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I’ve loved Katamari ever since I was a kid. The bright colours and quirky yet hilarious characters stuck with me from a young age. The recent release of Once Upon a Katamari in October revitalised this love. Every single second I’ve spent jumping back into the series and rolling around my Katamari has been memorable, and I feel like many long-term fans of the series have felt the same way. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that my online ramblings about my love for the series resulted in my social media feeds being filled with Katamari-related content, yet one TikTok in particular stopped me in my tracks: The King of All Cosmos by Cybertsu.
There’s nothing more impressive to me than when someone decides to cosplay a somewhat unconventional character, because you can just tell that a lot of thought and effort has gone into bringing their outfit and persona to life. While The King of All Cosmos does have some vaguely human features, it’s by no means easy to pull off. Though saying that, I have definitely seen more cosplays of the Prince than I ever have of the King. So, to learn more about why the King of All Cosmos was chosen, and what the process of making a cosplay that reflected all of his charm looked like, I spoke with Cybertsu.
Character Select
Welcome to Character Select, a weekly column where PC Gamer takes a look at the art and cosplay created by you. Each week, I’ll highlight a few of my favourite pieces, spotlight and interview creators and artists, or generally just chew your ear off about the talents of the gaming community.
Cosplay is a fairly new endeavour for the creator, but something about the hobby always intrigued them, especially after growing up with anime and gaming. Cybertsu tells me: “I’ve always loved dressing up whenever I got the chance, whether it was going all out for Halloween or wearing simple, low-key cosplays at smaller local conventions like pairing a Red Ranger helmet with casual clothes.
In 2023, my friends and I decided to visit the Dokomi Convention, and it being my first big con, I had an amazing time. Because I already owned a Red Power Ranger helmet, choosing my cosplay was easy, but I also had a whole list of characters I’d been wanting to cosplay for a while. That’s when I decided it was finally time to start working through that list. I had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people, including artists, cosplayers and visitors who just wanted to take a picture. It was one of the warmest welcomes I’ve ever experienced.”
So it didn’t take long for them to become more involved with the cosplay community, and more motivated to create outfits for themself. When asked why he wanted to take on a Katamari cosplay as a self-proclaimed “cosplay newbie”, Cybertsu told me that there was one answer: “I love Katamari. I adored the game as a kid, and I had never seen a King of All Cosmos cosplay before, so I just thought, ‘Fine, I’ll do it myself.'”
The King of All Cosmos isn’t exactly a straightforward cosplay to build from scratch, especially if you’re fairly new to the hobby and you haven’t built an entire costume before: “If I’m being completely honest, everything was challenging because I wouldn’t consider myself handy, but I do know how to sew a little by hand. The worst part was definitely the headpiece. Figuring out what materials to use and how to put everything together was an experience. Half the time, I had no idea what I was doing, but somehow it all worked out in the best way possible. I’m really proud of it, especially since it’s the first thing I’ve ever built.”
It’s not just about the outfit and headpiece for the King of All Cosmos either. One thing that particularly interested me when I first found Cybertsu’s cosplay online was a handcrafted Katamari that accompanied the look, which had a mass of items meticulously positioned on it to perfectly replicate what you’d create in the game. Since you’ll roll up hundreds of different items in Katamari, I wanted to know if there was a reason behind which items had been selected. Cybertsu shared: “My ideas for my Katamari were a mix of things it would pick up from my desk and miniature versions of everyday items like a rubber duck, coins, food boxes and so on, plus rhinestones.
Keep in mind, the rhinestone idea came last, so imagine me trying to place them around everything that was already glued onto the Katamari. It took me three days until everything was glued down, dried and covered in stones. It was a nightmare, but totally worth it. Even today, I still find rhinestones in random places.”
It’s safe to say that I’m not the only person who is so impressed by the cosplay, either. On one TikTok using the trending audio Promise by Hirose Kohmi (often referred to as the “Geddan” trend), Cybertsu has received over 139K views, and on another featuring a different audio, just over 104K views. Both videos have hundreds of comments admiring the handiwork as well. In response to that, Cybertsu shared: “I still can’t believe how many people have seen and enjoyed my cosplay. When the Geddan video started getting views, I was totally surprised because it had been out for months, and life had just gone on. I really had no idea what was happening. I’m honestly so grateful for such a kind community.”
