The younger sister of Kaori Misaka, Shiori is a first year student who has been ill since birth. Because of this, her sister chooses to keep her distance from Shiori, thinking that it would be much easier when she eventually does pass away.

Because of this, Shiori became very lonely, and eventually wanted to kill herself to relieve everyone’s burden on her. But a chance meeting with Aizawa Yuichi and (the spirit of) Tsukimiya Ayu changes her decision to take her life. Her life was expected to have only lasted until her birthday of that year. She later confesses that she never wanted to die, and had a miraculous recovery.

Isn’t this a cute cosplay? This is actually Kipi, the same cosplayer we’ve seen as Asuka, Shana, and even Misa-Misa! I think she’s become a reader’s favorite now…

Originally posted by Tori Avalon of the Anime Illusions Forums!

Important notes:

• Cosplayer is cosplaying the character accurately.
• Cosplayer is male.
• Cosplayer does not appear to be Asian.
• Cosplayer knows exactly what he’s doing

And therefore:

• He looks awesome.

A little bit about the character, Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes is a member of the Investigations Division. He is not only good at what he does, but he is also a good father, and a loving husband. He is also a good friend of Colonel Roy Musatang and the Elric Brothers.

This is definitely one of the rare photos of lovely male cosplayers.

My, my… Someone is in a very bad mood..!

Cloud Strife, the protagonist of the Final Fantasy VII game, is described to be an unsociable mercenary, who was a Shin-Ra experiment for several years. His escape from Shin-Ra resulted in the death of his companion, Zack. He was left for dead, but somehow survived with a mixture of amnesia and mind control, ending up believing that he was the SOLDIER Zack was.

This is a beautiful cosplay! It must have been difficult to replicate Cloud’s hair style. As the song goes, “Yay for hair cement!” ^_^;;;

Photo originally from Anime Illusions.

Technorati tags: nanao, research, cloud, strife, final fantasy vii, 7, cosplay, protagonist, mercenary, shin-ra, experiment, zack, soldier, amnesia, mind, control, hair cement

No matter what anyone says, this cosplay is both impressive and scary to me.

Kurapika from Hunter x Hunter, is the last living member of the Kuruta tribe. The Genei Ryodan (aka Phantom Troupe) destroyed the Kuruta Tribe because of their rare “scarlet eyes”; eyes which would change to flaming red when they are angry or emotionally agitated and a priceless treasure among body-part collectors.

Revenge prompted Kurapika to enter the Hunter Exams in order to become a Blacklist Hunter and kill all the members of Genei Ryodan. In order to hide his eyes by wearing black contact lenses.

Stunning cosplay! Kurapika is one of my favorite anime characters! A bit memorable too. I remember one time, when I went to an anime convention, a Kurapika cosplayer on stage brought a heart shaped ballon to the stage. I was one of the many otaku photographers near the stage and for whatever odd reason, the cosplayer gave the balloon to me! Haha! It was so embarrassing! But flattering too!

Excellent cosplay! And I love the blood red eyes.

Image originally from Anime Illusions.

I think people will forever debate that Japanese and Asian Cosplayers use Photoshop to manipulate their photos to look the the character they’re portraying…

I’m not denying the some images look Photoshop-ed… But when you think about it, Movie Stars, Singers, and other types of Hollywood Celebrities do that too… More accurately, they have someone else to do it for them.

Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that… I mean, it is just a photograph… Just hope that no one knows what you really look like and hey, you’re good!

Going back to the featured cosplay of the day, here is Genjo Sanzo from Gensomaden Saiyuki (based on the Chinese novel “Journey to the West”). It’s pretty hard to top this cosplay. He looks really cool! I guess his hair could be a little blonder, but who cares? He makes a great Sanzo!

Image taken from the Anime Illusions Forums. Note that the URL has changed, the forums are now on the new domain called anime-illusions.net (with an “s” in illusions).

Hikaru no Go, a popular anime and manga that revolves around the game of Go, an oriental board game that has been around since ancient times.

Fujiwara no Sai, the one with long hair, is a spirit and a Master Go Player. He has not yet moved on to the next world because of his strong desire to play Go and accomplish “Kami no Itte” - “Divine Move,” or the “Hand of God” ? a perfect game.

Shindo Hikaru is the only one who can percieve Sai, and therefore is the one that Sai continually pesters to play Go with! Though at first, Hikaru has no interest in Go, his passion grows as he begins to understand the game the more he plays.

It’s probably one of the most influential animes / mangas Japan has seen. And the cosplay attempts of the series says a lot, as well as the rise in the number of Go players around the world.

Image originally from the Anime Illusions Forums.

Yoshizuki Iori from the I’s Manga is a 16-year-old, friendly girl who is easy to get along with. In the beginning of the series, her usual, positive outlook on life is changed drastically when she becomes famous thanks to a swimsuit magazine spread.

Now she has no idea whether guys like her because she is herself, or because of her beauty.

And what a gorgeous cosplayer this is… She really does look like Iori from I’s.

I remember finding this picture from Anime Illusions, but I can’t find it anymore today… Kind of sad, really.

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Technorati tags: nanao, research, i”s, i’s, manga, anime, cosplay, cosplayer, iori, yoshizuki, is