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Like many other things in life, the challenges in cosplay can never be fully understood until you’ve experienced it first hand. As we’ve previously seen, there is much more than meets the eye when cosplayers and photographers are striving to get the perfect shot. Sometimes it can even be a chore just to put on the costume and keep it from falling apart, as some Touken Ranbu cosplayers have realized.

If you or your friends are planning to cosplay as Touken Ranbu characters, these tweets from Japanese cosplayers who have been there and done that could probably give you a heads up on what to expect!

Touken Ranbu is an online game that revolves around historical swords personified into handsome young men. Developed and published by Nitro Plus and DMM, the game has been a tremendous hit since its release in January this year, especially among katana joshi (young women who are sword fanatics).

As the game involves historical swords in battle, many of the characters are dressed in traditional clothing and/or have detailed pieces of armor incorporated into their character design. As it turns out, some of these costumes were more difficult to manage than cosplayers had expected.

▼ Sometimes, when it’s windy, this happens.

https://twitter.com/al06110/status/618283610735390720

▼ Can’t sit in this costume [of character Ookurikara]

▼ The liquor pot crashes into the crotch with every move.

▼ Nakigitsune can’t eat anything and can barely drink from a bottle.

▼ The hair and sleeves get in the way of sheathing the sword.

▼ We can’t tie the tasuki (a sash used to tuck up the sleeves of a kimono) properly without each other’s help.

https://twitter.com/aoba_08/status/618277604836007936

▼ Tsurumaru reflects more light than the reflective board.

https://twitter.com/favoreye/status/618411279938498560

▼ Hotarumaru (left) can’t unsheath his sword.

https://twitter.com/maso136/status/618262551697031172

▼ Can’t put on the costume without help.

▼ Only the wrists get stung by mosquitoes.

▼ 1. It’s absolutely no easy feat to jump and hop around. You’ll fall 80% of the time.
2. The ankle accessory gets caught between the geta (wooden clogs) and foot, causing you to fall.
3. The red string around the legs get in the way of movement and you can’t open your stance much unless you want to get tangled up in it and fall over.

▼ Mikazuki Munechika can hide an onigiri in his obi belt.

https://twitter.com/mi88326zk/status/619136680230977536

So it seems like many of these Touken Ranbu characters are dressed in elaborate costumes and equipped with battle gear, but many of their accessories seem to serve nothing more than decorative purposes. Even though the armor and swords used in cosplay are props, it still is no easy feat being a handsome personified sword. If these characters existed in real life, we can’t imagine how much of a hindrance their equipment might be in battle!

Source: Twitter via Zhaizhai News
Top image: Twitter/@al06110