
NBA rookie of the year salutes the Hayao Miyazaki anime classic.
When thinking of anime characters to dress up as, Spirited Away’s No Face seems like he’d be pretty low on the degree-of-difficulty scale. Sure, you might have to get out some paint brushes and construction paper to make his mask, but the design isn’t all that complex, and for the rest of the costume any sort of head-to-toe length cloak, robe, or bodysuit should do the trick, right?
But convincingly recreating No Face’s atmosphere requires not just replicating the character’s attire, but his stature too, and that’s the hard part. A lot of what makes No Face such a compelling figure is that his child-like personality is paired with a massive physical frame, as he towers in height over anyone else on screen. So to really pull off No Face cosplay, the person wearing the costume has to be really tall, like professional basketball player-tall…and hey, what do you know, here comes San Antonio Spurs center Victor “Wemby” Wembanyama…
WEMBY! 😱🎃 pic.twitter.com/biGipEqE6H
— NBA (@NBA) October 31, 2024
…dressed as No Face!
The video was taken as the seven-foot, three-inch (221-centimeter) tall Wembanyama arrived at the stadium for a game against the Utah Jazz. It should be noted that, with the game taking place on October 31, Wembanyama wasn’t the only person in the building in costume It’s a sign of the far-reaching appeal of Studio Ghibli’s works, though, that out of all the characters he could have dressed up as for Halloween, the French-born Wembanyama chose No Face, and that the NBA’s official Twitter account was eager to share video of his outfit.
Wembanyama would go on to score 25 points in a 106-88 victory for the Spurs over the Jazz, becoming the latest athlete to find success immediately after professing a fondness for the otaku arts.
Source: Twitter/@NBA
Top image: Studio Ghibli
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