Bending nature’s elements to your advantage is perhaps the ultimate level of cosplay.

This year’s online video content conference, the Niconico Chokaigi 2018, has just ended with a bang. Cosplayers showcased their gorgeous outfits underneath a beautiful cloudless sky, the perfect weather for a full day of relaxed photo sessions.

One of the biggest obstacles cosplayers face is unruly weather conditions, as rain or fierce winds threaten to turn otherwise impeccable outfits into disheveled shambles. Veteran cosplayer @runrun_shigerun has wrestled with strong gusts of wind before in a past Niconico Chokaigi event, but rather than fuss over hair that’s constantly in a state of disarray, she calmly looked at the camera and continued smiling.

▼ She was dressed up as Kotori Otonashi, the intelligent and reliable office clerk in The Idolmaster.

In a world where cosplayers spend a great deal of time lining up the perfect shot — they pour months of effort into their attire after all — her disheveled appearance surprisingly helped her pull off the character even more naturally than her peers.

While stray hair obscured much of @runrun_shigerun’s face in the second and third images of the tweet, the first picture had just the right amount of breeze to transform the cosplayer into Kotori Otonashi herself.

▼ Like a refreshing breath of air

Japanese netizens were astonished to find that hair messed up by wind gusts could actually enhance cosplays:

“Even if the wind hides your face, you’re cute!”
“Short hair floating in the wind looks great. I particularly love the first picture.”
“Cute. The wind perfectly complemented your smiling face.”
“This is absolutely spectacular!”
“It feels really complete. All that’s left is to sing ‘Sora’ and it’ll be perfect!”

Although @runrun_shigerun made a return at this year’s Niconico Chokaigi as Sakuya Izayoi from Touhou Project, she lamented that her costume wasn’t that popular with the crowds.

▼ It’s still fantastic, but perhaps she should have enlisted the help of the wind again.

Extremely stiff and durable wigs are the ultimate weapons against fierce wind, but as we’ve learnt from @runrun_shigerun’s photos, sometimes letting loose with hair that’s a bit unkempt can actually lend a surprising amount of authenticity to a character.

Source: Twitter/@runrun_shigerun via Hachima Kikou
Featured image: Twitter/@runrun_shigerun