Cosplay: FFXIII-2 – Lightning ‘Éclair Farron’

UGH! I’m dying here. What an AMAZING cosplay. Rainer Tachibana, who previously did the spectacular Lightning cosplay featured on my site, has done it again. I don’t even have words to describe how incredibly beautiful this cosplay is. I know I already featured and gushed about her cosplay prior so I’ll try not to repeat myself. All I have to say is this: the hair, the armour, the feathers, the SWORD. Although I’ll admit that I do have one more Lightning F13-2 cosplay in my image bank with slightly more accurately done armour, this by no means takes away from the beauty of this cosplay overall. Enough said, here is the photo dump.

When I first started my site I had the lovely opportunity to chat back and forth with Rainer on her previous Lightning cosplay. I can be sure that she put a serious amount of time into this cosplay as well considering the revamped Lightning is far more complicated than the earlier FF13 version. I wish I had time to email her about some cool features of this cosplay but unfortunately big-girl life will have to put it on the back-burner for another day. Definitely hit the link above and check out her cosplay page. I’ll just note as well that after browsing her amazing cosplay portfolio you can be sure that I will feature her again, very soon. Until then.

 

Cosplay: HTTYD – Astrid Hofferson

I’m back! And what better way to return than with a stellar How to Train Your Dragon cosplay. I’ll apologize ahead of time in saying that since I’ve been away from my site for quite some time, I’ve lost my long list of image credits (often times done from pure memory). So if you know where I can link back and credit these cosplayers please comment below and I’ll be sure to add it in.

Everything about this cosplay is spot on. From the cosplayer’s facial expression to the detail in the armour and weathered leather. I dare you to find a better cosplayed Astrid on the circuit. I like that the armour, although well-made, still has a cartoon-ish childlike appeal true to the spirit of the movie. I also like that the hair (pretty sure it’s natural) matches Astrid’s hairstyle almost to a T. This cosplay also has a less staged/professional quality that I find refreshing these days with all the photo-shoot and photoshop heavy cosplays floating around the internet (not necessarily a bad thing) For this I’ll easily overlook her shirt colour being more blue than green since it was likely caused by the lighting when the photo was taken. How to Train Your Dragon is probably one of my favourite animated features in awhile (yes, even moreso than Frozen) which is why I’m super excited to be featuring it after a 2 year hiatus. It’s surprisingly witty yet still feel-good fun. Even though the second instalment didn’t have quite the same spark as the original, I still thoroughly loved watching the characters of HTTYD grow and mature in the 5 years that gapped the sequel. I’m planning on waiting a bit before searching for HTTYD2 Astrid cosplays to feature on my site so I can give cosplayers a chance to get a good shot at it. But until then I’ll happily feature the original Viking gang and the amazing cosplays that spawned from it. Kudos to an amazing job well done!

“Astrid Hofferson is a teen Viking girl of the Hairy Hooligans tribe who attends Dragon Training with Hiccup and the other Viking teens and loves Hiccup as her boyfriend. She’s striking, tough, beautiful and her determined and strong personality makes her hard to impress. Astrid is 14 years old in How To Train Your Dragon, 15 in the series, and 20 in the sequel. She’s Hiccup’s main love interest in the first film and the series, and his longtime girlfriend by the time of the sequel. In spite of initially not liking Hiccup or his new found friendship with Toothless, she soon has her opinion changed, tries to keep Toothless a secret, and starts to like Hiccup as her crush.” – How to train your dragon wiki

Cosplay: Sleeping Beauty – Princess Aurora

I’ll be honest. This could very well be a professional model posing in a wonderfully made Princess Aurora costume but that’s OK. I love this “cosplay” for so many reasons. I love the detail of the white underlining featured in some artistic interpretations of Princess Aurora and the two toned fabric detail at the top. I can’t say for sure (I’m around 80% sure) but this wig is perfectly stylized to Aurora’s whimsical do.  There’s not much else to gush about. Stellar model. Stellar costume. Stellar photography. (Note: if anyone can tell me where this photo can be creditted to please leave me a comment, thanks)

