Widely known as Living Ichigo, this 23-years-old cosplayer has a muscular figure. He lives in Northern California and holds a strong interest for cosplay, games and anime. Final Fantasy VIII is his favorite game and Ichigo Kurosaki is his favorite cartoon character (actually, it’s really not difficult to recognize this from his cosplay gallery, XD). You can keep updated with his newest information on his website. Today, Living Ichigo accepted our cosplayer interview. Now, focus on his viewpoint for cosplay below.

1. Please introduce yourself first?

I am known as Living Ichigo to my fans. I am a professional cosplayer, model and bodybuilder. I’m from Sacramento, and I attend most conventions in California alongside Hikaru Kazushime from RUN AROUND: NETWORK. I cosplay Ichigo and his various forms, as well as Grimmjow from Bleach.

2. What does cosplay mean to you?

To me, cosplay is very serious. I work very hard to look as close to what the character would look like in real life. I work out about 3 hours a day, 5 days a week so I can perfect my cosplay. I am very dedicated. In the end cosplay means having fun, while being serious enough to make the character into a “living”, breathing real life version.

3. What was your first cosplay?

My first cosplay was Ichigo Kurosaki Bankai Vizard form. When I first began, I was very out of shape. I noticed that Ichigo was muscular and lean. That’s when I decided to dedicate myself to training. I wanted to become as close to him as I could.

4. Does your family support your cosplay?

My family doesn’t know about my cosplay.

5. What is your most memorable cosplay experience?

My most memorable experience was a recent one. FanimeCon 2011, I cosplayed Grimmjow on Friday, Bankai Vizard Ichigo on Saturday and Vasto Lorde Ichigo on Sunday. Throughout the convention, what seemed like hundreds of people asked me for photos, and it was amazing embracing all of my fans from the internet. Not only those things, but I partnered with Crunchyroll, Maridah Cosplay, Hikaru Kazushime and VampyBitMe to make a live show that was streamed to over 8 million viewers. It was a lot of fun.

6. I see you made many bleach Ichigo cosplay,any other cosplay plan in 2011?

Vasto Lorde Ichigo and Grimmjow are the two newest cosplays that I’ve done this year. But soon, I will be doing Super Saiyan 2 Goku from Dragon Ball Z as well as Kamina from Gurren Lagann.

7. Do you make your costumes yourself or buy them?

Some are bought, but when I buy them I tend to alter them a bit. Certain masks I’ve used have been commissioned and then altered by me. I’ve commissioned a few as well. Anything cloth I’ve sewn and I’ve handmade my weapons.

8. Any other cosplayers you like?

Other cosplayers that I admire are PikminLink, Syren, and Kaname. They are all very admirable cosplayers to me.

9. Do some changes happen to you after cosplay?

After cosplaying and doing photoshoots with Hikaru Kazushime, my pictures tend to explode on the internet. Every convention I’ve cosplayed at since I started has been a checkpoint in my career. I started getting a ton of popularity and so I made a Facebook Page a couple months ago- so far its hit 3200 “likes”!

Unlike some professionals, I am not untouchable. I am the people’s cosplayer. It’s really them that keep me going, and I am very social with them. I love and appreciate all of my fans, and I hope to keep cosplaying for them. I’ll always do my best. I am actually now looking into doing modelling, and my new website is almost done.

10. Any advices you wanna share with cosplay newbies?

For cosplaying newbies, I’d suggest looking for a character that is closest to you, or your body type. If you can, you’re already one step of the way to pulling of a good cosplay. You also want to make sure you have a good wig (if you need one) and basically, do your best. You want to represent the character as close as you can to the original. If you’re having trouble finding good quality costumes and don’t want to make one, there are many commissioners out there that you can hire.

Soon, I’ll be posting cosplay and workout tips on my new website at livingichigo.com.