This is a clever way to keep warm while cosplaying outdoors in winter!

While comic-book fans look forward to getting their hands on rare items at Japan’s bi-annual Comiket convention, another one of the highlights is the chance to check out some of the country’s most popular cosplayers showing off their flesh and their latest costumes at the same time. At the most recent Winter Comiket, held on 29-31 December last year, a couple of cosplayers really stood out from the crowd, like the guy who dressed up as Goku’s kamehama attack beam from Dragon Ball, and this one, which came in the shape of a sake bottle.

This is no ordinary sake bottle of course, as it’s the one that stars in the hit anime film Your Name. As one of the vital plot points of the story, the female star of the film, Mitsuha, makes a special sake called kuchikamizaki (mouth-chewed sake) by chewing cooked rice and spitting it out as part of the process. As fans will know, this personal touch leads to the alcoholic beverage becoming one of the most significant items in the film’s narrative, and for cosplayer @ikunokumin, the bottle that stores the sake was perfectly suited for reincarnation on the cosplay circuit.

It’s a genius idea, really, seeing as you don’t even have to be inside the bottle while it’s on display, as it’s eye-catching enough on its own to grab the attention of photographers and passers-by. Still, when Mitsuha cosplayers are in the area, they can’t help stepping into the bottle and posing as the embodiment of the magical sake, to the delight of photographers.

Other Mitsuha cosplayers prefer to pose alongside the bottle, wiping their mouths as if they’ve just finished chewing and spitting out the rice used in its creation.

Given the film’s popularity, the bottle has been doing a great job of attracting attention while its creator gets to rug up in warm clothes and blend in with the rest of the crowd. Here, the sake was even dressed up with a New Year’s decoration for the last day of the year.

The sake bottle wasn’t the only non-human entity from the film to make an appearance at Comiket this year, as the mystical pink-and-blue-hued comet was also spotted on the day.

According to the creator of the kuchikamizake cosplay, improvements will have to be made to the object’s girth and its current non-existing ventilation system for someone to comfortably fit inside the costume for an extended period of time.

Perhaps that’s currently a work-in-progress for Comiket’s next event! While there’s no news yet on whether this bottle will come with any real sake anytime soon, if you’d like to taste the sake inspired by the film, a Japanese brewer has made that dream a reality with this special limited-edition variety. While it’s not mouth-chewed, it does come in a more compact, regular size that’s a better fit for Mitsuha cosplayers.

Source: My Game News Flash
Featured image: Twitter/@ikunokumin