I’m sure you don’t need to be told who Princess Aurora is. She as a character was pretty one-dimensional. If my memory is still intact I can probably say that Aurora’s redeeming qualities were that she was nice, she was pretty, and she sang well. I personally never liked the movie Sleeping Beauty. Although I was a sucker for anything Disney in my childhood Sleeping Beauty actually well… scared me. Malificent’s (SPOILER ALERT) transformation into the dragon gave me nightmares as a child. On top of lack of a complex storyline and old fashioned singing numbers (which I was less inclined to attempt to sing along to) it was a movie I watched maybe once or twice and then never turned to again. There’s a huge part of me that wants to go back into my own Disney vault and rewatch all the Disney classics but I feel like Sleeping Beauty will be pretty low on my list. Still though, I was like any other child and always wanted to be Princess Aurora for Halloween because she was the one who wore the pretty pink dress. So sue me.

Cosplay: Puella Magi Madoka – Madoka Kaname

The best thing about knowing a cosplayer is knowing a great cosplayer. Dear viewers I’m happy to present one of my friends and awesome cosplayer Manz as Madoka Kaname. This cosplay is awesome. Everything from her hand-made prop to the details in ruffling of her skirt are spot on. I’ve personally known Manz since highschool (which for those who don’t know has been around 6 years now) and have watched her cosplays grow leaps and bounds over the years. I know she puts attention into all the details. My only complaint about this particular cosplay (and I know she tried desperately to find the right ones) are the shoes. They`re wedges and not actually heels which yes, definitely can be overlooked. Other than that Manz has successfully transformed herself into Madoka right out of the anime. Manz hand sews and creates all the costumes and props herself. She and my good friend Jen attend anime conventions and panels on a regular basis. If you guys have any questions on how she creates her cosplays feel free to post a comment below. She’ll be happy to answer any of your questions. And yes, she’ll be heavily featured on my site from now on.

group cosplay featuring Mansien (Manz) as Madoka Kaname and Jen as Mami Tomoe

I personally have heard great things from this anime. Although I’ve never watched it (sacrilege for my site!) I’ve heard that it’s surprisingly mature and definitely worth the watch. Being 13 episodes long I can see it being on my to-watch list in the very near future. “There exist “Messengers of Magic” who have the power to grant one wish to a chosen girl. However, that girl must then become a magical girl and fight against witches, evil creatures born from curses that are responsible for murders and suicides. A schoolgirl named Madoka Kaname and her friend Sayaka Miki are approached by one of those Messengers of Magic named Kyubey and magical girl named Mami Tomoe with offers of becoming magical girls, while another magical girl, Homura Akemi, tries to prevent Madoka and friends from making such a deal… ” – Puella Magi Wiki

Cosplay: Magic Knight Rayearth – Hikaru Shidou

I’ll be honest, I’ve never actually read or watched the entire series MKR. I’m a huge fan of CLAMP and therefore owning the MKR artbook was a must. I love this cosplay for a few reasons. for one, the cosplayer took note of all of the very intricate details (also seen in the group cosplay). From the red contacts, to the pinkish pixie-like hair and the armour. Love the armour. I need to get myself a professional plastics molder because well-made armour is my vice when it comes to finding amazing cosplay. I featured Hikaru but I must commend the group cosplay as well. They even got the height ratios (Hikaru being the shortest) pretty spot on. Well done!

“Hikaru Shidou is a fictional character from the anime/manga series Magic Knight Rayearth created by Clamp. She is one of the three protagonists of the series and represents the element of Fire. Hikaru is a short 14-year-old girl with braided red hair with a headstrong, determined, and a somewhat childish personality. She is also very innocent, which is often characterized by cat ears (and in some cases a tail as well) in both versions of the series. Despite these personality traits, Hikaru seems to be the leader between the Magic Knights from her overall enthusiasm in the first arc and strength of heart in the second. Hikaru’s design was actually used in another of Clamp’s works, Angelic Layer, where she became the base design of Misaki Suzuhara’s Angel, who goes by the same name without the surname.”

– Wikipedia: Hikaru Shidou

edit: While I was searching for the cosplayer to credit for this feature I realized that I previously featured WindoftheStars in my previous Lina Inverse post. I guess that’s where she got the red colour contacts. In any case both are stellar cosplays. Credit also to DayDreamerNessa for the very lovely Umi (left) and Anti-Ai-Chan for the beautiful Fuu (right).

