Sunny Ray Dishes on Her Life as Your Favorite Cosplay and Gamer “Weeb”

By Grit Daily Staff Grit Daily Staff has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team
Published on August 29, 2021

As NFTs firm their grip as the latest blockchain investment boom that looks to have staying power, one consistent thread holds throughout successful projects: A solid storyline. World of Women, Tom Sachs’ Rocket Factory, Cyberpunks, Veefriends, and Bored Ape Yacht Club join a list of successful projects along with a new entrant, Sunny Ray. 

Borne a hybrid species between cosplay and plucking the strings of introverts everywhere, Sunny Ray has built a devoted following for her dress up mash ups ranging from the Super Mario Bros. franchise to Fortnite, Star Wars, and Scooby Doo. Japanese manga notes run deep in her content, and even her NFT-ready website teases a Asian tilt. Here to unpack how she develops her story lines and capture her origin story, Sunny Ray tells all to Grit Daily.

Grit Daily: For the uninitiated, what’s behind the “Sunny Ray” name? 

Sunny Ray in character as a Teen Titan.

Sunny Ray: Well there’s a lot to say but I’ll try to sum it up as best as I can. It started when I was younger. I didn’t have many friends and I was an introvert wishing Iwas an extrovert. I assembled dragon and fairy puzzles in my room, loved reading and listening to audiobooks and loved watching anime. I collected dragon toys and figurines and I was obsessed with animals, nature and my hamster and I really enjoyed being alone even though I hated that about myself. 

I grew up in Arkansas — so all the “popular girls”at my school were super into boys and caking on makeup and things that seemed like they were trying too hard to be adults. I wasn’t even allowed to have a phone.

I carried that part of me all the way into adulthood and I’ve always loved editing and art so it just all came together. I started to post online as my favorite characters and as luck would have it, all the things that I was embarrassed to like when I was younger started to become what was trending in my adulthood. So now I get to do whatever I want without fear and I’m able to be myself completely. And that’s how I came to be. ^.^ 

And yes: There’s still some people who like to comment mean things or that hate me for no reason without even knowing me, but I don’t let it bother me. I know that if they actually met me in real life I know they would change their minds.

Grit Daily: Inquiring minds want to know — what is a “weeb?”

Sunny Ray: Haha. I guess a formal definition of a weeb is someone that loves Japanese culture (anime, all things cute and kawaii) and Japanese often refer to their crush as “waifu”. It’s a slang term I like to call anyone that likes me because I can only hope that I can be “waifu” material. I myself am a weeb. 

Grit Daily: How many fans are we talking about?

Sunny Ray: In total I have 3 million followers across all my platforms. And I literally love every single person that is kind enough to follow me. I remember how excited I was to get 10k followers and honestly the feeling of this many people having any kind of interest in me is crazy. 

I still get nervous to post or release new things because I feel like no one will care haha. 

But I’m always pleasantly surprised. And I know a lot of people probably think taking pictures of yourself is the easiest thing ever, which compared to most jobs, it is.

But I put a lot of work into every character/shoot Ido. 6 to 8 hours a day 4 or 5 days a week from start to finish. And I love doing it! 

Grit Daily: How is watching video gamers play on Twitch a “thing?”

Sunny Ray in character as Faye Valentine, from Cowboy Bebop, Japanese science-fiction, anime-television series.

Sunny Ray: Well I feel like everyone has enjoyed video games at some point in their life in some form. And watching people you like playing games you like is one of the best forms of entertainment. I feel like there’s a twitch streamer for everyone out there and if you’ve never watched someone play video games I highly recommend haha video games are an escape and Twitch is just another extension of that. 

Grit Daily: Where do you get ideas for your cosplay content?

Sunny Ray: Almost all of my ideas just come from characters that I have loved throughout my life that I have on a list in my brain that I always wanted to be or create in my own way. 

Or new characters that, simply put, are just “cool af.” 

I also get a lot of inspiration from all the dope people that follow me. I love taking suggestions from followers and bringing them to life. I’ve also done a few original characters that I just create in my head and try my hardest to create in reality. I like pushing limits and doing weird things that other people might not do just because it’s the most rewarding when the finished product comes out exactly how Isaw it in my head. 

And I’m not saying I’m super different or special or anything — but that’s what I strive to be.

Grit Daily: What can your market expect from your upcoming NFT launch? 

Sunny Ray: This NFT launch will feature some of my favorite characters I’ve done along with backstory to how and why brought the character to life along with brand new characters still to come as well. 

Also I’m super excited to be releasing some original art as well that I hope people enjoy! This is one of those instances that I mentioned earlier about being nervous to release new stuff because it’s hard to believe that anyone will care. But if even just one person can think any of it is cool I will be ecstatic.

To get a deeper look at Sunny Ray’s Faye Valentine story line in NFT format, check out Sunny Ray NFT.

By Grit Daily Staff Grit Daily Staff has been verified by Muck Rack's editorial team

Journalist verified by Muck Rack verified

Grit Daily News is the premier startup news hub. It is the top news source on Millennial and Gen Z startups — from fashion, tech, influencers, entrepreneurship, and funding. Based in New York, our team is global and brings with it over 400 years of combined reporting experience.

Read more

More GD News