Duality

Question: Is it even cosplay if I’m just wearing normal clothes with a wig and some makeup?

Answer: It’s my website, so I’m gonna say abso-fucking-lutely.

It’s sort of funny that two of the biggest anime of the past few years have such a chic and minimalist character design - most of the characters from both Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man are in stark, Prada-esque uniforms, with their only distinguishing characteristics being hair and maybe weapons or something. It’s like the cosmic opposite of the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure approach, where you sometimes have to wonder if the person designing the characters actually understands how clothes work.

I kind of love the approach, honestly. Some characters in other anime have such distinctive clothing that it’s hard to imagine cosplaying them without wearing a close approximation of their outfit, but for JJK, it’s easy enough to rummage through my dresser to find something that feels correct.

I’ve been getting back into the swing of doing regular photo shoots, and this first one, as Mahito, was done on a whim on a day the weather happened to be nice. I’ve always loved finding just the right setting for an outfit or character, but in this case I just wanted a bit of visual interest that was in walking distance of my house, so to the El I went.

I can’t say that I particularly care about Mahito, one of the primary antagonists of the first season of JJK, as a character, but I do really like the hair and makeup, so I’ll probably bust this one out again the next time I want a quick and easy cosplay.

Gojo, though, is closer to my heart, and you can probably tell that I put a bit more effort into this shoot. I love a character that is so effortless confident and competent that they can afford to be a bit silly. Gojo fits that mold to a tee, which makes him very fun to watch - and to cosplay.

The Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park seemed appropriately otherworldly, like a strange steel flower blooming the middle of the city. I was hoping to take these photos on a day that was a little more overcast and gray, but the cloud cover cleared off and I was left with just a few wisps of white in the sky. The bigger challenge, though, was figuring out the makeup look. I’m very pale, and I wanted to stay true to his look - white hair, white eyelashes and eyebrows - while still creating some contrast. I might go for a softer lip next time, but overall I’m pretty pleased with how it all came out.

Cosplay details

For Mahito, I wanted to evoke something about his look, so I translated his slashed sleeve to slashed leggings. The wig is from Amazon and includes a long clip on ponytail that I didn’t end up wearing (honestly, I think I just forgot. Next time!). As with my Sukuna cosplay, I was surprised by how flattering it can be to doodle all over my face. Maybe I should got the Frankenstein’s Monster route a little more often.

For Gojo, I tried to stick a little more closely to his character design, although I opted for some sunglasses instead of his characteristic blindfold. I layered a black skirt and blazer over a high neck jumpsuit, then topped it off with a harness for a little extra edge. I really love the blazer/skirt/harness combo, and I’m definitely going to be rewearing it in other contexts.