[Exusiai cosplay] Arknights: Daily Photoshoot of the Laterano Angels

Preparing for this Arknights Laterano group photoshoot took an entire day, and by the end, it truly felt like an all-out battle. It was mainly my partner Yuzi and me cosplaying the three characters—Exusiai cosplay, Lemuen cosplay, and Lemuel cosplay—and having the full Laterano group together felt quite magical.

Starting with hair and makeup, the red and pink wigs required considerable time to trim and style. The red wig was quite vibrant, so we used matte spray to suppress reflections to avoid looking like wearing a ball of fire. The pink wig required subtle curls and needed to match the silver halo overhead. Since the halo is a rigid prop, we spent time figuring out how to secure it so it wouldn't slip while keeping the silhouette flattering.

Choosing colored contacts also took thought. We picked amber brown for the red hair and pinkish-purple for the pink hair to match the characters' eye colors. For eye makeup, to replicate the 2D big-eye anime look, we emphasized false lower eyelashes and winged outer corners, fine eyeliner, and aegyo-sal contouring. It might have looked a bit dramatic in person, but it looked remarkably accurate through the camera lens.

For costumes, the white shirt collar creases easily, so I ironed it carefully before heading out. The light green top looked fresh, styled with an orange polka-dot bow tie. The floral choker around the red-haired character's neck was also a key highlight; fortunately, wearing it wasn't as complicated as expected once adjusted for tightness.

Moving on to the shoot itself, we chose an indoor studio and used a large silver hoop prop as the background. Since we hadn't fully anticipated the indoor lighting, early shots looked slightly yellowish, but using reflectors to balance facial highlights and shadows eventually achieved a clean, translucent skin tone. For posing, we tried the V-sign and cheek-cupping poses in the first shot, as well as the cheek-to-cheek hand-holding pose in the second. Because we were positioned very close together, it was easy for the focus to drift, requiring repeated angle checks for each composition. During cheek-to-cheek poses, we even had to tuck our chins in deliberately to keep clean facial lines.

The biggest challenge during the shoot was the stuffy environment; wearing wigs and contacts for extended hours caused dry eyes, and tearing up threatened the makeup. Additionally, with two people in frame simultaneously, avoiding blocking each other was essential—otherwise, heads could look disproportionately large or faces distorted, requiring constant camera adjustments.

All in all, it was an exhausting yet fulfilling collaboration. From selecting characters and commissioning outfits to adjusting aperture settings, positioning on set, and retouching stray hair strands in post-production, we did our best within our capabilities. Huge thanks to our photographer friends on set for handing props and handling lighting. While I usually do solo cosplay, a Laterano group like this truly tests chemistry between partners. That's all for today's photo share.