Top cosplayer transforms into swimsuit model, maid and mute girl for “first experience” debut.

Out of all the cosplayers in Japan, a 26-year-old Nagoya-born lass by the name of Enako is often touted as the nation’s “number one”. Not only does she draw insane crowds whenever she makes an appearance, but she also earns a pretty yen through cosplay, raking in around 10 million yen (US$93,240) for a day at Japan’s three-day biannual Comiket convention.

Lately, Enako has been breaking into the mainstream by appearing in magazines and even working for the Cabinet of Japan as a Cool Japan Ambassador. However, as the country’s top cosplayer, Enako is still working hard to achieve new milestones, and her latest achievement is appearing on the cover of Weekly Shonen Champion for the very first time.

Not only is this the first time for Enako to grace the cover, it’s also the first time for her to be featured in the gravure photo spread section in the opening pages of the magazine. As a testament to her popularity, Enako is receiving a longer-than-usual feature, at 13 pages, with a number of photos showing her cosplaying as characters from the serialised webcomic Meika-san wa Oshikorosenai (Meika Can’t conceal her Emotions) and Japanese Twitter manga Koe ga Dasenai Shojo wa ‘Kanojo ga Yasashisugiru’ to Omotteiru (The Girl Who Can’t Speak Thinks ‘She’s Too Kind’).

▼ Meika-san is a maid who can’t hide her feelings for her master, Kouta.

The Girl Who Can’t Speak Thinks ‘She’s Too Kind’ tells the story of a mute transfer girl, who communicates by writing in a large notebook, and the classmate with a special ability who becomes her friend.

▼ The manga, by Yamura Ichi (@yamuraichi), has some sections translated into English online with approval from the creator.

https://twitter.com/elusive_taco/status/1203796279148437504

Enako shared images of her cosplaying as the above characters for the photo spread on her official Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/enako_cos/status/1283658426162089985

She also shared a photo of the double-sided large poster insert of herself that comes with the magazine.

https://twitter.com/enako_cos/status/1283748421405339648

Enako spoke about her appearance in the magazine, saying:

“I’m so happy to make my debut on the front cover ♡ For the swimsuit costume look, I wanted to draw attention to a “bare Enako” as much as possible so I went with a black wig for a more natural appearance and was photographed with fairly light makeup.”

▼ The swimsuit look is one of the images in the 13-page spread dubbed “Enako’s First Experience” in honour of her debut.

The issue with Enako as covergirl for Weekly Shonen Champion went on sale around Japan on 16 July. Given her massive level of fame and popularity, it looks likely to be one of the magazine’s best-ever selling issues.

Source: PR Times 
Insert images: PR Times
Featured image: Twitter/@enako_cos
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