[Ibuki Suika cosplay] The Oni King in Touhou Project: The Sake Gourd and Chains Are All in Place

This time I'm cosplaying Ibuki Suika from Touhou Project. Since Suika is set as an Oni—petite in stature but with staggering power—I put extra thought into recreating her iconic purple sake gourd as a prop. The paper charms attached to it and the thick red rope knots were all manually distressed by myself. I also sourced chains of various thicknesses to match, along with the blue heavy weight and red triangle on the ground, hoping to embody her casual yet imposing aura. For the costume, I chose a white base with a blue-and-purple gradient skirt hem, paired with a red bow tie and white detached sleeves; the overall color scheme is refreshing yet fits the character traits perfectly. The shooting location was a Chinese-style pavilion, where the wooden structure and surrounding greenery perfectly set off the fusion of Japanese style and nature typical of Touhou's Gensokyo. The light during outdoor photography actually changes a lot, but the photographer helped find a few spots with dappled tree shadows, giving the images more layers.

The most grueling part of this cosplay was the pose holding the sake gourd. Because it was stuffed with filling and carried the weight of the iron chains, lifting it single-handedly required keeping the pose steady while maintaining a natural expression. My arm was really sore after the shoot, but seeing the final photos made it completely worth it. Every time I cosplay a 2D character from the Touhou series, I pay special attention to prop details, since so much of this series' character recognition relies on their accessories. From making the costume to the actual shoot, this set of photos took nearly a month of preparation. Although there is still a lot of room for improvement, I'm already very happy to be able to present this character through my own interpretation via cosplay photography.