Cosplay Contest
Do you love making costumes for your favorite characters? Do you have a passion for performance?
Do you constantly tell yourself “Yeah I have time to make that” and then end up hot gluing embellishments on the night before the con?
If you said yes to any of those things, then you would LOVE signing up for the HachiCon Cosplay Contest!
Whether you’re a seasoned competitor or you’re making your very first cosplay, we’d love to have you on board for the very first HachiCon Cosplay Contest!
Get a sneak peak at what kind of awesome prizes you can win from our amazing cosplay contest sponsors here!
Cosplay Contest Judges
Miss Relena
Miss Relena (she/her) is an unrepentant sewing machine serial killer.
After earning bachelor’s degrees in both Theatre Arts and History, she went on to specialize in recreating clothing of all kinds – from historic paintings of England’s Tudor and Regency eras to anime/manga – including Trinity Blood, Alice in the Country of Hearts, A Bride’s Story, and many more. She loves to use classic construction techniques, like hand embroidery and cartridge pleating, while exploring what new materials and technologies have to offer.
In total, Miss Relena has made over 350 costumes for stage, TV, cosplay, and competition. She has sewn professionally for several regional theater companies, including the Tony Award winning season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival. She has judged Masquerades all over the United States, some of her favorites being Anime Expo, Anime Vegas, Animazement, and LvlUp Expo. She has won Master Level awards from San Diego Comic Con, Tokyopop, Anime Los Angeles, AX, and many others. She is also currently the Cosplay Director of Anime Banzai.
She is beyond honored to be invited as a guest for HachiCon’s inaugural year and cannot wait to meet all the amazing and wonderful people at the con!
Oz Costumes
Maria AKA Oz Costumes carries a Masters in Costume Design and Technology from California State University Long Beach. She has been sewing professionally in the theater industry since 2019. With 16+ years of cosplaying under her belt, she has won multiple Best In Show and Master Division awards throughout the Southwest.
Maria’s core belief about cosplay is that everyone has the capability to learn and grow and that all skill levels should be celebrated. But most importantly, cosplay is for fun! She hopes to share her love of cosplay with others and offer her knowledge in various aspects of costume construction and cosplay competition. Currently, she lives in Salt Lake City with her husband and many pets. She is also very excited to be a part of Hachi Con’s inaugural year!
Skysteel Cosplay
Skysteel Cosplay has been attending conventions and cosplaying since the first moment he discovered what they were nearly two decades ago! Almost instantly, he fell in love with cosplay and has been attending and competing in Cosplay Contests throughout the years. He has competed in contests across the West Coast/Midwest and has won multiple Best in Show awards, as well as many other Masters division awards, and judged at multiple competitions, near and far.
Skysteel loves creating in all aspects of cosplay, but specializes in foam and armor work, leatherwork, painting, and prop making. The ability to share a love of cosplay is one of the greatest things about conventions, and why Skysteel is so excited to be a part of Hachicon! He is psyched to join the judging team at Hachicon, and looks forward to seeing all the wonderful costumes!