Follow this simple step-by-step guide to disobey the laws of physics.

Summer Comiket is just around the corner in Japan, with cosplayers getting ready for the biggest gathering of anime and game characters over three days. It’s a sweltering-hot experience, and visitors will be treated to loads of eye candy in the form of gigantic swords, guns, schoolgirls, maids, and exposed flesh.

And many of the cosplayed characters, such as Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist, sport an ahoge (literally meaning “foolish hair”), a lock of stubborn hair adorning the top of the head. This gravity-defying ahoge is notoriously difficult to recreate in real life and can be the deciding factor separating a fantastic cosplay from a mediocre one.

▼ Just look at that ahoge sticking up right above Edward’s forehead.
It’s a thing of beauty, but how can you make it in real life?

As luck would have it, Japanese cosplayer @tomgthrs recently revealed the secret to owning that rebellious lock of hair in her cosplay of Kanata from Ensemble Stars.

First, to prove her point, she showed off the strength of her homemade ahoge by using the gold standard for testing: whacking it with a plastic bottle.

▼ “I’ve been asked by many people how to make a strong ahoge that
doesn’t lose its style when hit, so here it is. Continued below.”

https://twitter.com/tomgthrs/status/884777888876158976

As any cosplayer can attest, constructing props that can withstand an entire day’s abuse is no walk in the park, especially when it comes to something as fidgety as the wig. Here’s how she does it:

All you need is scissors, wire, clear liquid glue, bonding glue, hair wax and some cellophane tape. For the ahoge hair itself, @tomgthrs recommends sourcing a small lock of hair from the back of the wig, as it won’t be as conspicuous.

Cut two pieces of wire into equal lengths, wrap them in cellophane tape, then trim the ends to a taper as shown in the second picture.

https://twitter.com/tomgthrs/status/884778756476358656

Aligning the pointed end of the taped wire piece toward the tips of the hair, use bonding glue to cover both sides completely. As such, you would want to make sure the hair length is slightly longer than the taped wire piece. Use a blow dryer to bring the glue to 70-percent dryness or so.

Apply clear liquid glue to the hairpiece with your fingers, aiming for a uniform look and making sure that none of the plastic is showing through. Blow dry it to semi-dryness.

Carefully cut away loose hair, making it so that the hair tip is just past the plastic core. Taper it into a triangle, then apply some hair wax to the pointed end. Use a bit of clear liquid glue to keep the hairs from fraying.

Next, bend the piece to your desired shape. The ahoge can be bent and twisted with surprising flexibility; just don’t go full corkscrew!

https://twitter.com/tomgthrs/status/884780473569878016

Carefully apply the ahoge onto the desired spot with a glue gun, making sure to part a bit of hair and push it in to give it a natural look. After going through all this trouble, the last thing you want is an ahoge looking as if it was slapped on haphazardly. Apply more clear glue to minimize fraying, then leave it to dry for a day, and it’s finished.

▼ The master of the art of ahoge.

https://twitter.com/tomgthrs/status/883889018718396416

Defying gravity has never been easier, and @tomgthrs managed to pull off a fantastic Kanata with a stiff ahoge. We reckon Edward Elric, who is sorely missing his trademark ahoge in the upcoming live-action Full Metal Alchemist movie, should take a few pages out of this cosplayer’s book.

Source, featured image: Twitter/@tomgthrs