SHADOW Cosplay as Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark

I had wanted to do this cosplay for a long time. Joanna Dark, for Nintendo fans of the early 2000s, was the "Lara Croft" of the N64. Let's face it, the Joanna who appeared in the images in cg (this, for example) was really a GREAT beauty, more than Miss Croft (forgive me my dear Lara <3). I referred precisely to these images for the creation of the costume, because curiously this is different between the cg version and the game version of the first original Perfect Dark (attention, I'm not talking about the remake). At the time I did a sort of instant cosplay with tinfoil, some makeshift garments and paper: in short, something to forget: ')

This time, for the details on the costume and the pieces of armor, I worked with the Eva foam, then discovering at my expense that the acrylic colors were NOT going well: I should have used special paints to maintain flexibility without creating cracks on the color to every movement. Patience! For the tailoring part, I relied on a zentai catsuit that I modified, and on some pieces of fabric that had been left over from the Baroness cosplay, perfect to create the semi-shiny effect of Joanna's black leotard. I was lucky to also find a perfect wig for her, in the midst of a flood of unsuitable cuts: as a fanatic of long hair, I didn't think there could be so many difficulties with a short cut! In the end, however, I am very satisfied with the result, and I did everything possible to make every detail. For example I found high resolution images, discovering that it has a sort of small "neckline" on the chest. I found out that he has a collar, and the pouch also behind his belt. All things that at first glance I had not noticed.

For this costume, I really wanted to make a set in a perfect location. Unfortunately, due to the covid19, it is not possible to go out and I had to get by as well as I could this time, taking photos at home and replacing the digital background. So I'm sorry that the photos, inevitably, looks a bit too artificial, but I hope you like them anyway. That said, Joanna is one of my favorite characters ever: she is not particularly characterized, but I always loved her design! This is a nice example of the beautiful costumes that were designed for the characters, another world compared to the realism and credibility that we are looking for today, where we find heroes dressed in an ordinary way, or in usual military uniforms. It has something of the 90's. Finally, Perfect Dark was one of the masterpieces of the old Rareware that kept me company for hours and hours, with friends in local multiplayer. I believe it is in the top five of all of us N64 owners! It's probably still my favorite fps today, with a really fantastic soundtrack. This is my way of thanking that Rareware for creating fantastic things like Perfect Dark.

Cosplayer: SHADOW Cosplay

May 15, 2020