up on and dress up as a character. I’m literally a nerd in costume. That’s all I ever see myself as.

You’ve mentioned that your cosplay of Hestia from Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? got a really positive reaction when you cosplayed her back in October 2015.

Yes.

Does that still rank as the best reaction you’ve had when cosplaying?

It really has. One of the photos that I posted early [on Instagram] when I started cosplaying her got over 2000 Likes. I remember posting it… I just kept watching these Likes roll in and watching this number go up and up. I’m thinking, “Okay, where are these people coming from!?” I think I got an extra 150 followers overnight… and I was trying to work out where they were coming from. They said that they saw it on the popular page and it just ended up being really well known. A lot of people say they know me from my [cosplay of] Hestia. So that’s the one that has achieved the most positive and biggest reaction from people.

What’s interesting is that’s an online reaction. Would you say the photo online got a bigger response than cosplaying Hestia at an event?

I think so, yeah. When I cosplayed her at MCM London, I did get quite a few positive reactions from people, saying, “Oh, you’re the best Hestia I’ve seen!” But everyone else kind of flew by it, didn’t really notice (laughs). The people who knew the anime were like, “You look really good.” Everyone else was just, “Oh, it’s just a girl in a white dress.” The online reaction was incredible compared to the everyday reaction.

When something like that happens, does it motivate you, where you start to think, “I hope I get the same kind of reaction with this next cosplay”?

I find, when I get a positive reaction to something it gets me excited for the next thing that I can show everyone. Because everyone always says, “That’s amazing.”

All these compliments that I get, I’m like, “Wow, I’m glad everyone enjoys this. Well… let’s see what I can do next.” It just sets that ball rolling in my head. Which is why it was quite nice this week posting updates, because normally I don’t update my progress on my cosplays.

After this week, I thought I might start posting progress. A lot of people said, “I didn’t actually realise how much effort you put into these.” It was interesting to see that kind of reaction from people. Before I’d posted one or two progress photos, but it was only when I posted a ton, people were like, “Have you slept? Are you doing okay? Are you fine?”

For my cosplay today, I had one guy say, “I’m so excited to see when you’ve finished it.” Of course, that was at 2 o’clock in the morning. I went to bed, finished it in the morning and was like, “I’VE DONE IT!” I did buy it, but I had to remake the skirt, I had to make the wig and the headband. So one or two I’ve bought, but I always have my own made bits on it. Everyone was like “Wow, it’s really good.” It was lovely to have that motivation behind me to actually crack on with something.

During the time that you have been cosplaying, what would you say you’ve learnt the most? What’s been a valuable lesson?

Ah (pauses). I think overall I’ve learnt a lot of new sewing techniques. My first cosplay was absolutely terrible in comparison to what I can make now. I tried to make puffed sleeves and they were horrible and they just didn’t work. Now I’ve learnt a lot more about how to make things, to craft them… and a lot more about posing [for photos]. Papercube taught me a lot about posing last year and I am eternally grateful for that, because now I don’t look like a potato on camera (laughs).

Finally, are you the real tripod?

I am the real tripod (laughs). Yes. I didn’t get to do the tripod shoot yesterday. But I will find my friends and become the real tripod. No, I’m the real tripod.

Thank you to Buttercup Bunny for taking the time for the interview. You can follow her on her Instagram page and her Facebook page.

Thank you also to Papercube for arrangement and photos. You can check out his work on his Facebook page.

Interview by Shalimar Sahota.