Spiral Cats talk cosplay in America and what gives them strength

At the League of Legends World Championship Finals in October, I got to sit down and talk to two members of the Spiral Cats cosplay team, Doremi and Tasha.

The two, along with another team member in a full-body Bard cosplay, attended the last two stops of Worlds as guests, appearing in the Rift Walk.

Doremi and Tasha had two sets of costumes for the weekend; Gnar and Mega Gnar made up one set and Arcade Riven and Ahri made up another set.

Right before the opening ceremony for Finals, I asked them a couple questions about their costumes.

Julia Lee: So, you guys cosplay a lot of things from League of Legends. How do you guys pick what you want to cosplay?

Tasha: It usually takes us a very long time to choose what character to cosplay for event that we’re contracted for. Originally, we only wanted to bring Gnar and Mega Gnar, but when we heard we were going to be inside the Rift Walk and it was going to be very dark, our manager was like, “Okay, let’s do something that has a lot of lights on it.” That’s where we got [the idea for] the Arcade Riven and Arcade Ahri for the Rift Walk.

JL: Well, it was a good choice. You guys looked really great in there yesterday! How long does it take on average to make one of these costumes?

Tasha: Normally, it takes about three weeks to make one cosplay, but this time we had to make four costumes and we were able to get it done in four weeks.

JL: Wow, that’s really impressive!

Tasha: Oh, we had five costumes, including Bard.

JL: Oh, right! So when you’re making bigger costumes, like Bard and other large things that you guys have done...like you guys are wearing stilts right now. Is it hard being in these big costumes or even carrying around Riven’s sword? There’s a lot of weight involved.

Tasha: Seeing all the fans faces all smiling when they see the costumes - that gives me strength.

Doremi: Same!

JL: How does the cosplay scene in Korea differentiate from what you’ve seen in America? This is not your first time in the states for a Riot event.

Tasha: In Korea, when we go to cosplay events, there’s one set area where we can be in costume. We go there to change into our outfits, do the photoshoots and then we change and go out of that area. Here, it’s a lot more open. In the hotel lobby, we see people walking around in costumes. Everyone is happy to see us, they say, “Hey, that’s great! That’s awesome!” It’s a lot more free here.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. The Spiral Cats’ answers were translated from Korean by a Riot Games-provided translator.