Cosplaying Hoshiguma this time, the biggest headache was undoubtedly that iconic long dark-green hair and the single white horn; it took ages to trim and style the wig to find that sharp, slightly wild curve. For the outfit, I chose a classic black leather workwear set. To maintain the character's weighty, heavy-duty feel, I reinforced the inner layers and protective guards. The leather pants needed a cut durable enough to withstand the tension of various crouching and standing poses, and the boots were custom-made—thick-soled yet surprisingly comfortable to walk in. For makeup, I emphasized angular, defined brows paired with smoky grey-black eyeshadow and a cool-toned fair foundation, striving to get as close as possible to Hoshiguma's "silent yet dependable" aura.
On the night of the shoot, we chose a late-night street setting. The vibrant, highly saturated Street graffiti wall behind me could easily steal attention away from the subject, so we adjusted the lighting angles, utilizing overhead top light plus side-backlighting to separate me from the background while casting deep, sharp shadows on the ground to heighten the gritty, rugged atmosphere. I really love the crouching shot—lowering the center of gravity gives it even more dramatic tension, and the specular sheen of the leather under harsh lighting maxes out the texture. The standing pose leaning against the wall, on the other hand, expresses a relaxed nonchalance during daily patrol duty. In post-processing, we avoided excessive skin-smoothing, preserving natural skin textures and pores; after all, Hoshiguma is an active combatant and shouldn't look overly polished. Integrating Lungmen's gritty, perilous street vibe into graffiti culture was so much more engaging than shooting in a plain studio setting in this Cosplay photography project.