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Description

For more on my cosplay shenanigans, check out my cosplay page: www.facebook.com/ferashacospla…

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Toshizou Hijikata was born in 1835 in Hino, now a suburb of Tokyo, in a family of well-off farmers - yet he dreamed of being a samurai since the earliest age. He became the ideologist, the Vice-commander and the "face" of the Shinsengumi, a powerful paramilitary group that patrolled the city of Kyoto for five years, during the last days of the Shogunate. The Shinsengumi consisted mostly of farmer boys, second sons, merchants, bastards and impoverished country nobles bonded over a dream of glory. They were known for their fierce dedication to the Shogun's cause, but also for their reputation as brutes who used the political situation to climb the social ladder (in truth, they were a bit of both). They fought to the bitter end to protect the Shogunate and preserve Japan's conservatism in the times of change - and they lost. Spectacularly, humiliatingly, painfully so. Toshizou Hijikata died in 1869 in Hokkaido, during the fall of the so-called Ezo Republic. He was 34 years old - a year younger than me.

But as it happens, the Land of the Rising Sun harbors a very special soft spot for those who died fighting for lost causes, and the Shinsengumi grew to became one of the most exploited history episodes in the Japanese entertainment industry.
My favorite pop-culture portrayal of Hijikata actually comes from "Peacemaker Kurogane", a manga I'd recommend to all history geeks. But given that it was impossible for me to pull off that particular version (google if curious, just to see those pecs and abs), I had to settle for a bishounen take on dear old Toshi. The costume is from the otome visual novel "Hakuouki" - the "Bakumatsu Musouroku" version.
Credits:
Makeup, styling, headband, shoes, fabric dying, details and costume planning by me
Costume sewn by She&She

Pic by Guru - gucaguru.com/
Post-processing by Tenshi
Check out Tenshi as Souji Okita and Wacky Cherry as Saito Hajime!

Description

For more on my cosplay shenanigans, check out my cosplay page: www.facebook.com/ferashacospla…

*

Toshizou Hijikata was born in 1835 in Hino, now a suburb of Tokyo, in a family of well-off farmers - yet he dreamed of being a samurai since the earliest age. He became the ideologist, the Vice-commander and the "face" of the Shinsengumi, a powerful paramilitary group that patrolled the city of Kyoto for five years, during the last days of the Shogunate. The Shinsengumi consisted mostly of farmer boys, second sons, merchants, bastards and impoverished country nobles bonded over a dream of glory. They were known for their fierce dedication to the Shogun's cause, but also for their reputation as brutes who used the political situation to climb the social ladder (in truth, they were a bit of both). They fought to the bitter end to protect the Shogunate and preserve Japan's conservatism in the times of change - and they lost. Spectacularly, humiliatingly, painfully so. Toshizou Hijikata died in 1869 in Hokkaido, during the fall of the so-called Ezo Republic. He was 34 years old - a year younger than me.

But as it happens, the Land of the Rising Sun harbors a very special soft spot for those who died fighting for lost causes, and the Shinsengumi grew to became one of the most exploited history episodes in the Japanese entertainment industry.
My favorite pop-culture portrayal of Hijikata actually comes from "Peacemaker Kurogane", a manga I'd recommend to all history geeks. But given that it was impossible for me to pull off that particular version (google if curious, just to see those pecs and abs), I had to settle for a bishounen take on dear old Toshi. The costume is from the otome visual novel "Hakuouki" - the "Bakumatsu Musouroku" version.
Credits:
Makeup, styling, headband, shoes, fabric dying, details and costume planning by me
Costume sewn by She&She

Pic by Guru - gucaguru.com/
Post-processing by Tenshi
Check out Tenshi as Souji Okita and Wacky Cherry as Saito Hajime!