We’re so excited to be hosting the Cosplay Masquerades at MegaCon Live London in just a few days! Now all of the entrants have submitted their applications, it’s time to announce the judges for the Sunday Cosplay Masquerade. We’ll be introducing one judge a day and you can meet all of them right here.
Announcing the first judge for the Sunday Cosplay Masquerade: Richard von Wild.
Richard started out in cosplay in 2008, when his mum’s old bath robe, a bedsheet, and some bits of wood became Temari from Naruto. Having been cosplaying and performing since then, his most recent costume was a mash-up from Wandee and Yoryak from Wandee Goodday: “I love both characters equally and couldn’t choose which to cosplay first!” He started dancing in 2018, but loves learning new choreography, and co-created 1.CL Kpop UK, and hosts meet-ups and random dances at conventions and events.
“MegaCon Live Birmingham 2023 was one of my favourite conventions,” he remembers. “My mum agreed to be my handler, and it was her first ever convention. She’d only ever seen him on stage for my drag king shows, so not only did she get to experience a convention for the first time, Mumma Wild got to see her youngest perform, compete, and win a cosplay competition. She was very proud, and now she wants a cosplay of her own!” His other favourite convention experience is arguably even more special: “My partner (now husband) proposed while we were dressed as Majima and Kiryu from Yakuza 0. Unbeknownst to me, he’d organised everything with the Sega team while we were playing the demo for a new Yakuza game!”
Richard admits that his first cosplay competition, many years ago, was “a complete disaster”: “It was a lesson in everything not to do! I was crunching so hard to finish my costume, but had to go on stage with it unfinished. I didn’t have the chance to test it before wearing it, so it fell apart when I walked across the stage!” Since then, he’s entered many competitions, and promised himself he’ll only compete in cosplays that are finished…
“By day, I’m a Health & Safety Consultant in the film & TV industry: I wrote a risk assessment for my 24hr Cinderella Majima roller-skating skit!”
The costume he is most proud of is Rui Kamashiro from Project Sekai, which won him Best in Show at MegaCon Live Birmingham 2023 and Best in Show at Insomnia 70. “From the start, I knew I wanted to be able to dance in this costume, so I built the structure thinking about that range of movement, to make sure I could fully lift my arms in a tailored jacket,” he says. “I was recovering from surgery at the time and only able to start rehearsing two weeks before the convention, but I practiced every day.” I built the structure for additional range of movement, so I could fully lift my arms in a tailored jacket.”
The best advice Richard can give to new entrants is simple: “Own that stage, and be proud of yourself!”
