Attention to detail critical for the serious cosplayers

Cosplay is dressing up as your favourite character and Taylor Nodrick and Sarah Roman are in their element when they get to do it, so this weekend's Calgary Expo is like Christmas for them.

"The weirdest thing is out of the way first," Nodrick told The Homestretch on Wednesday, of meeting other cosplayers.

"The elephant is out of the bag. You already have something in common. A lot of our best friends we have met through conventions."

He says he was hooked at an early age.

"I started when I was 13 years old. I did my first Calgary Expo in 2011 and I just loved it. It was the time of my life. It was so rewarding and so much fun. I have been with it ever since."

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The pair was on Stephen Avenue this week showing off their hard work and they will be in the parade on Friday, but Roman says not everyone has positive things to say.

"Typically we get positive reaction and feedback. Every now and then we get unwarranted and unwanted criticism. I put 150 hours into this, so it's great that you hate it," she said with a laugh.

Her interest in cosplay grew over time.

"Since I was 10 years old, that's approaching 14 years," Roman said.

"I originally got involved because I loved watching Sailor Moon, Hamtaroandother anime from my childhood and reading comic books. It kind of became a full time hobby."

The couple says their Star Wars characters took dozens of hours to create.

Roman's costume is Rey of the planet Jakku and Nodrick's is Kylo Ren.

"She's a scavenger that was left in mysterious circumstances in The Last Jedi. I just thought she was a really cool character. A young female character that was fun and feisty. I wanted to be a part of that. I really wanted to have that association," Roman said.

Greatest character of all time

Nodrick says Kylo Ren is, in his opinion, the greatestcharacter of all time.

Kylo Ren is the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia from after the end of Return of the Jedi. He trained under Luke to become a Jedi but fell to the dark side in his adolescence and has since risen to be the supreme leader of the First Order," Nodrick said.

"He is a lot of fun. I consider him to be the best character Star Wars has ever had. I like the depth and the conflict in him. He is the most interesting villain, I think, in any blockbuster released in the last number of years."

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With files from CBC's Ellis Choe and The Homestretch