Cosplay: Vampire Knight – Zero Kiryu

In honour of my first male cosplay (which I just realized) I’m featuring the ever popular VK protagonist Zero Kiryu. I think despite the very meticulous uniform and ribbon detail, VK cosplay has been well, overdone. And that said I actually can’t say too much about the uniform that makes this cosplayer any different from the hundreds of Zero cosplayers out there right now. This cosplayer is missing a couple of key features of the outfit though. The red tie isn’ t there and the seal tatoo on his neck seems to be missing (or covered but unlikely). It would have been nice if they had coloured contacts to complete the look as well but  I think the only thing that really got me in love with this cosplay was the hair. I love love love the silver wig this cosplayer used for Zero. It’s not starkingly white, or silver. It also has darker undertones that almost makes it look natural. I think despite all of the very accurate Zero cosplays out there right now, the wig really determines it for me for this guy. So kudos to the model, costume maker, and yes wig provider and styler for a fantastic job (in my books).

I’ve been reading Vampire Knight for almost 4 years now. I’ve been a pretty big fan of Matsuri Hino’s work since MeruPuri and picked up VK before all the crazy hype for the series began. That said, I am a bit disappointed that all the hype has somewhat burdened the storyline by making things drag on for no reason. The once complex and intricate character Zero Kiryu has become an anomaly to me. In the beginnings of the manga Zero is introduced as the brother of the main protagonist Yuki Cross who like Yuki, was taken in by the kind head principal of the Cross academy, Kaein Cross. Zero, although portrayed as a very rigid and cold person on the outside, is actually a gentle, lonely, and tormented boy on in the inside. Throughout the series he finds himself wrestling with inner demons, love, and a fate that changes everything. At the moment I seriously don’t understand what is going through Zero’s head. I’m having a very difficult time sympathizing with him which I find odd since he was one of the easiest characters to sympathize at the beginning of the series. I hope Hino has some ingenius trick or plot twist up her sleeve for Zero, Yuki, and Kaname in the near future. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Cosplay: FFXIII – Lightning ‘Éclair Farron’

You know when you find something just SO spectacular you have to share? Well I was curbing my Mercy (show about nurses) obsession by doing a little ‘research’ for my blog. I came across the most spectacular cosplay deviant accounts and among them my dream cosplay find. Ever since the preview for the new Final Fantasy came out I’ve been obsessing over its main protagonist Lightning (finally a Final Fantasy where the girls can kick some serious arsenal). I thought it would be near impossible for me to find a cosplay of Lightning that I would like enough to post here, especially not this early on in it’s release. Given Lightning’s unique character design and (let’s be honest) pricey leather costume I figured I’d hold out on the searching for a year until all the pros got a shot at it.

Well I’m not sure if this Rainer Tachibana is a pro but regardless she got Lightning spot on. I won’t gush over the details but I will point out that her eyes are stunning. Whatever colour contact she used better come in purple or brown so I can order myself a batch. Because I’m so ecstatic about this cosplay I’m actually going to post a few of my fave shots of this cosplay. It’s almost like Lightning walked straight out of the game and into real life. I also did a little stalking research (haha in the end I contacted her) and found out that Rainer made the majority of this cosplay herself as well. The jacket and skirt base were made by her tailor (who she informed me she commissions when she’s short on time) and the rest was made herself. Impressive isn’t it? Definitely hit the link though and go to Rainer‘s deviant page to check out more shots of this and all of her other stellar cosplays. Trust me, it won’t be the last time you see her on my site. (credit also to *Omake-Studios@deviant for the photography)

group cosplay is also beyond amazing

“Originally named Éclair Farron, she discarded her birth name after her parents died and chose the name of “Lightning” as a means to escape the vulnerabilities and insecurities of her former self and in order to become a different person — strong enough to care for her young sister Serah. However, this choice only causes things to worsen between them as she grew up to have a rather cold personality that has a tendency to look down upon others including comrades at most times during the start of the adventure… Over the course of the game, Lightning strives to deal with her nature as a l’Cie (people magically marked by a god giving them superhuman strength) while eventually learning her focus to save Cocoon.“

– Wikipedia: Final Fantasy – Lightning

Cosplay: Disney – Disney Princesses

Gotta love a great Disney Princess cosplay (and I didn’t even have to add a comparison picture) and in what better way than through a VERY well imitated cosplay group photo. I’ll be honest, I don’t know whether the image came first or the cosplay but I figure it’ll be a long standing chicken and egg conundrum that I don’t dare question. I will also add that these costumes are probably a touch more revealing than their Disney counterparts but who really cares? Cheers to the cosplayers!

