Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more
Wonder Festival 2023 [Summer] Cosplay Gallery
by Ken Iikura-Gross,
In the heat and humidity of mid-summer, cosplayers from around the country we were gathered at Wonder Festival 2023 [Summer] to kick off Japan's summer cosplay season. And there was a real smorgasbord of cosplayers at this year's second Wonder Festival. Here's a small sampling of the most incredible and hottest cosplay we saw while we were there.
Ken Iikura-Gross
From left to right: Sakura Kasugano, Ryu, Ken Masters, and Chun-Li from Street Fighter. Cosplayer (from left to right): iCCHIi, Jin Sakuraba, Daigo, and Adumi Sughiyama
Ken Iikura-Gross
Cammy from Street Fighter. Cosplayer: So Shi
Ken Iikura-Gross
From left to right: Kamina, Simon, and Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagann. Cosplayer (from left to right): Hiho-kun, Imoko, and Mochi
Ken Iikura-Gross
Gilgamesh the King of Heroes from Fate/stay night. Cosplayer: Tim
Ken Iikura-Gross
Kazuma Kuwabara from Yu-Yu Hakusho. Cosplayer: Bunyan
Ken Iikura-Gross
From top to bottom: Rikku and Yuna from Final Fantasy X-2. Cosplayer (from top to bottom): ai, Rintaro Kinjou
Ken Iikura-Gross
Noa Izumi from Patlabor. Cosplayer: HIGU
Ken Iikura-Gross
From left to right: Kazumi Amano, Koichiro “Coach” Ohta, and Noriko Takaya from Gunbuster. Cosplayer (from left to right): Romi, Nekonii, and Marimari
Ken Iikura-Gross
Pegasus Seiya from Saint Seiya. Cosplayer: Mikeneko Kyoju
Ken Iikura-Gross
Link from The Legend of Zelda. Cosplayer: Kinshina
Ken Iikura-Gross
Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda. Cosplayer: Minatsu
Ken Iikura-Gross
Nanoha Takamachi from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. Cosplayer: SK
Ken Iikura-Gross
Eternal Sailor Moon from Sailor Moon. Cosplayer: Yoh
Ken Iikura-Gross
Son Goku from Dragon Ball. Cosplayer: Anko Sakura
Ken Iikura-Gross
Son Goku from Dragon Ball. Cosplayer: Kazuma Kiryu
Ken Iikura-Gross
From left to right: Cure Butterfly and Cure Prism from Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure. Cosplayer (from left to right): Benio and Sayu
Ken Iikura-Gross
Cure Melody with Hummy from Suite Precure. Cosplayer: Airu
Ken Iikura-Gross
Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell. Cosplayer: Hikaru
Ken Iikura-Gross
Mitsuri Kanroji from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Cosplayer: Nezukossu
Ken Iikura-Gross
Zhuge Kongming in modern clothes from Ya Boy Kongming! Cosplayer: Kokai
Ken Iikura-Gross
Kotetsu T. Kaburagi from Tiger & Bunny. Cosplayer: Cazulos
Ken Iikura-Gross
From left to right: Rey Ayanami and Eva Unit-01 (Rebuild) from Rebuild of Evangelion. Cosplayer (from left to right): Kasumi and Goldy
Producer Fuminori Honda and director Tomoyuki Kurokawa discuss working on Dead Dead Demon’s Dedede Destruction and what viewers can look forward to with Production +h’s video game anime Dark Machine.― Despite being newer on the scene, Production +h is an anime studio already making waves with animated films like Netflix's The Orbital Children and the anime adaptation of Inio Asano's post-apocalypti...
Series fans will definitely appreciate the evolution of long-time mechanics, and newcomers will enjoy the cast and building mechanics.― The Rune Factory series has firmly established itself as more than just a mere "Fantasy Story of Seasons. However, with every series—and every season—there must come a time of growth and experimentation. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma notably avoids counting itsel...
Over the next six weeks we are giving away eighteen ~$100 Dr. Stone prize packages! Enter every week for your chance to win!― Dr. STONE Needs you! We are calling on all Dr. STONE fans to mobilize and the official Dr. STONE Battlecraft X (@dsbc_staff_en). 18 people who heed this call to arms will be rewarded with their choice of one US$100 prize package from the list below. Every week...
Kando worked for 29 years on Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, more― Game developer Tatsuya Kando announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday that he parted ways with Square Enix the day before, after working at the company for 29 years. He vowed to keep making interesting content that brings a smile to everyone's face in the future. Kando was known for his work as director on the original The World E...
This is a movie drenched in color, from the verdant greenery of Seoul’s parkland to the warm reds and browns of its older buildings, not to mention the vibrant, sparkling starscapes and sunsets, many of which would make Makoto Shinkai proud.― While Korean animation director Han Ji-won's fame has steadily grown in her homeland, Netflix's worldwide release of her latest, most substantial movie, is the...
Mikaela Hoover voices Chopper, provides facial capture― Netflix unveiled a new video for the second live-action season based on Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga during its Tudum event on Saturday to reveal the look and voice of Tony Tony Chopper. The video also reveals the new season's 2026 debut. Mikaela Hoover voices Chopper in the English version, and also provides the facial capture for the charac...
