
Romance blossoms after body hits the pavement in Tokyo.
If there’s a sense of comradery that comes from spotting someone wearing a T-shirt of the same sports team or TV series that you like, imagine how much stronger that instant affinity must be if you’re cosplaying and encounter someone else dressed as a character from the same anime as you are.
https://twitter.com/ishikooooo/status/1276127873816911872That’s what happened to Ishiko (@ishikooooo on Twitter), the cosplayer above who often dresses as Gintama’s Kagura. About 10 years ago, Ishiko was at a cosplay gathering at the Harumi Pier in Tokyo’s harbor district, where she happened to meet someone who was cosplaying as Gintoki, the star of the Gintama franchise. Though the two cosplayers had never met before, they decided to pose for a photo together, and since Kagura and Gintoki’s relationship is one marked with periodic moments of intense violence, they figured Ishiko suplexing her new acquaintance was the way to go.
https://twitter.com/ishikooooo/status/1273487398383439872But while it’s not uncommon for anime fans at an event to meet, share a quick laugh, and then go their separate ways in life, this time was different, as you might have guessed from Ishiko sharing the photo 10 years after it was taken. Accompanying the suplex picture in her tweet is the message:
“I’ve been thinking about someday, when we have kids and they get older, are there any photos of us we can show them? There aren’t that many, but there’s this one, so I can say ‘Here’s a picture from the day Mom and Dad first met.’…We’re such dorks.”
Yes, what was supposed to be just a silly slapstick snapshot turned out to be the start of a romance, with Ishiko and cosplayer Ikataro (@Ikatarou_cos), the guy she’s suplexing, eventually becoming husband and wife.
▼ More shots of the cosplaying couple
https://twitter.com/ishikooooo/status/1273648729115918337銀ちゃん好きな人ー!(^^)/#坂田銀時をのせると銀時クラスタがRTしてくれるらしい pic.twitter.com/LLNtQOSQya
— 烏賊太郎 (いかたろう) (@Ikatarou_cos) February 21, 2018
Their unexpected path to love has warmed the hearts of other Twitter users, who’ve left comments like:
“Best ‘how we met’ story ever.”
“Such a lovely suplex.”
“Looks like the two of you really hit it off right away.”
“Nothing wrong with meeting like that…I laughed out loud when I found out my parents first date was going to a ramen restaurant, but it’s good to tell your kids that there are all sorts of people in this world.”
A few other commenters shared their own husband-and-wife, and even husband-and-wife-and-kids, cosplay photos.
▼ “Here’s us.”
フォロー外から失礼します。
— 今井丈 (@jo_imai0229) June 18, 2020
うちもこんな感じです(;^ω^) pic.twitter.com/RGCmpL40xx
▼ “When the kids start growing up.”
子どもが大きくなったら、こうなります。
— 部活好(ぶかっこう) (@bukakkou) June 19, 2020
FF外から失礼しました。 pic.twitter.com/j1qln4IVNb
Ishiko’s cosplay projects aren’t limited to just Kagura. For example, here she is as Final Fantasy VII’s Yuffie.
Still, Kagura will no doubt always be special for her.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-nnI3ZhQgP/
“All the pictures we have are of us doing something stupid” Ishiko jokingly tweets, but if you can find someone with whom you can both share your passion and throw off your inhibitions, odds are they’re someone you’ll be happy with for a very long time.
Source: Twitter/@ishikooooo via IT Media
Top image: Twitter/@ishikooooo
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