Makeup is an incredibly powerful tool in the right hands, and if you’re wondering just how powerful, this Japanese young man has been using it to cross the gender barrier and become a female cosplay idol.
Looking at the photos posted by @Makina_Jeanne, a popular cosplay enthusiast from Hokkaido, you could swear she was a young girl showcasing her best assets in skimpy and tight outfits inspired by Japanese manga and anime, but in fact @Makina_Jeanne is a male who just happens to be fascinated by feminine cosplay. He uses makeup tricks, wigs and silicone breast prosthesis to make himself look like a girl, and most of the time, he does an amazing job.
@Makina_Jeanne has been doing cosplay for almost 9 years now, but not even his followers knew how the person behind the makeup actually looked like. At the start of 2020, on January 2nd, the popular cosplayer posted a picture of themselves back when they first started dressing up, and fans were shocked to see a nerdy-looking boy.
People started speculating about @Makina_Jeanne, with some assuming that he had undergone gender reassignment surgery, but the cosplayer laid all speculation to rest, explaining that he had never had any cosmetic procedures done, relying solely on makeup and accessories like wigs and silicone breast prosthesis.
8年前、キモオタガチ陰キャから始まったレイヤーはここまで変わりました。自分でもびっくり。まだまだ、綺麗になるからね💪 pic.twitter.com/vzhIWDXIKF
— 茶柱マキナ🍵 (@Makina_Jeanne) January 2, 2020
@Makina_Jeanne’s revelation originally made news headlines in Brazil, of all places, but the cosplayer’s amazing transformation recently went viral in his home country as well, after he did an interview with Japanese magazine Oricon.
Asked how he got into feminine cosplay, the young man said that this was the first type of cosplay he ever saw, so he became fascinated by it. He was a junior in high-school when he saw seniors dressed as female characters for a festival, and he found it intriguing. He decided to try it himself, but his new hobby didn’t sit well with some of his fiends, who decided to cut ties with him.
【Cosplay】
Fate/Grand Order
第2部 アサシン 真名:███████「骨抜きにして差し上げます♡」
📷:狐様(@kitsune_1991 )
studio:クロームスタジオ様(@chrome2studio ) pic.twitter.com/GNQJjXR6ve— 茶柱マキナ🍵 (@Makina_Jeanne) October 21, 2019
Luckily, his mother gave him the strength to carry on and follow his dream. She told him “If you really want to cosplay as a girl, than you have to be the most beautiful one!” This really motivated him and made him work harder to improve his cosplay skills, and the results are quite visible in his photos.
Photos © @Makina_Jeanne
@Makina_Jeanne said that his decision to upload photos of himself from eight years back was inspired by his need to show the world how far he has come, and also his desire to motivate other people like him, who are to afraid to follow their dream.
さっきフォルダの整理したら2年前の池ハロの写真出てきたけど2年で邪ンヌのメイクもだいぶ変わるもんですねぇ…
こう見るとちょっと上達してる😀 pic.twitter.com/WXOrG0wuv5— 茶柱マキナ🍵 (@Makina_Jeanne) May 20, 2020
If you think @Makina_Jeanne’s story is a rare one, you are mistaken. Over the last couple of years we’ve featured several male cosplayers who mastered makeup to become popular feminine idols online. Rei Dunois, Japan’s “Cosplay Queen” is perhaps the most popular one we wrote about, but there was also Puutan, or Takuma Tani, as well as China’s popular CROME拉面猫就是星空萌. Do you still trust your eyes?