[Youmu Konpaku cosplay] The half-human, half-phantom swordsman in Touhou Project

Finally managed to cosplay Youmu Konpaku from Touhou Project at this convention. To restore her unique half-human, half-phantom temperament, a lot of thought went into the equipment and preparation. First, let's talk about the layering of this outfit: a white lace-trimmed short-sleeved shirt serves as the inner layer, outside of which is a dark green vest trimmed with gold edges, and the lower body features a multi-layered skirt hem. To ensure the puffiness of the skirt, a petticoat was added inside, requiring special care when walking so as not to step on the lace of the skirt hem. The metal buckles and intricate classical patterns on the vest have a great texture, and the gold threads reflect light in the sunlight, so during the shoot I specifically found a front-lighting spot near the floor-to-ceiling window to better highlight the texture and thickness of the clothes. The entire outfit mainly consists of green, white, and black, making it look visually very clean and sharp. Regarding the wig and styling, to make the silver-white short hair look more natural and layered, I did quite a bit of trimming and styling in advance to ensure that sharp two-dimensional feel. The small black-and-white lace hat on the side of the head is fixed with clips, but one still needs to mind the angle when running around. In terms of makeup, the most eye-catching part is definitely the bright green contact lenses, paired with blush under the eyes and meticulously separated slender eyelashes, hoping to present Youmu's traits of being slightly majestic, yet often looking somewhat helpless and cute when bullied by Yuyuko. I deliberately smudged some warm tones along the edges of the eye makeup so that the face wouldn't look too rigid under the cool-toned contact lenses. This time I brought dual swords to the convention; carrying one on the shoulder and holding the other in hand looks really cool, but it actually tests arm strength quite a bit. The pink flower decorations on the hilt were wrapped by myself piece by piece, adding a soft element—after all, although Youmu uses a sword, she is still a girl at heart. When cosplaying weapon-wielding characters, everyone should pay attention to the gesture of holding the sword: don't grip it too tightly, relax a bit and let the wrist bear the weight so that the posed posture looks effortless and not stiff. For the second full-body photo, I tried a crossed-leg standing posture, which not only nicely elongates the leg lines, but combined with white lace-trimmed socks and black platform shoes, also increases the overall uprightness, while naturally extended arms make the frame more vivid. Taking photos in the convention center can sometimes have sufficient yet cluttered lighting. I tried my best to choose places with clean backgrounds and a sense of depth, utilizing the reflection of the smooth floor to supplement brightness in shaded areas. When taking full-body photos, the camera can be tilted slightly upward to make it easier to capture a long-leg visual effect, but not excessively, otherwise it will look top-heavy. For close-up shots, the gaze must have a strong sense of focus, conveying the swordsman's seriousness through the screen. This time I tried several different angles, from half-body sword-holding close-ups to full-body dynamic poses, all in an effort to restore the Youmu in my heart. Although walking around the venue all day wearing this outfit and platform shoes was quite tiring, seeing the photo results made everything feel worth it.