Famous characters come to life on this last day of cosplay celebrations.
If you’re looking for a Halloween event in Tokyo dedicated to the custom of dressing up in costume, the Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival, or “Ike Halo” is the place to be. That’s where our reporter Egawa Tasuku went on the weekend to photograph some of the cosplayers and their costumes, and he reckons it’s the best Halloween event in Tokyo.
Not only is it a great place to see some amazing cosplays, the event is safe, laid-back, and family friendly, with a lot of parents and young children attending the event. This makes it a much better alternative to Shibuya’s unofficial Halloween street party, which the city has deliberately turned into a hostile environment in recent years, where police now blow whistles and blare instructions at people not to stop while walking across the scramble crossing.
Ike Halo is far more relaxed by comparison, held in a spacious location at Ikebukuro’s Sunshine Square and Ike SunPark, and spread out across two days, with a pre-event cosplay night thrown in on the eve of the festival. Egawa visited on both days of the event, held this year on 28 and 29 October, and after seeing all the fantastic cosplays, he reckons the quality and professionalism here is as good or even better than what you’d see at Comiket.
So let’s get to it and take a look at some of the best cosplays from Day Two of the event below!
▼ Rupee from Goddess of Victory: Nikke (Cosplayer: @guguru_PICO)
▼ Marie Rose from Dead or Alive (Cosplayer: @rinyanpassan)
▼ Juri from Street Fighter 6 (Cosplayer: @muffet1010)
▼ Makima from Chainsaw Man (Cosplayer: @Yukinozomi3)
▼ Tartaglia from Genshin Impact (Cosplayer: @cos11p)
▼ Lumine from Genshin Impact (Cosplayer: @HaL_h_l)
▼ We totally ship this pairing.
▼ Hayase Yuuka from Blue Archive (Cosplayer: @yamo8cos)
▼ Rosaria (Maid Version) from Genshin Impact (Cosplayer: @su_s404)
▼ Fuyuko Mayuzumi (Jack in Matrix) from The Idolmaster Shiny Colors (Cosplayer: @irohairo1151)
What a brilliant collection of costumes and characters! Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed a change in scenery compared to our collection of photos from Day One of the event, but that’s only due to Egawa focussing on the cosplayers at Sunshine Square this time, as opposed to the ones around Ike SunPark, which he showcased on the first day.
Cosplayers can be found at both sites on both days of the event, though, which gives you a sense of just how big and grand this Halloween celebration really is. Thanks again to all the cosplayers who posed for us — we look forward to seeing you at the event again next year!
Related: Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Festival 2023
Photos ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]