Edit: Aha! After a little memory backtracking I was able to track down the original artist of the picture and as far back to the original source of the photo that I could find. Bri-chan who you can find on deviant is the artist of the apparently immensly popular Disney Princesses rendition and (the earliest source I could find of) the photo  was provided by buzzfeed.com. Thanks!

Cosplay: Slayers – Lina Inverse

When I was in grade 6 before the whole anime craze blew up in North America, I had a half-Japanese friend who used to lend me her anime collection every once in awhile. I became obsessed with Saber Marionettes J, Slayers, and Angelic Layer. So naturally when I started looking up amazing cosplay outfits I gravitated towards my childhood favourites. I was super excited when I stumbled upon this Slayers cosplay. Slayers is definitely my favourite anime out of the three that I used to watch. Although childish and full of fillers, the basis of the plot was borderline genius. I came to love every character in the anime and my favourite anime character of all time (and also favourite voice actor of all time) comes out of Slayers. Moving onto the feature though I must say, this cosplay looks amazing. I especially love the red contacts with the red wig. I also love the belt and shoulder armour. My sister once made a Lina cosplay for herself and I know that her most difficult task was creating the armour. I’d also like to add that I love the fact that the cosplayer even had the height difference between her and Gourry spot on. Not a huge fan of the Gourry but the two cosplayers just embody the anime couple so well that I can’t help but love them both.

Lina Inverse is the short tempered, “flat-chested”, and somewhat intellectually challenged protagonist of the Slayers series. She herself is a very accident-prone but powerful sorceress who spends her time going from village to village stealing money from bandits and running away from her apparently frightening sister Luna. In the series she first meets Gourry Gabriev who saves her from bandits using his Sword of Light. This being a priceless and rare artifact stirs Lina’s greed in which she swears to follow Gourry until he hands it over to her. Through this meeting the two travel together and encounter very different companions along the way and always in the most comical fashion.  The story continues through 3 pivotal arcs in which Lina Inverse’s almost unmatchable powers are realized and used to save the world from Demon Kings, Gods, and other miscellaneous monsters.

Edit: Finally found the cosplayer on cosplay.com. Click the link and check out more photos of this cosplay and WindoftheStars other cosplays on her account. Photocred to photographer Sundail-chan as well.

Cosplay: FFX-2 – Rikku (Berserker)

It seems I’ve been posting a lot of Final Fantasy lately. I  think it’s partially a ploy to keep my site from becoming too ‘asian-centric’ and also because Final Fantasy is done so often that statistically there has to be an abundance of amazing cosplays among the pleuthora of characters out there. This one is definitely no exception. First off I am very happy to feature my second FFX-2 berserker dresssphere form. I just love how unique and difficult this dressphere is to cosplay. This is probably my favourite Final Fantasy cosplay out there so far. And don’t get me wrong you don’t have to be Caucasian to cosplay Rikku, I have a whole bunch of asian Rikku’s on my computer that I love. It’s just she does this so well.  The colour contacts are CRAZY and the fur paws were very well made. I love the fangs, the wig, and all the little details that were meticulously executed. Whoever is responsible for this beautiful cosplay should be praised. Absolutely amazing job well done!

“Berserker is a dressphere in Final Fantasy X-2. They don animal skins and fur as clothes, have the Instinct skill set and utilize a number of melee attacks. The dressphere has the absolute worst Magic and Magic Defensestats in the entire game, as well as the lowest Defense stat of all the physical assault dresspheres. However, this is somewhat evened out by it having the best Agility stats in the game, as well as high Strength, Evasion, and HP. Its Passive abilities also help with evening out the lows of the dressphere. As an interesting fact, each girl uses a different fighting style while wearing the Berserker dressphere. Yuna pounces and attacks an enemy like a mountain lion, Rikku uses capoeira (low kicks an enemy) and Paine uses of what seems to be the Panther-style Kung Fu .”

– Wikia: Berserker (Final Fantasy X-2)