[Makima cosplay] Chainsaw Man: Ruler of the Rainy Night

Stepping through the dark alleys on a rainy night sends splashes everywhere, but paired with this black trench coat and red hair, it gives off a quiet sense of oppression instead. When shooting this set for the Makima cosplay photoshoot, we happened to run into artificial rain; the fine curtain of rain hitting the trench coat instantly dialed up the character's atmospheric feel to the max.

From the perspective of costume preparation, the tailoring of this sharp suit-and-coat look is crucial. To present a sleek, bony silhouette, we repeatedly adjusted the collar of the white shirt and the knot of the black tie for a long time. The wig is the soul of this set; the straight bangs and the curvature of the long side bangs had to be trimmed just right—neither too heavy and rigid, nor losing that sharpness chilled to the bone. The eye makeup specifically emphasized the lower eyelids, combining with the golden-yellow colored contacts to perfectly recreate that signature "ringed eyes" expression.

The interactions during the shooting process were highly interesting. To capture that gaze of "staring straight at the prey," the photographer had me fix my head position and only turn my eyeballs to stare into the lens. Movements like holding a black umbrella, wearing leather gloves, and slipping one hand into the pocket needed to be as relaxed as possible without looking forced. With a dark-colored trench coat against a cool-toned dark alley backdrop, we could only practice subtraction in lighting, preserving partial rim lights to maximize the prominent crisp lines of the figure. To bring out the three-dimensional contour of the face, we added a cool-toned strong light source with a flag on the side, making the texture of the black trench coat and the smoothness of the red hair exceptionally clear.

Some shots were taken when the rain was at its heaviest, with water droplets hitting around the lens, creating flares and a grainy texture. The mist rising from raindrops hitting the ground formed an excellent foreground for background blur, which, paired with the faint reflections of light and shadow from puddles on the ground, filled the entire frame with a unique narrative depth. Although being soaked all over was uncomfortable, seeing the cold, all-controlling gaze in the final photos made me feel that all the effort was entirely worth it. The original intention of sharing this Anime-style photography set of photography in the rain is simply the hope of freezing that unspeakable tension of the "支配者" (ruler).