MISTY MAY
Otaku no Video
Photographer
Why I chose to make this costume:
Ok, I bought "Otaku no Video" over a decade ago while I still lived in Germany and the anime scene was brand new in Europe. For someone like me who grew up with anime and manga in China, it was like discovering the fandom all over again. I loved the fun and cheesy way Gainax presented the otakus to the world, and created Misty May as the original mascot girl—the original anime bunny girl even—to charm the world! BOME recently came out with a gorgeous Misty May figure which I bought immediately. It inspired me to make the costume and show some old school love.
How I made this costume:
The red PVC bodysuit was hilarious to make. I sewed a regular bodysuit and spent quite a bit of time in front of a mirror marking it and cutting it apart to match the design. I think I ended up cutting away more fabric than what remained on the suit lol. I altered an old shirt vest I had laying around EXTENSIVELY to create the white cropped vest, and the bunny tail is hand stitched floofy feathers—it's so soft! I ordered the thigh highs from welovecolors.com and made the little back tie from scratch, but was able to alter a pair of gloves I already owned.
The wig was a result of me mixing up various techniques like adding extra hair, teasing, cutting and coloring. I ended up with a neat triple color wig (pink, red and hot pink).
I made the wand by painting a plastic heart I found at a craft store and attaching it to a curtain rod. The little gold wings are made with craft foam.
The only thing I ran out of time and materials for were the bunny ears, but my friend Barb kindly gave me a pair of fur bunny ears from her dealer booth to use. <3
Thoughts on this costume:
I only got to wear this for a brief time at AX, so this will definitely be taken to another con soon. A lot of people did recognize me which made me happy that people still remember such old anime as "Otaku no Video!"
