[Nico cosplay] Confident moments of Zenless Zone Zero's pink cunning hare

Since I dare to say lines like "I'm very expensive~", there must be no timidness in styling and temperament. For this outfit of Nico in Zenless Zone Zero, the biggest difficulty during the preparation stage was actually not the tailoring of the costume, but how to convey that effortless sense of confidence through body language and demeanor.

The combination of a black faux-leather jacket with a white printed cropped inner top, plus a leather belt with metal eyelets around the waist, can easily look rigid. To shake off this stiffness, I increased the color layering of the eye makeup. The green colored contacts were the finishing touch, matched with a bit of sparkling sticker decoration at the temples, making the facial features look more three-dimensional and agile. The hair strands of the wig were also handled to retain a bit of texture and frizz rather than being combed too neatly, which better fits the somewhat wild and unruly feel of the character's daily actions.

As for the two final shots this time, with the help of the photographer, different compositional perspectives were attempted. One was a low-angle shot that utilized the stretch effect of wide-angle distortion to more clearly showcase the texture of the leather jacket and the curves of the waist and abdomen, providing a very strong sense of oppression and visual tension; the other eye-level shot focused on the interactive feel of the portrait, with arm poses stretched and confident, paired with the iconic black nail polish and rings, appropriately recreating the charm of that Cunning Hares boss in the game.

Regarding details, everyone might have noticed the small photo graphic on the chest. This is actually a fun easter egg we specifically added when recreating the character setting, blending into the narrative of the entire look as if breaking the fourth wall. To allow this work to present the best visual effect, aside from conventional lighting, we also darkened the background, allowing the protagonist to form an aloof yet alluring contrasting aesthetic under the strong spotlight.

As a cosplayer who often portrays various highly popular characters, I deeply understand how difficult it is to re-interpret characters everyone is familiar with without causing a sense of disharmony, so besides looking the part, I think more about capturing the inner spirit. This spiritual resemblance stems from pondering the character's behavioral logic—for example, as a boss, why is she always so composed, yet carries a bit of a young miss's tsundere and money-loving traits. Therefore, during the shoot, I didn't deliberately strike stiff poses, but rather imagined myself truly in that district full of danger and opportunity, responding to the camera with casual gazes and spontaneous gestures.

This state was actually quite demanding on physical and mental energy on-site, as the leather material and straps of this Cosplay outfit are not very breathable in reality. But at the moment the shutter was pressed, seeing that pink-haired, green-eyed, and flamboyant figure in the lens made all the hard work feel worth it. Of course, reviewing the photos also reveals many areas for optimization, such as the pulling tension of the shoulder straps and a slight messiness when the hair was blown up by the wind, but these might also be part of the unique marks of each shoot.

After all, cosplay itself is a creative process where regrets and surprises coexist, and I am very happy to concretely present that "I'm expensive" trait of Nico to everyone through this set of photos. As for lighting and post-processing, we tried to retain the skin texture as much as possible without excessive skin smoothing, hoping to showcase a more realistic and tense character state.