Lance Palpal-latoc - Cosplayer - Design Talk July 6

Growing up I enjoyed watching Superman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman but not so much with Anime. Seeing my teenage kids getting more into anime and pop culture shows, I am amused at how they remember all those hard to pronounce names of Anime characters but not the times tables (lol!) My son recently attended Supanova Expo and met up with his Aunt, Bona May Sulitas (Genesis's cousin), an avid cosplayer, it was through Bona, that he met Lance Ken Palpal-latoc, our recent Design Talk Guest. Listen to our chat to get a glimpse into the world of Cosplaying.

Lance Palpal-latoc was born in Manila to a Filipino Dad and a Japanese Mum. They moved to Okinawa, Japan and lived there for 2 to 3 years when he was just 2 years old. When he was around 5, they migrated to Australia, first settling in Bankstown then to Campbelltown where they currently reside. He mostly worked in Retail, but having just finished Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Sydney, has now started a job as Graduate Mechanical Engineer.

Lance's early recollection of watching Anime was when he was still in Japan, watching Sailor Moon while waiting for his mum to pick him up from preschool. Even after moving to Australia, they would watch anime as a family. It was in 2011, in Year 9 when he attended his very first Anime convention (SMASH). This experience opened his eyes to the world of Cosplay! He started cosplaying the following year, then in 2019 started making his cosplay costume and props, either from scratch or buying some base clothing/accessories and altering them to suit the characters he was going for. Whilst Lance agreed that his design, develop, build and test skills developed from his engineering degree came in handy as a cosplay costume and prop maker, his Mum has been super supportive of his hobby, assisting him by sewing all the intricate details on the fabric. What Lance loves most about cosplaying is when he finally gets to put on his costume, instantly transforming into an Anime or Comic Book Character - a Superhero or Supervillain!

To find out more about Lance's cosplaying and how he makes his costumes and props, please check below:IG: @sleepycosplaywork
Some of his images can also be seen in Bona's IG, see below:IG: @gwenvalkyriecosplay

Interview and Edited by: Katherine Co-Elliott

Credit:  Images from Lance Palpal-latoc's IG