Cosplay is a big part of the anime and manga community, as fans all over the world dress up as their favorite characters. Cosplaying has become such a massive hobby that some major cosplayers have been elevated to a status similar to models, making big careers out of it.
This has not gone unnoticed by anime and manga creators, who have often featured characters cosplaying in their own works. Some anime even revolve around cosplay as a pastime, featuring characters that love to cosplay as much as the fans watching them. Here are some of the most notable cosplayers that have appeared in anime.
Updated May 21, 2022 by Danny Guan: Despite the pandemic putting a lot of fan events on hold, cosplayers continued to pursue their passion in any way they could. Cosplayers have continued to portray the most popular characters of each anime season, and they put that love on display in any way they could. Here are some more of the best anime characters that are also cosplayers.
12 Kayura Tsurugino – Hayate The Combat Butler
In an anime with a cast as bizarre as Hayate the Combat Butler, Kayura Tsurugino nevertheless stands out as being particularly eccentric. Carefree, whimsical, and somewhat of an airhead, Kayura is definitely a colorful addition to the many side characters surrounding the main cast.
Kayura is also known for being an elite otaku that has read over 100,000 manga. As a connoisseur of manga and anime, Kayura occasionally expresses that passion by wearing cosplay. While Kayura isn't the most popular character even among Hayate the Combat Butler's cast, her passion for manga and anime is unparalleled.
11 Satomi Tachibana – How Heavy Are The Dumbbells That You Lift?
Satomi Tachibana seems like your normal high school teacher having trouble with her weight. It makes sense that she would be embarrassed to be going to the gym with her students, even if they all have the same goal of losing weight.
However, Tachibana has another reason for losing weight; she is secretly a cosplayer who attends events regularly. While she is wary about her cosplaying hobby being exposed, she nevertheless remains passionate about her hobby. While Tachibana's cosplaying escapades are rarely a focus, they are a motivating factor behind her desire to lose weight.
10 Mayuri Shiina – Steins;Gate
Mayuri Shiina is the childhood friend of Rintaro Okabe, also known as the mad scientist Hououin Kyoma. The two of them are part of Okabe's self-made club, the Future Gadget Laboratory, where they battle against the mysterious "Organization."
While Mayuri is not spending time with Okabe and the other members of the Future Gadget Laboratory, she works on her cosplay costumes and works as a part-time maid at a maid cafe. While Steins;Gate as an anime focuses very little on Mayuri's cosplay hobby, her status as a cosplayer is well-known by fans.
9 Renge Hoshakuji – Ouran High School Host Club
Renge Hoshakuji is a rather hardcore otaku, having transferred to Ouran Academy just to meet Kyoya Otori, who looks just like her favorite dating sim character. While the crush itself does not last, she remains a mainstay of the series as a supporting character.
As a big otaku, Renge is also a fan of cosplay. As a result, she will often appear in various costumes of characters from her favorite works. While Renge is not an exceptionally important character in the story itself, her obsession with cosplay makes her stand out.
8 Megumi Chihaya – Servant x Service
Megumi Chihaya seems like a rather listless temp worker at the local government office. However, in truth, she is a massive manga fan. She often cosplays as characters from her favorite anime, a magical girl series called Magical Flowers.
Megumi is incredibly devoted to her hobbies, which is why she works as a temp instead of becoming a full-time employee, as this allows her more time to go to conventions and events. She makes all of her costumes by herself using her adept sewing skills, reflecting the immense talent that real-world cosplayers display.
7 Marin Kitagawa – My Dress-Up Darling
Marin Kitagawa is a popular and beautiful girl in her class – and she's also a big fan of Slippery Girls, an adult visual novel featuring a range of lascivious situations. As she falls down the rabbit hole of nerd culture, she happens upon the world of cosplay.
Initially wanting to dress up as Shizuku, her favorite character from Slippery Girls 2, she enlists the help of Wakana Gojou, who is a skilled seamstress and craftsman for Hina dolls. Although he knows little of cosplay, he agrees to help Marin achieve her dream of “becoming Shizuku-tan.” While Marin is an amateur cosplayer, her passion for the hobby is abundant.
6 Mikuru Asahina – The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya
Mikuru Asahina is a member of the SOS Brigade, a club started by Haruhi Suzumiya in order to find extraordinary people. Unbeknownst to Haruhi, Mikuru is in fact one of those people, being a time traveler from the future.
Because of Mikuru's rather voluptuous figure, she is often forced into various outfits by Haruhi, many of which are common outfits worn by cosplayers. She has worn a maid costume, a bunny girl costume, and much more. While she is not a willing cosplayer, she is still frequently seen wearing a large variety of outfits.
5 Erza Scarlet – Fairy Tail
Erza Scarlet might seem like a strange entry on this list. She's one of the most powerful members of the Fairy Tail guild, an S-rank mage whose skill with the sword is as intimidating as her magic. Erza's Requip magic allows her to switch out her clothes and equipment instantly, allowing her easy access to a variety of legendary weapons and armor.
Requip also gives her access to a lot of different outfits that she keeps stored with her magic. While this can include various casual outfits, there are also a few more unusual costumes included within. Erza seems to have a fondness for such costumes and wears them whenever she gets the chance.
4 Sakura Kinomoto – Cardcaptor Sakura
Sakura Kinomoto is a rather unique entry because she doesn't necessarily want to wear costumes herself. However, her best friend Tomoyo Daidouji is an accomplished tailor and always makes sure to have a new costume ready for her.
Tomoyo's costumes are unique every time, and they are generally reminiscent of the clothes that magical girl heroines often wear. Sakura may not care too much about the costumes that she wears, but thanks to Tomoyo, she always arrives at the scene in style.
3 Hanako Koyanagi – Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku
Hardworking businesswoman Hanako Koyanagi seems like a stern, no-nonsense working girl, but she's actually a hardcore otaku and proud of it. A lover of yaoi manga, Koyanagi also cosplays frequently, a hobby that she is extremely passionate about. Koyanagi is often seen at various anime conventions wearing elaborately made costumes.
While most female cosplayers tend to cosplay as female characters, Koyanagi is a crossplayer who usually dresses as handsomely androgynous male characters. Koyanagi loves to cosplay so much that she even wanted to do some at her wedding.
2 Kanako Ohno – Genshiken
The Genshiken at Shiiou University seems like it might be a good place to find avid cosplayers, but at the beginning of the series, the club is only populated entirely by nerdy guys who are only interested in reading manga and playing video games.
This all changes when Kanako Ohno joins the club. An otaku with a good figure, she uses her cosplay skills to bring more attention to the Genshiken. Ohno later becomes the president of the Genshiken herself, and the club becomes slightly more cosplay-focused as a result.
1 Chisame Hasegawa – Negima: Magister Negi Magi
At first glance, Chisame Hasegawa seems like an antisocial young student of Mahora Academy's class 2-A. However, in truth Chisame is in fact the famous Net Idol Chiu who livestreams from her room and cosplays with various costumes. She tries her best to keep this a secret, but Negi ultimately figures out who she is.
While Chisame initially has nothing to do with the world of magic, she is soon quickly drawn into Negi's troubles and soon becomes a stalwart ally. She even gains a pactio, which hilariously dresses her in an outfit similar to her Net Idol appearance.