When Shoukei was first introduced I had a hard time with her character; she was spoiled, entitled and annoying. But as she journeyed outside of what she knew and make an important friend, she began to grow and change into a compassionate and more selfless person. What I loved with Fuyumi Ono‘s writing is that she makes me care about all of her characters; and there are so many. I’m also love with Akihiro Yamada‘s illustrations; the Twelve Kingdoms artbook is stunning and I just want more.
When deciding to cosplay Shoukei I absolutely needed to go with the illustrated version of her. Her outfits and hair color are more interesting and appealing in the artwork than in the anime. One of my favorite images of Shoukei is also one of my favorite images of Suzu and so I decided to cosplay both!
As with Youko’s cosplay, I wanted to do something more period correct, even though it’s a fantasy series. I decided that linens were the best choice for Shoukei. I loosely followed a few patterns and the pieces were easy to make.
An exciting part of cosplay is finding people who share the same love of the series, and I connected with an AMAZING costumer who did my favorite Youko armor cosplay, Seifer-sama. We met up with her in San Fran’s gorgeous Japanese Tea Garden. I wore my Suzu and Ceratopian wore my Shoukei there.
Dream shoot would be with a furry Rakushun for Shoukei. Might have to make him myself, but have never ever worked on a project like that before!
Six years after making Shoukei I finally was able to wear her again in a setting very fitting! And, to make everything even better, my friend Melanie wore (scholar) Rakushun with me!
Shoukei Credits2017 CosAlive Chinese Scholar Garden Photography by Cristal Craft Photography & Cosplay, Soul-Drive Photography
2017 CosAlive Chinese Scholar Garden Rakushun Cosplay by Cosmic Breath Artistry
2012 San Fran Photography by Robert Minh Le
2012 San Fran Youko Nakajima cosplay by Seifer-sama
2012 San Fran Shoukei cosplay worn by Ceratopian
2012 San Fran Suzu cosplay worn by Neoqueenhoneybee
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Used and altered Simplicity's 4080.
