YBMW Girl of The Month: Francesca Dani

We’ve had a lot of amazing women as Girls of the Month on Youbentmywookie, but Francesca Dani might be the first legend. The Italian model, performer and Cosplayer has been a staple on the internet for years. Like all of the women we select as our GOTMs, Francesca is more than just another pretty face from the web. She’s a true blue geek just like the rest of us.

Full Name: Francesca
Profession: designer, part time model.
Favorite Movie: Apocalypse Now
Favorite TV Show: Life After People
Favorite book: Fingerprints Of God (by Graham Hancock)
Favorite Author: Tsutomu Nihei
Favorite comic book? “Blame!”
Favorite artists? Junko Mizuno, H.R.Giger
Favorite Superhero? Daredevil

What were your favorite cartoons growing up?
I speak as fan of Japanese cartoons, called “anime”: my favorite one was “Cyborg 009” by Shotaro Ishinomori but I was also a huge “Majokko” fan, and one of my favorite animes of all time were “Creamy Mami” by Akemi Takada and “Sailor Moon” by Naoko Takeuchi.

What cartoons do you like to watch now?
I don’t have so much free time in my hands, I can rarely watch animes. Sometimes on TV here in Italy we see broadcasting old anime series and I still love watching them.

What toys did you play with when you were a kid?
Lots of My Little Pony and Lady Lovely Locks dolls.

Do you collect toys now?
Yes, I like to collect Tokidoki figures like the “Moofia” series and “Moyashimon” figures inspired from the anime series created by Masayuki Ishikawa. And I still have a huge collection of Sailormoon toys.

What was your favorite video game as a kid?
Absolutely the old “Super Mario Bros” and “Street Fighter 2”. For long time I dreamed to be like Chun Li! Thanks to cosplay my dream came true, it was my second cosplay made in 1999.

What games do you like to play now?
The Zelda’s series, Dante’s Inferno and actually I’m playing the rhythm game Patapon on PSP. I have every video game console possible in my house, I’m a huge videogamer. :-)

What is your favorite Anime?
As for the old ones, as told you before, Cyborg 009 and for the new anime’s generation Code Geass was one of the best I’ve seen in the last few years.

How did you get into Cosplay?
I started doing cosplay almost by accident, following the path of a friend of mine who already was in the circle of cosplay years before. It was October of 1998 when I wore a cosplay costume for the first time. My first one was Sailor Moon, at that time she was a very famous anime character, probably the most famous one in Italy.

What is your favorite Cosplay that you’ve made?
The character that has given me more satisfaction was definitely Francoise from the 80’s anime series Cyborg 009 and it was one of my first cosplay done in 1999. She is my favorite character of all time: I enjoyed dressing in her costume because when I was a child I always dreamed of being her but I’m so proud of my Princess Zelda costume too. It was embroidered with thousands of original Swarovsky crystals.

What is your ultimate fantasy Cosplay?
The golden armor of Athena (from Saint Seya).

Do you think you’ll ever make it?
Unfortunately I will never have enough free time in my hands to work on it.

What is the coolest opportunity that Cosplay has opened up for you in your life?
One of the best and interesting thing in my career as cosplayer is the opportunity to meet new people, exchange ideas with them and learn new aspects of the cosplay scene worldwide.

What have been some of the highest and lowest experiences that you’ve had associated with your celebrity status?
The most beautiful experiences I have had at the conventions abroad knowing many people and friends who will always carry in my heart. Some of the worst are when… well, I have no worst memories, people I met always were so nice with me. And I have good memories of all of them. Thanks God my life is beautiful.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
For a long time I had the dream to be a doctor.

Favorite Food?
Indian cuisine, the tikka masala is my favorite dish.

If you could have any Superpower, what would it be and why?
Superheroes are a bit boring. So no superpower for me, just the abilty to be a good next door girl. :-)

What do you look for in a guy?
I found everything I was looking for in my boyfriend Masaki. My search is over.

What is the strangest come on you’ve ever gotten from someone while in your Cosplay?
Someone asked me to walk on his back with my heels. And he wanted pay me lots of money for this.

Do you have any advice for the cool, yet geeky guys out there that just can’t seem to find a woman who appreciates their love of Anime, Comics or Toys?
Be always yourself. There are a lot of girls who like toys, video games and have a geek attitude. Just think, I met my boyfriend on MySpace. He was a fanboy of Francesca Dani for over ten years.

What projects do you have coming up and where can people go to see you online or at live events?
Actually I’m working on two cosplay, Ciel Phantomhive and Dead Master. I have no upcoming events before the summer season, I will coming back to conventions after summer. As for online, people can find me on my website as usual. I recently opened my own jewellery brand, you can take a look at http://www.francescadanistore.com

I was recently involved on a very nice project, Cosplay For A Cause with other cosplay girls from worldwide: a 2012 cosplay calender with our photos never been seen before and 100% of all proceeds will be going to the Japanese Red Cross society to assist in Japan’s Disaster relief aid. So go on and buy it!

You can always find me on my website http://www.francescadani.com , on my Twitter and on my official Facebook Page. Ciao! :-)