[Ikaros cosplay] Heaven's Lost Property Duo Convention Photos

For this CD30, I cosplayed Ikaros from Heaven's Lost Property. A lot of effort went into the wig and makeup to bring the character to life. Ikaros's pink hair has a voluminous shape, so I trimmed the bangs and side strands, using a generous amount of styling spray to hold that sticking-up ahoge right in place. The headphone-shaped hair accessory was custom-made and fit snugly. For makeup, I paired light blue contact lenses with soft pink eyeshadow and kept the eyeliner gentle to highlight her quiet demeanor. The black choker on my neck was a key accessory—it had a solid metallic feel and carried noticeable weight, which made my neck quite sore after wearing it all day at the con. The outfit consisted of a light blue zip-up jacket over a white inner shirt, paired with simple jeans—casual yet distinctive.

The black-and-green striped watermelon ball in my hands was hand-painted by myself. I started with a black base coat and layered fluorescent green patterns on top. To achieve that mottled look reminiscent of watermelon rinds, I adjusted the color proportions several times before getting a satisfying finish. The pink feathered wings on my back were also handcrafted; while they looked gorgeous, they took up significant space, so I had to tread very carefully in the crowded convention hall to avoid hitting passersby or damaging them. Since the pink feathers shed easily, I reinforced the edges with glue before heading out.

Being able to pull off this shoot was largely thanks to my partner, Tu Ding, who joined me as Nymph cosplay. Wearing a brown jacket with a white collared shirt and red tie, her blue twin-tails swayed adorably with every movement. When prepping our costumes, we had promised each other to recreate this classic pair. Standing side-by-side—with her leaning slightly toward me while I cradled the watermelon ball—the nostalgic atmosphere from the original series came alive instantly.

The hall was packed at CD30, and the indoor venue lighting was relatively dim, but our photographer Yakumo handled it brilliantly. Yakumo excels at utilizing available ambient light; we set up an LED light stick as our key light, while the side blue-violet fill perfectly painted the background and complemented the tones of our wings. With such well-crafted lighting, the unedited RAW shots already looked stunning. During post-processing, Tu Ding preserved our desired color grading and texture without over-smoothing the skin, keeping genuine skin details and dynamic light-shadow depth.

Walking around the venue, our outfits drew plenty of attention—especially the black-and-green watermelon ball and the massive wings—and photographers frequently stopped by to ask for shots. Strolling around in this gear all day left my shoulders and neck aching, but seeing the final photos made every bit of effort worth it. While conventions test every cosplayer's physical stamina, the shared passion from the crowd is genuinely uplifting. The smooth realization of these hall shots was completely down to the joint dedication of my partner and photographer. It was a thoroughly joyful experience and gave us valuable practice in duo cosplaying.