Cosplay is a huge part of the anime and manga community as fans from all over the world dress up as their favorite characters. Cosplaying has become such a massive hobby that some of the top cosplayers have been elevated to model-like status, allowing them to make huge careers.
This has not gone unnoticed by anime and manga creators, who have often featured costumed characters in their own works. Some anime even revolve around cosplay as a hobby, featuring characters who love cosplay as much as the fans who watch them. These are some of the most notable cosplayers to have appeared in anime.
9 Renge Hoshakuji (Ouran High School Host Club)
Renge Hoshakuji is a pretty tough otaku, who transferred to Ouran Academy just to meet Kyoya Otori, who resembles his favorite dating sim character. While the crush itself doesn’t last, she remains a mainstay of the series as a supporting character.
As a great otaku, Renge is also a fan of cosplay. As a result, she will often appear in various costumes of characters from her favorite works. While Renge isn’t an exceptionally important character in the story itself, her obsession with cosplaying her makes her stand out.
8 Megumi Chihaya (Servant x Service)
Megumi Chihaya seems like a rather apathetic temp worker at the local government office. However, in truth, she is a huge fan of the manga. She often dresses up as characters from her favorite anime, a magical girl series called magic flowers.
Megumi is incredibly dedicated to her hobbies, which is why she works as a temp instead of becoming a full-time employee, as this allows her more time to go to conventions and events. She makes all of her costumes herself using her expert sewing skills, reflecting the immense talent real-world cosplayers display.
7 Marin Kitagawa (My Darling in Disguise)
Marin Kitagawa is a beautiful and popular girl in her class, and she is also a big fan of slippery girls, an adult visual novel featuring a variety of lewd situations. As she falls down the rabbit hole of nerd culture, she stumbles upon the world of cosplay.
Initially she wanted to dress up as Shizuku, her favorite character from slippery girls 2, enlists the help of Wakana Gojou, who is a skilled seamstress and craftswoman for the Hina dolls. Although she knows little about cosplay, she agrees to help Marin achieve her dream of “becoming Shizuku-tan”. Although Marin is an avid cosplayer, her passion for the hobby runs deep.
6 Mikuru Asahina (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
Mikuru Asahina is a member of the SOS Brigade, a club started by Haruhi Suzumiya to find extraordinary people. Unbeknownst to Haruhi, Mikuru is in fact one of those people, being a time traveler from the future.
Due to Mikuru’s rather voluptuous figure, Haruhi often forces her to wear various outfits, many of which are common outfits worn by cosplayers. She has worn a maid costume, a bunny costume and much more. While she is not a willing cosplayer, she is still frequently seen wearing a wide variety of outfits.
5 Scarlet Erza (Fairy Tail)
Erza Scarlet might seem like an odd entry on this list. She is one of the most powerful members of the Fairy Tail guild, an S-rank mage whose swordsmanship is as intimidating as her magic. Erza’s Requip magic allows her to change her clothes and gear instantly, giving her easy access to a variety of legendary weapons and armor.
Requip also gives him access to many different outfits that he keeps in storage with his magic. While this may include various casual outfits, some more unusual costumes are also included. Erza seems to have a fondness for those costumes and wears them whenever she gets the chance.
4 Sakura Kinomoto (Cardcaptor Sakura)
Sakura Kinomoto is a pretty unique entry, because she doesn’t necessarily want to wear costumes herself. However, her best friend, Tomoyo Daidouji, is an accomplished tailor and always makes sure to have a new costume ready for her.
Tomoyo’s costumes are unique each time, and are generally reminiscent of the clothes that magical heroines usually wear. Sakura may not care too much about the outfit she wears, but thanks to Tomoyo, she always arrives on stage in style.
3 Hanako Koyanagi (Wotakoi: Love is difficult for otaku)
Hard-working businesswoman Hanako Koyanagi looks like a stern and no-nonsense working girl, but she’s actually a hardcore otaku and proud of it. A lover of yaoi manga, Koyanagi also frequently cosplays, a hobby she is extremely passionate about. Koyanagi is often seen at various anime conventions in elaborate costumes.
While most female cosplayers tend to dress up as female characters, Koyanagi is a crossover gamer who usually dresses as beautifully androgynous male characters. Koyanagi loves cosplay so much that she even wanted to do something at her wedding.
two Kanako Ohno (Genshiken)
The Genshiken at Shiiou University seems to be a good place to find avid cosplayers, but at the start of the series, the club is only populated entirely by nerds who are only interested in reading manga and playing video games.
All this changes when Kanako Ohno joins the club. An otaku with a good figure, she uses her cosplay skills to draw more attention to the Genshiken. Ohno later becomes the president of Genshiken, and as a result, the club focuses a bit more on cosplay.
1 Chisame Hasegawa (Negima: Magister Negi Magi)
At first glance, Chisame Hasegawa appears to be an antisocial young student from Mahora Academy’s Class 2-A. However, in truth, she Chisame is, in fact, the famous Net Idol Chiu who broadcasts live from her room and dresses up in various costumes. She tries her best to keep this a secret, but Negi eventually finds out who she is.
While Chisame initially has nothing to do with the world of magic, she is soon drawn into Negi’s troubles and soon becomes a staunch ally. She even wins a pactio, which gracefully dresses her in an outfit similar to her Net Idol appearance of hers.
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