Otaku Ero-Cosplayer Ushijima Interviewed

Cosplayer Ushijima, best known for her SOS Galactic Patrol Nagato Yuki ero-cosplay and various self-portraits from her manga-filled room recently had an interview with Men’s Cyzo, in which she stressed that she is just an average cosplayer, explained her reasons for so wantonly distributing partial nudes of herself online, as well as revealing that she has no friends.

The youthful cosplayer follows the cosplayer tradition of going by a cosplay handle: うしじまいい肉 / Iiniku Ushijima. “Iiniku”, which translates to “Good Meat”, is apparently a name she came up with while thinking up an e-mail address that was easy to remember – the name matches up perfectly with the numbers 1129 in Japanese, and also conveniently describes her cosplay.

Some other points of interests are her measurements (Height 160cm, B83, W56, H85), and that she has so far released 11 CD photograph collections on her website.

The interview is not long, but does meander at times, so here follows a slightly condensed version with added notes in parentheses:

Men’s Cyzo (MC): So, this might be abrupt, but what exactly are you?

Ushijima (Ushi): I’m just a normal cosplayer! I’m an amateur, so I’m not attached to any entertainment agency.

As is normal, I needed to come of age and enter society (a Japanese term for entering adulthood), and so I did a cosplay photograph collection as a form of work. A month or two after that, when I had some fans, I held a photograph session.

Ushijima at the doujin art convention “Design Fest” in Tokyo Big Sight on May 17.

MC: What in the world is that four-legged machine?

Ushi: The formal name is “Inukoma”. It’s a design by an artist who works as an aeronautical engineer called 徳江仁 / Jin Tokue (who apparently does not have a personal website, although photos from a previous appearance at the Design Fest are available here). I met him at a “modern fine arts” convention in March called “GEISAI” and asked if I could get a chance to ride it.

It originally used an electric wheelchair’s operating system, so it can turn 360 degrees, go backwards and obliquely. It’s controlled by joystick, so you move it around like it was something in a game.

MC: Why did you pick that costume (to go with the Inukoma)?

Ushi: Well, Tokue-san asked for something like in Strike Witches. Isn’t the otaku-ish combination of girls and mecha really cool? So, I put together a revealing bikini along with an armor-ish set of gloves and boots. The pilot helmet is for the same reason.

But actually, this outfit is something put together specifically for the “Motor Paraglider” Tokue-san is planning to show at the next Comiket. So, this run with the Inukoma was intended as more as of a rehearsal.

(It should be noted here that Men’s Cyzo, which is not an otaku-oriented publication, felt it necessary to identify the anime Ushijima mentioned with this description: “A show where young girls battle wearing sexy outfits of serafuku on top and sukumizu on their lower body.”)

MC: What is the reason you upload sexy photos of yourself online?

Ushi: Mostly, I want to introduce a new cosplay. I sometimes do it front of my bookshelf, but I don’t really plan out the composition (laugh). I originally uploaded them to Mixi, but I eventually started putting them on あやしいわーるど / Ayashii World (a collection of underground BBS similar to 2ch). It started spreading from there on.

MC: You do cosplay photograph collections, but why include “Subculture”, “Ero” or “Exposure” (recurring words in the titles of her photo collections)?

Ushi: When I was setting up objectives that would use myself as the raw material, I figured that ero works would work out to be more attractive. A more normal collection of cosplay images might have been boring.

MC: Please let us know about your future prospects.

Ushi: I have no friends, so I really want to become friends with other cosplayers and with creators (presumably artists such as Tokue)! I always get happy when I get to talk to someone who understands what it is I’m talking about!

Via Men’s Cyzo.

Fans of Ushijima’s eclectic style of cosplay can see more of her Space Patrol Nagato cosplay, as well as her official site.

She will also be releasing her newest photograph collections at Comiket 76 at Hall 東, I Block, Booth 19b, as “Predator Rat”.

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