“Having Fun Changed Me”: Cosplayer Mikisuke

 

The One I’ve Been Waiting for Finally Appeared!!

Think about all the remakes that have been released this year. What’s the one that comes to mind? A huge video game that people have been waiting years and years for…that’s right, Final Fantasy VII! To finally see the bright vigorous smile of that former mad woman in modern CG technology…I couldn’t wait!!

 

Am I talking about Aeris, you ask? Tifa? No, I’m talking, of course, about Yuffie!! I’ve been a fan since the minute the original game came out!

 

…but she didn’t appear in any of the trailers….and then when the game came out, it became obvious she wouldn’t appear there, either.  I could not hide my shock. I felt it for months. 

 

But luckily, today she somehow popped out of the screen and into real life, making all my dreams come true!

 

Yuffie Kisaragi from FINAL FANTASY VII ADVENT CHILDREN

 

 

Many Life Lessons are Hidden in Manga

“I’ve always liked fighting women.”

 

That’s the first thing the cosplayer Mikisuke said to me after cosplayer Kau Toriumi introduced us. I was having a hard time getting over the fact that the person sitting in front of me looked just like Yuffie, but Mikisuke’s stories about her otaku life helped. 

 

“I mean…in terms of cosplay, you know? But I do think Yuffie is really cute. I admire her style, and I’ve always liked energetic and cheerful girls with short hair.”

 

Mikisuke does have a lot of female fighter cosplays. How did she come to admire them so much?

 

Ritsu Sakama from Ensemble Stars!

 

“When I was in elementary school, my dad used to read a lot of manga magazines. I didn’t know much about manga at the time, so I thought they were all just full of fighting and scary stuff, like that’s what kind of books they were. But one day I went with him to a book store and saw a volume with such beautiful pictures on it. It was the Shonen Jump manga Hoshin Engi [also known as Soul Hunter in English]. After that I became completely obsessed with manga.”

 

After reading through just about every monarchy manga that Shonen Jump had to offer, she encountered one particular manga. 

 

“Do you know a manga called Pretty Face? The main character in that manga is amazing. He’s a martial artist who, through various circumstances, ends up having his face changed into a girl’s. And she’s so pretty! Boys and girls like her, and she is so energetic and bright, and so single-minded. She was my ideal image of a girl, and I really wanted to be like her when I grew up. So that’s pretty much why I cosplay a lot of fighting women.”

 

There are probably a lot of young boys and girls who are greatly influenced by manga. I, of course, was one of them, too.

 

“There are so many manga that have valuable life lessons written in them. I love that they can help you grow spiritually.”

 

 

Boldly Like What You Like!

How did manga fan Mikisuke start down the road of a cosplayer?

 

“What I loved was manga, so I never really thought about becoming a cosplayer. I actually wanted to be a manga artist. In elementary school I drew my own manga and asked my friends to read it. It made me so happy to hear how they liked it and to get better at art. But when I was in high school I stopped drawing and I wanted to stop doing other otaku things…because I couldn’t find any friends who were understanding about my hobbies. So I never told anyone about them.”

 

I totally understand. High school is when you want to conform to fit in with everyone else. I’m sure many of our readers have experienced the same thing. 

 

Hunter x Hunter’s Shizuku Murasaki, taken at Ikebukuro Halloween 2019

 

Shizuku Murasaki. Photo by Tamaki (Twitter: @abios_2004)

 

“That all changed when I came to Tokyo. Suddenly I was in a place where otaku culture permeated everything and I realized that being an otaku wasn’t anything to be ashamed about. I decided that I like manga and video games, so I might as well be proud of it!”

 

If your mindset changes, so can your behavior. And by simply saying out loud to people, “I want to be involved with manga and video games, and I’m interested in working with them” led Mikisuke to some fateful encounters. 

 

“Someone I happened to know invited me to cosplay as a bishojo game character at a company booth at an event. I was able to do that a few times, and I realized cosplay was really fun, so I decided I would try it on my own one day.”

 

The venue Mikisuke chose for her long-awaited cosplay debut was none other than Comiket. 

 

“The first cosplay I did was this Yuffie cosplay I’m wearing today. I kind of thought like…a little weird about it, but while I stood there so many people talked to me and asked me for pictures. I was really just doing it for me but I was so touched by how it connected me to so many people.”

 

Lelouch from Code Geass

 

 

Cosplay is the Embodiment of Joy

After that, Mikisuke became totally immersed in the world of cosplay. She now works as an influential cosplayer, frequently auditioning for roles and helping companies. To her, what’s the best thing about cosplay?

 

“Definitely connecting with people. When I was in junior high school, I actually went to an event cosplaying as Prince of Tennis characters with my friend. I mean, it was super basic and you might not even call it cosplay (laughs). But I was so happy to share the world of my favorite story with a friend, and to enjoy being together.”

 

Cosplay also has the power to change your outlook in a positive way, she says. 

 

“Some people I know who don’t do any cosplay have seen me in it and said things like, ‘You look like you’re having so much fun’ and ‘You look so much happier!’ Some have even asked me to show them how to do it, or to take them to an event. I realized that, even though I’d been hiding my otaku side for a long time, if I just have fun with it, no one judges me, and everyone sees me as an individual. Also, cosplay doesn’t just change you on the inside, it changes you on the outside, too.”

 

Chrome Dokuro from Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Photo by Airu (Twitter@aill0311)

 

Huh? Isn’t that what cosplay is all about?

 

“Some cosplayers say that cosplay is anti-aging! You know, because in aiming for certain characters you have to watch your diet and take care of your skin. If I wasn’t doing cosplay, I’d be eating whatever I wanted…maybe I’d be a little chubby (laughs). It’s thanks to cosplay that I can preserve myself the way I am today.”

 

Of course…in most anime and manga, characters don’t usually age, so, as she says, the effort and mindset needed to become the character as much as possible could definitely be called anti-aging. Serious costume-making, serious photoshoots, serious anti-aging…Mikisuke is definitely an intense cosplayer! 

 

But don’t worry,  you don’t have to be as intense about it as Mikisuke. Anyone can cosplay any character without changing anything about their body. After all, cosplay is, first and foremost, all about having fun!

 

• Mikisuke

Twitter：@misukex4x8x

 

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