
Comiket 88, the world’s largest dojinshi fair, is now underway at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre. And while thousands of people are already rushing to buy some of the best and rarest anime, manga and video game merch money can buy, others were there for one thing only: cosplay.
Despite the beating sun and intense humidity that comes as standard with Summer Comic Market (you did read our Comiket survival guide, right?), the almost complete lack of shade outdoors did not deter Tokyo’s cosplayers, who stood out for photo after photo, striking their best poses and wowing our reporters with their incredible outfits.
Join us after the jump for a look at some of our favourites!
Welcome to Comiket 88, folks! Let’s make like the swarms of otaku and dive right in, shall we? Here’s just a sample of the cosplay on display at this summer’s event.
▼ Love Live! was perhaps the most popular choice for cosplayers this year
▼And no cosplay area would be complete without some Sailor Scouts, would it?
▼Remember the No Education Employment or Training recruitment task force? They actually got out of bed in time for the event!
▼ Vocaloid’s Lily strikes a pose
▼ Cased Closed‘s Detective Conan looking as young as ever
▼ Good to see some international cosplay action too!
▼A Japanese cosplay favourite: the “No More!” anti-movie piracy guy
▼ Further proof that Nintendo has a hit on its hands: the Splatoon gang turned up!
▼Shining Hearts‘ Xiao Mei, whom our reporter P.K. Sanjun fell quite in love with
▼Show By Rock‘s ChuChu gives us a smile
▼ Ken and Ryu, complete with epic eyebrows
▼Mazinger Z and Transformers unite
▼JoJo‘s Jean Pierre Polnareff wins the Hair of Show award
▼ Another crowd favourite: Kantai Collection‘s Shimakaze in two unique forms…
▼ Mario, Luigi, and Princess Daisy – with a SNES Super Scope!
▼ Mario and Luigi again, but a little bit different…
▼ Kill La Kill‘s Nui Harime
We’re sure there’ll be much more cosplay to enjoy over the coming days at Comiket, so if you’re in the area be sure to head over and check it out!
All photos © RocketNews24





















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