I love Halloween, mostly due to the candy but also because I’m a cosplayer. Like many seasoned cosplayers I often snub the pre-packaged costumes, preferring to make most if not all of costume myself. While putting your own spin tends to work out fine for most characters, Japanese anime and manga characters are very large in number so you easily run the risk of being mistaken for the wrong one. I believe for this genre of cosplay accuracy is key, and I’m going to tell you why these packaged costumes are great for new and seasoned cosplayers alike.
As soon as I opened the package from HalloweenCostumes.com I was already blown away by the quality of the materials used. The emblems are actually embroidered onto the jacket and cape. The jacket is such a sturdy material that big fans could wear it out alone for fun, and it’s pockets are real not just for show. Despite how it appears in my images, the white shirt is even a quality you’d find on store shelves alone, and quite soft. The pants feel like real thick leggings, very comfortable. While the cape material was a bit on the thin side, it was still very high quality compared to those I’ve seen myself. The sash felt like the pants material, but thinner. This deluxe version also boasts a full separate harness which is ideal for those going for complete accuracy but also has a few drawbacks.
The regular version of this costume is great as well, and I’d recommend to beginners or those just using for Halloween. It does not come with a cape and the emblems are screen printed on. The materials aren’t as high a quality as the deluxe, but if you’re not trying to enter cosplay competitions you’ll be fine. The thing that could be considered a con in regards to the regular costume is the harness, which is sewn to the front with nothing on the back. To those who are picky about accuracy this could appear odd, however it also makes putting the costume on much easier than with the full separate harness. Either costume has room for alterations for any die hard cosplayer that still wants to make it unique. Please note that neither costume comes with the boots, wig, or props.
One drawback is the sizing, I chose medium because it was closest to all of my measurements but the top ended up too small and the bottom too long. This is what I get for being short and stacked, I suppose. In the future I intend to solve this by using my own white shirt, and doing many alterations on the harness. I suggest ordering a size up from your usual just to be on the safe side, but expect to do some work on the harness. I tried to hide how loose it was by shoving the extra length into my boots, but you can still tell in the pictures. There is also no guide for putting the harness on so it took two adults and all we had was the image on the package to go on. It was very tangled, and turned out part of the confusion was a manufacturing error. The bottom that slides under your feet to hold everything in place was attached in a way that twists the other straps the wrong way. We simply made sure the twisting wasn’t visible via my boots, but it was uncomfortable. Due to my height I’ll have to alter the harness a lot, but I was still very impressed with the level of detail put into it, especially in parts that wouldn’t be seen unless you remove the jacket and cape. Huge points for realism!
To sum things up, I love the costume! After I get it fitting better I plan to test it out in an anime convention setting. I believe it will be accepted as a wonderful cosplay and is definitely worth the money for beginners to have a starting point. I also want to apologize for my pictures, I don’t look very Mikasa-like in them yet but I should come convention time.