AM: Tell us a little about you and where you are from.

Jenni: I'm 25 years old, from Sweden. My nationality is Swedish/Japanese and I’m currently studying Japanese after finishing a two year course in video game development. I also do some freelance illustration/3D rendering work on the side sometimes. I started cosplaying seriously about six years ago when I first moved to Stockholm, and have made about 20 costumes so far. When I’m not studying I’m most likely to hang out with my friends, play some video games or kill time at 4chan.org.

AM: So what inspired you to take on the Metroid Prime Samus Aran outfit?

Jenni: I wanted to make something big for this year's con (Uppcon, the largest anime convention in Sweden), and Metroid is one of my favorite games ever so that's why I wanted to try and make it.

AM: About how long did it take to plan and build the Samus Aran outfit?

Jenni: I started to work on it about six month before the con. The first months I just worked on it occasionally and the last two months almost every day.

AM: What were some of the materials you used to create it?

Jenni: PVC fabrics for the suit part and the chest plate. For the armor, cardboard and foam. Then lots and lots of paint, duct tape and air brush.

AM: What was the toughest part in building the Samus outfit? You even got lights in there!

Jenni: Yeah, they weren't too hard to implement though. I was lucky and found some flashy finger lamps so I bought a pack of those and then carved a few holes inside the helmet and stuck four of them in there. The toughest part was the overall fitting I guess. Also, I had some problems with helmet. For now I've used a motorcycle helmet, which I've modified. I started to make the helmet from scratch at the beginning, with a simple cardboard thingy as a base with clay sculpted on as a Samus helmet. But after a few days when it had dried, I realized the clay had shrunk a lot so it didn’t fit anymore. So I had to throw that away.

AM:Is it pretty tough to breath in there?

Jenni: It was, and I couldn’t see shit either man. I had put a layer of green plastic over the visor so it's still a little transparent, but not much.

AM: Where is Samus' outfit now?

Jenni: Onboard …my apartment.

AM: What did you think of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption?

Jenni: I haven’t played it yet

AM: Are you working on any other gaming or anime characters?

Jenni: Yes. It's Samus again actually, but the Zero suit version. It's pretty much completed now but I don't know when I will take photos of it because it's FREEZING cold here now with snow and everything. Maybe if I find a good indoor location, but I doubt it. We'll see!

AM: You have some pretty cool artwork and a big range of media on the pixelninja site too, from Katamari CG art to Zelda oil paintings. Any plans for adding video game development to your list of talents?

Jenni: Thanks! I did work on some 3D graphics during my video game development course and it was pretty fun (when I got it to look the way I wanted), but I prefer to work with 2D graphics. I would really love to work with concept art so I'm gonna work more on that for my site in the near future.

AM: Are you looking to get a career in video game development as a concept artist?

Jenni: I would really love that, but I'll have to work on my portfolio first so I have more to show that just anime characters and random stuff like it is now.

AM: What are some of your favorite games right now?

Jenni: For now I'm mostly playing Para Para Paradise, ITG/Stepmania and Guitar Hero with my friends. It feels like it’s been a while since I played any new games except for NDS where my favorites so far are Phoenix Wright, New Super Mario, and Ouendan. And then some of my all time favorite games are GTA:SA, Silent Hill, Project Zero, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, Super Probotector and Street Fighter II.

AM: Do you play Japanese language games or Swedish?

Jenni: Pretty much everything I play is in English except a few Japanese games I own. As for Swedish language games I only have three that I can think of: Singstar and two old NES games. Little Nemo Dream Master and Shadow Gate, which I have lying around somewhere.

AM: Thanks for your time and sharing your Metroid Prime Samus Aran outfit with us! We look forward to seeing the Zero suit!

Check out more pictures of the Metroid Samus Aran outfit at pixelninja.se. Don't forget to check out the rest of Jenni's artwork and other cosplay outfits while you're there!

Samus Costume by Jenni Källberg, Photo by Carl Oscar Aaro

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