[Kumiko Omae Cosplay] Sound! Euphonium, a blue melody belonging to summer

The euphonium is much heavier than expected, especially when holding it for long poses, making my wrists sore, but the moment I saw the final photos, I felt it was all worth it. This time, together with my partner, we cosplayed Kumiko Omae Cosplay and Asuka Tanaka Cosplay from Sound! Euphonium. When the two of us stood together, that unique summer atmosphere belonging to the Kitauji High School Concert Band instantly came alive.

In terms of clothing, we prepared a classic blue-and-white sailor uniform, and both the blue bow at the neckline and the white stripes on the skirt hem were made very accurately. I wore a long straight black wig and thin-framed glasses, while my partner had reddish-brown blunt-bangs short hair. To fit the characters' daily feel, I wore translucent black stockings paired with platform loafers, while my partner chose white knee-high socks and brown leather shoes. Although both are JK uniform cosplay styles, through detailed adjustments of socks and shoes, the different personality traits of the two characters were well distinguished, which is also a very interesting detail in the process of cosplay.

The weather on the shooting day was fantastic; the background of blue skies and white clouds combined with distant city buildings added a strong sense of daily life to the frame. We brought a dark blue handbag and a black instrument case for matching. The prop euphonium was the focus of this shoot, and its golden metallic luster was extremely dazzling under the sunlight. For the first set of photos, we found a stone wall; I sat on it while my partner stood nearby playing, and that low-angle shot happened to capture the sky and distant buildings, with a very comfortable composition.

Later, we moved to a place with weeds and stone steps, wanting to create an atmosphere with a bit more storytelling. Sitting on the steps by the grass with the euphonium placed on my legs, that lazy feeling of an afternoon break came right out. Although there were quite a few mosquitoes in the grass, the resulting light and shadow effect was very natural. Actually, shooting instrument-playing cosplay makes expression management and action intensity hard to grasp—it shouldn't look too contrived, yet it needs to show the breath-sense of a wind instrument player. During this time, we tried the playing posture several times and also put a lot of thought into prop placement.

If this summer could go on forever, that sentence really fits how I feel right now. Although it was just an outdoor shoot, being able to spend a whole day tossing around with everyone for a beloved work, gradually restoring 2D images into reality piece by piece, is in itself a very meaningful thing. Afterward, I will slowly edit the rest of the pictures, hoping to completely record this memory belonging to summer and music.