Midnight - Pro Hero
My Hero Academia
Photographer
Kameraninja, Brian Boling
Why I chose to make this costume:
Unsurprisingly, I got swept up in the My Hero Academia series and eventually, a cosplay from it had to happen. I started watching the anime while season 2 was airing and there were a number of characters that I gravitated to as potential cosplays. Midnight, Pro Hero and Teacher at UA, was at the top of the list. I wanted to style that outrageous hair!
How I made this costume:
I made the white top using my superhex fabric just to give it more texture. In the anime, she wears a nylon bodysuit that rips easily as a part of her sleep-inducing quirk, but I didn’t want to deal with a flimsy material rubbing against a steel boned corset all day long at conventions so I opted for a heavier patterned fabric.
The cincher is short, made of faux leather and reinforced with flat steel boning, and the black center strap velcros down from the white top. I also made a pair of matching pleather shorties.
That’s about it for the main costume pieces, of course I also made the belt and cast all the resin gems you can see. The oversized handcuffs, criss cross belt buckle and hero mask were made of EVA foam.
The wig was a whole project in itself. I started with two long Jared wigs from Arda Wigs, cut one up and sewed it to the other wig to create double volume. I then defined the layers and sectioned off the hair, slowly spiking them and curling them outward to mimic Midnight’s jagged anime hair. I used a combination of Got to be Glued hair spray, misted water and a blowdryer.
The tights, boots and 9-nail whip were bought!
Thoughts on this costume:
The wig is heavy and hot to wear, and I usually have to touch up the hair style after traveling with it, but otherwise this costume is so fun and easy. My Hero Academia is easily one of the most cosplayed anime in the world and it has been fun to travel to different countries and cons with Midnight and interact with other MHA cosplayers.The fandom is definitely what drove me to cosplay this character and I hope to add another costume from this series to my roster in the future!
