Never has a man worn panties, wrapping paper, and balloons so well.

For a while now, we’ve been covering the wide selection of items sold through Japan’s many 100-shops. From daikon seeds to VR googles it seems like there’s nothing you can’t do with the merchandise available at these stores.

That includes preparing for the 2025 World Expo in Osaka. There’s still quite a bit of time until then, but at the moment the event’s mascot Myaku-Myaku has been making waves with its grotesque-chic look and all around joie de vivre. Wanting to emulate that vibe, our writer Seiji Nakazawa decided to cosplay as the intestine-headed symbol of friendship and unity.

It’s actually very intriguing from a design standpoint. Myaku-Myaku is only two colors, but its hard-to-define features give it a profound depth. Could Seiji capture this essence in the medium of discount items from Daiso?

His first challenge was making the fully blue body. There were plenty of blue items here and there, but Daiso isn’t a clothing store, so Seiji had to get a little creative. First, he found a blue cooling poncho with a hood, which would achieve quite a bit of coverage.

Then he found some fabric gift wrapping that could fill in other areas.

The only blue underwear he could find was a medium-sized pair of panties, but they would have to do. At least they seemed stretchy enough.

These night socks only had blue trim but since they were white, they still fit in with Myaku-Myaku’s overall color scheme.

Seiji was really on a roll, but he hit an unexpected snag with the ring of eyeball encrusted offal surrounding the character’s head. His plan was to stuff some balls into a red stocking, but there were no red stockings. In fact, there were no red gloves, no red socks, no red gift wrapping, almost nothing red at all.

It’s often in our most desperate hour that inspiration strikes, and in Seiji’s case, inspiration came in the form of a 20-pack of balloons. Only a few of them were red, but it was still by far his best option.

He returned to the office with all of his items in tow, here’s what he got for a total of 2,317 yen ($17):

・Double Sole Sandals (330 yen)
・Running Cap (220 yen)
・Night Socks – 2 pairs (220 yen)
・Compact Knife Sharpener (110 yen)
・Acrylic Paint – 25mL (110 yen)
・Adhesive Cloth Tape (110 yen)
・Non-Woven Fabric Wrapping Set (110 yen)
・Right-Angle Low Crew Socks (110 yen)
・Cool Towel Poncho (330 yen)
・Sanitary Cotton Panties (110 yen)
・Nail Polish (220 yen)
・Microfibre Cloth (110 yen)
・Balloons (110 yen)
・Pump (110 yen)

Seiji got to work making eyeballs from tape and nail polish that he also bought at Daiso. Seiji is a perfectionist who prepared for every eventuality, and on the off chance that some people might not recognize his costume, he made sure to position the eyeballs accurately. This way everyone would know he was Myaku-Myaku at a glance.

He also wanted to create a sense of realism with this costume, so he made one eyeball pop out. This effect was made by sticking a Daiso knife sharpener onto the ring of balloons.

And with that, his costume was complete. By the way, Seiji doesn’t like to brag but he used to get perfect marks in his middle school art class, and he even studied in the art department of his university. It certainly shows in his latest work…

Seiji felt like a sad mess. He felt like a misunderstood abomination that only wanted to be loved, but was shunned and ridiculed by all around him. He figured that’s pretty much how Myaku-Myaku feels all the time, so it was safe to say that this costume was a rousing success!

▼ He was especially happy that the panties held up

Thomas Edison once said that “to invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”

To bring your imagination to life, whether good or bad, that is the essence of creation.

And it is in the moment of creation that a flash of life can be seen, just for a moment, but its brilliance is second to none.

Seiji felt that brilliance of life on this day, in his art.

This costume was such a pure manifestation of the artistic power that flows through all of our spirits, that Seiji felt confident to enter it in Daiso’s DIY Photo Contest. In this 50th anniversary social media contest, people can post their Daiso-made creations for a chance to win luxurious prizes. Everyone has until 30 September to enter, but come on…

It’s safe to say this is in the bag for our man.

Related: Daiso DIY Contest
Photos © SoraNews24
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