These cosplaying queens waited two years to step out as their favourite manga and anime characters, and the wait was definitely worth it. 

One of the biggest events on the calendar for cosplayers in Japan every year is the Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival. Held at Sunshine City in Ikebukuro, one of Tokyo’s most popular otaku meccas, the annual cosplay celebration was sadly cancelled last year due to the pandemic, but this year, the event went ahead with coronavirus countermeasures in place, and it was held over two days from 30-31 October.

Ikebukuro’s Halloween party kicked off with a bang, but one thing that surprised us when we visited was the fact that most of the cosplayers weren’t dressed up in Halloween costumes — they opted to dress up as characters from their favourite manga and anime instead.

There were definitely fewer zombies and witches at this year’s event, but we certainly weren’t complaining. Plus, after an extra year off from cosplay, it’s only natural that a lot of cosplayers were waiting for a chance to step out as their favourite characters again.

So, as we walked about the event space on Day One of the festival, we spied some well-known faces from franchises like Uma Musume and Fate/Grand Order, which always has a strong showing at the festival.

While spectators at the event were required to wear masks at all times, the cosplayers were allowed to remove their masks while posing. This allowed us to take some great photos of some of the country’s most creative cosplayers, so let’s take a look at some of the best from the day below!

▼ Maki Nishikino from Love Live! School Idol Festival (Cosplayer: Kinomi)

▼ Michelle and Tsurumaki Kokoro from BanG_Dream! (Cosplayers: Kawasemi Sayahana and Aimu)

▼ Taiki Shuttle from Uma Musume Pretty Derby (Cosplayer: Amami)

▼ Artoria Caster from Fate/Grand Order (Cosplayer: Ea)

▼ Flandre Scarlet from Touhou Koumakyou: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (Cosplayer: Koimu)

▼ Morgan from Fate/Grand Order (Cosplayer: Yuzuriha Kureha)

▼ Nana Daiba from Shojo Kageki Revue Starlight (Cosplayer: Kue)

▼ Oguri Cap from Uma Musume Pretty Derby (Cosplayer: Toramaru)

▼ Kyouka (Halloween) from Princess Connect Re:Dive (Cosplayer: Inami Yuri)

▼ Gawr Gura from HololiveEN (Cosplayer: Peroneko)

▼ Sangonomiya Kokomi from Genshin Impact (Cosplayer: INA)

▼ Jolyne Cujoh from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean (Cosplayer: mi-ya.)

So there you have it — some of the best cosplayers from Day One of this year’s Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival!

This year’s iteration of the event may have been slightly more subdued, with less numbers attending than usual due to the pandemic, but it was certainly no less impressive, thanks to the enthusiasm of the cosplayers.

We’d like to extend a big thanks and a hearty “otsukaresama” to all the cosplayers who kindly allowed us to feature them in this story. Be sure to stay tuned for our photo collection from Day Two of the event, which will be arriving shortly!

Photos ©SoraNews24
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