[Patchouli Cosplay] The Quiet Magician in Touhou Project's Library

This time at Ziyu Comic Con, I shot a set featuring a Touhou Project character with highly iconic elements. Considering the vast venue space and overhead lighting, we brainstormed shooting concepts in advance, hoping to recreate to the greatest extent that unique aura weaving intellect and lively charm.

Regarding the wig, the purple hair color is particularly striking. To keep the curled ends looking natural without getting messy, I used a special technique to style them, paired with low twin tails accented with red and blue bows. This framed my face nicely while adding volume to the overall styling. Thin-rimmed round glasses served as a great bonus touch to the look, with silver frames creating a lovely material echo alongside the gold-stamped patterns on the brown vintage book cover.

As for the costume, the black lace semi-sheer capelet paired with the main pink dress balanced the contrast between dark and light tones. Multi-layered ruffled hemlines gave the skirt excellent drape and volume, creating an airy, dynamic effect when turning around. The colorful wavy pleated headpiece, alongside a large red bow accent on the side of the skirt and a cascading blue-and-white waist bow, all formed subtle visual highlights. For shoes, I chose light purple platform shoes with white lace-trimmed ankle socks, giving the lower half harmonious color coordination while remaining sweet and adorable.

On the day of the shoot, the venue floor was very bright with strong reflectivity. The photographer, Ruoye, excelled at utilizing the round, high-intensity spotlights provided by the venue itself, letting light fall from above to form natural rim highlights. We experimented with lively and dynamic poses—holding the book while leaping off one foot, or standing on one leg while raising the book high above my head. The challenge of these poses lay in controlling the flutter of the skirt, making it look light without messy structural overlap cluttering the frame. To ensure the dress and headpiece stayed in position during every snapshot, we re-shot many times.

At the same time, I also stood quietly, holding the book in both hands with my head slightly tilted toward the camera lens, aiming to convey the knowledgeable and quiet side of the character. A wide aperture with background blur nicely concealed the cluttered convention backdrop, focusing visual attention entirely on us for this 2D Cosplay shoot.

The entire process of this cosplay photography was thoroughly enjoyable. Although putting on, taking off, and walking around in this outfit weren't particularly convenient—especially with sleeves and skirt layers catching during large movements—once getting into character, these details could be managed by adjusting posture. Through these multi-angle convention photos, I hope to present the 2D magic from Touhou Project in a realistic yet romantic way, while embracing this anime convention culture filled with character charm.