If you had the ability to go back in time and relive one of the most difficult journeys of your life, what would you do differently?― If you had the ability to go back in time and relive one of the most difficult journeys of your life, what would you do differently? If you sacrificed everything for the sake of taking down an ultimate evil, do you think it's possible to accomplish the same goal witho...
Katsuyuki Konishi voices Chibi JJ with theme song by Wednesday Camla― The first fan meeting for Chibi Godzilla Raids Again (Chibi Godzilla no Gyakushū), the anime about the Chibi Godzilla character, announced on Saturday that a new series will premiere on television on July 2. Katsuyuki Konishi is ing the cast as Chibi JJ (seen below), and the group Wednesday Camla created the song "Ka...
The top 5 cumulative is nigh undefeatable, with those same series forming this week's top 5 as well. See how all your favorites fared in our weekly rankings.― Let's have a look at what ANN readers consider the best (and worst) of the season, based on the polls you can find in our Daily Streaming Reviews and on the Your Score page with the latest simulcasts. Keep in mind that these rankings are...
Dark, bitter, and intermittently hopeful, Dokjin and Hottu's adaptation of Jang Dahye's original novel pulls you in, even if none of those flavors are your preferred reading, making it nearly impossible to put down.― Complete at sixty episodes (chapters), Dear Hongrang is a journey. Apart from flashbacks, the prologue, and the epilogue, the entire story takes place over one brief summer during the J...
Jean-Karlo discusses the give-and-take of video game IP movies, the latest news on the Dragon Quest remakes, and Capcom's latest contest!― Welcome back, folks! People who've kept up with my column know about the Mage: The Ascension campaign I've been running for some Discord friends. Because my players need a breather (and I think it's a good enough spot for a minor recap), I'm going ahead with a "s...
Elden Ring Nightreign is not an easy game—not even for experienced “Sloulsborne” players. So here’s a simple guide to make your runs through the land of Limveld much more fruitful.― The key to playing Elden Ring Nightreign is not memorizing boss patterns and learning attack windows (though let's not pretend those aren't still important). Rather, it's a game about getting as strong as possible as fas...
Discover the history behind Oedo Fire Slayer in our interview with author Shōgo Imamura and manga creator Shinobu Seguchi.― Japan's history is teeming with everyday heroes, and there may not be a stronger example than the Edo period's firefighters. Known as hikeshigumi, community firefighters rose to meet a 17th-century challenge: protecting the fragile wooden and paper homes in what would become th...
Manga about villainess taking revenge on behalf of her otome game fan ended on Friday― The final epilogue chapter of Nazuna Shiraume's manga adaptation of Makiburo's Akuyaku Reijō no Naka no Hito (The One Within the Villainess) novel series announced on Friday that the story is inspiring an anime adaptation. The announcement did not reveal the format of the anime, and it describes the anime as adapt...
Connor starred in Alex Garland's Warfare film, Heartstopper, The Wild Robot― Entertainment news website Deadline reported on Thursday that Alex Garland is in talks with actor Kit Connor (Heartstopper, The Wild Robot, Warfare) to star in the planned live-action Hollywood film adaptation of Bandai Namco Entertainment and FromSoftware's Elden Ring game. According to Deadline, both Garland and Connor "w...
The compilation's recap will get you up to speed, but you'll have to wait until the television premiere for any sort of conclusion.― GKIDS premiered the highly anticipated continuation of Science SARU's adaptation of DAN DA DAN on Thursday. Ahead of its debut in Japan, fans in North America were the first in the world to watch DAN DA DAN: Evil Eye, a compilation movie featuring the first three episo...
How hard is it for newbies to get into GQuuuuuuX? Chris and Coop investigate.― How hard is it for newbies to get into GQuuuuuuX? Chris and Coop investigate. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead. Amazon streams Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX. Hulu streams 08th MS Team....
LAgun, Nishiki Ogawa's manga of fantasy web novel― Kodansha's YanMaga Web site announced on Friday that a television anime adaptation of LAgun and Nishiki Ogawa's I'm a Curse Crafter, and I Don't Need an S-Rank Party! (S-Rank Party kara Kaiko Sareta "Jugushi": "Noroi no Item" Shika Tsukuremasenga, Sono Seinō wa Artifact-kyū Nari......!) manga has been green-lit. (Although the manga is itself based ...
Although it isn’t as deep as I’m perhaps making it sound, the story is a look at both the metafictional qualities of game-based isekai and an exploration of how an inability to distinguish between reality and fiction can be harmful.― When a genre, or subgenre in this case, becomes as entrenched as villainess isekai is, you need a twist to make your story stand out. Shiki has hit on a good one for th...
The free-to-play spin-off brings smaller-scaled crimes to your mobile device.― Persona 5 was released almost a decade ago in Japan. Since then, we've had many spin-offs: Persona 5 Strikers, Persona 5 Tactica, Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth. I'm surprised we haven't had a Persona 5 spin-off fighting game. While the whole world is waiting for even the slightest ...