[Ellen Joe cosplay] Daily life of the little shark in Zenless Zone Zero, slacking off when tired

This photoshoot focused on Ellen Joe's everyday lazy, relaxed vibe in a café, a slice-of-life state that best reflects her daily side as a student. Not only did it restore the black hair with red highlights and red contact lenses, but it also specially emphasized the embellishment of the beauty mark below the left eye, giving the gaze a touch of aloof yet vivid presence with Anime-style makeup. The layers of black leather straps around the arms, the red-and-black striped sleeves, and the curved silver hook-shaped headpiece are the visual soul of this look.

Combining the dark clothing details with the warm lighting of the café makes the entire frame's temperature very cozy, perfectly balancing the character's naturally cool and hard exterior features. The snapshot of taking a nap with closed eyes in the first picture directly echoes the theme of "little shark sleeping" in the post, and the cartoon shark sticker and Zzz symbols added in post-production give the originally cool look a playful, everyday feel. In the second picture, the slightly confused gaze was actually my natural reaction when half-asleep and half-awake; combined with that question mark effect, it truly gives a cute, dazed vibe detached from reality.

In the process of doing cosplay, besides restoring costume details, what tests a person most is actually the transition of aura and temperament. Ellen Joe has a cool exterior, but at her core lies a "worker's fatigue" that easily resonates with people. Therefore, when doing styling and makeup, I deliberately adjusted the layering of the wig so that the red gradient at the tips wouldn't look too stiff, but rather carried a bit of disheveled casualness that shows natural hair flow under the café's natural light. For makeup, I deliberately toned down the heaviness of the base makeup, pairing it with red eye makeup matching the pupil color to maintain a highly recognizable sharpness in front of the lens.

Speaking of some subtle details of this look, the material combination of those red-and-black striped sleeves and leather straps is very interesting. The leather parts slightly reflect light under the café's soft spotlights, while the knit-textured striped sleeves are matte and light-absorbing; this contrast between bright and matte materials makes the clothing's texture stand out. That includes the silver geometric hair accessory—though small in area, it effectively brightens and breaks the monotony among the black hair.

Actually, this kind of Casual cosplay photoshoot is vastly different from studio shoots. There's no need to deliberately strike high-difficulty poses or endure high-pressure, high-contrast studio lighting; what is needed more is natural expression through immersion in the character and scene interaction. Sitting at the table with my hand casually resting on the spread-out paper, what was captured through the viewfinder was a completely relaxed state. The photographer's snapshots were very timely, perfectly freezing those half-asleep, half-awake moments.

Usually, when sharing photos, everyone hopes to present the character's most glamorous and combat-ready side, but I personally really enjoy this kind of relaxed attempt with a Relaxed style. It shows what a character looks like when letting her guard down, which is also a very vivid side. After all, in the story of Zenless Zone Zero, no one can maintain high-intensity combat all the time; occasionally sitting down to have a cup of coffee and daydream is the true essence of life. This set of photos was smoothly completed in such a half-dreaming, half-awake, and lazy state. Without deliberate pretension or overly complex post-processing, that sense of everyday relaxation belonging to the character is actually much more touching.