[Si Xiaonan Cosplay] School Style from Season 2 of Slay the Gods(Anime); Double Buns Holding Guns Looks So Cool!

This shoot features Si Xiaonan from Season 2 of Slay the Gods(Anime). The overall style heavily aligns with the setting of school athletic style combined with a touch of combat elements. When I received this cosplay plan, my first reaction was to present that state which has both a student's everyday feel and the character's unique aura. For the Cosplay outfit, the red-and-white-and-black sports jacket is paired with a black lapel inner layer. The horizontal stripes on the chest and the white belt buckle at the waist are highly recognizable details. Combined with double buns and black-rimmed round glasses, the character's soul is visually instantly present. In terms of props, I selected two black model guns. During the shoot, I tried both single-handed holding and dual-handed grasping poses, and ultimately felt that the half-body close-up frame could better highlight the focus of the gaze and a slightly upturned mouth corner, so I used that one for the cover.

This cosplay actually had a lot of thought put into the details. For instance, the jacket zipper is a real metal zipper, the red patchwork on the shoulders and the white piping at the cuffs were specially matched with fabric close to the original design, and the red thin ribbons on the leg guards were tied in two layers, which both ensures they won't slip loose and adds to the layering. The shoes are black thick-soled thick-heeled shoes, which make the leg lines look crisper when paired with white leg guards. Since it was shot in an indoor venue, the background features blue-and-white color-blocked mats and photography light stands, which happens to echo the atmosphere of the character being "in an activity room or a training ground."

Speaking of which, Si Xiaonan's appearance in Season 2 of Slay the Gods(Anime) was truly impressive. She doesn't have a flashy personality, but her calmness and decisiveness at critical moments are exceptionally charming. For this Anime cosplay, I tried my best to capture that contrasting feel of "seemingly gentle, but actually looking very cool when holding prop guns." During the shoot, the photographer also intentionally hit a backlight and top light, giving the edges of the hair a soft rim light, which, complemented by the red and green hair accessories, gave the overall frame more of a 2D texture.

To restore the character's traits, I spent quite some time beforehand researching the action details in the animation. For example, the posture of holding the gun isn't an explosive gun-wielding gesture, but a slightly relaxed way of lifting the gun, which conforms better to her everyday state. I also specifically adjusted the nose pads of the glasses to a position where they wouldn't drop, because during the shoot, constantly adjusting the glasses would heavily disrupt the atmosphere. The jacket zipper wasn't pulled all the way up, leaving the collar portion of the inner layer visible, which looks more casual and natural.

This shoot was also part of participating in the Slay the Gods Anime creator incentive plan, hoping to express my love for Season 2 of Slay the Gods(Anime) through this dedicated cosplay work. The entire hair, makeup, and shooting process took about three hours. Although holding the prop guns for a long time made my wrists a bit sore, seeing the crisp and cute energy in the final photos made it feel entirely worth it. The photographer's lighting was highly professional, keeping the white jacket from being overexposed while preserving the details at the black-and-white boundary, which required barely any adjustment during post-processing; the original photo texture was very comfortable.

When actually standing in front of the lens, I would imagine that the character under this scene might be preparing for a training session or facing some minor challenge, so the expression wasn't made overly exaggerated—just maintaining a slight smile, keeping the gaze as steady and reliable as possible. This balance point is actually quite hard to grasp; if it's too fierce, it deviates from the school feel, and if it's too soft, it lacks the contrast brought by the weapon props. The ultimately selected cover image exactly reached this balance. If you look closely at the red area on the jacket, there are actually very fine dark pattern textures; although not very obvious in the photos, the physical item is highly textured. I hope this cosplay can let everyone feel my understanding of the character Si Xiaonan from Season 2 of Slay the Gods(Anime), counting as delivering a satisfying answer sheet to my participation in the creator incentive plan.