THE COSPLAY: Like many, I was drawn to the Nier franchise in 2017 with the release of Nier: Automata. Upon completion, I dove deeper into the lore of the franchise with titles like Drakengard and the original Nier. Out of all the complex characters, I found myself itching to know more of Kaine. Through her rough exterior and boorish language, she has such a kind heart and vivacious passion. Moreover, she discovers herself being brave enough to again love others, through her interactions with Nier and Emil. I have always admired her acts of selflessness and courage throughout the installment. In the most recent remaster of Nier, with its extended endings and updated graphics, I found myself falling back in love with the same stories that had captivated my attention years earlier. With these emotions again washing over me, adding Kaine to my list of plans was inevitable.

I decided on cosplaying Kaine’s samurai outfit because I had never seen one done before, amid the plethora of other Kaine cosplays. I also wanted to challenge myself to make a cosplay with so many contrasting components and textures. This cosplay was one that I decided on making in late summer of 2021, and from then to January 2022, I slowly accumulated my materials. Another important thing I did during this time is also devise how I would engineer all of the attachments and components.

The very first pieces I began on were Kaine’s iconic dual blades. These were finished by me from a kit and files, and were the culmination of long hours and many late nights sanding in my garage. After they had been prepped and assembled, I painted these completely by hand because my airbrush was not functional.

My purple bandages are made from purple spandex as a base and stretch velvet. On many of these pieces, I chose to have the seams facing the top as they would be covered with my plate armor.

Kaine’s plate armor was built from a base of 2mm EVA foam and hand-sculpted filigree made from foam clay. The bases were sandwiched with worbla, and primed with flex bond. After hand painting and weathering each separate piece, I drilled marked holes into each of my pieces with a metal Dremel head. I quickly found that I needed to exercise extra caution when adding these because the friction caused by the Dremel would add additional heat to my pieces. From here, I used a combination of hot glue and knots to secure the plates with nylon shibari rope. These are attached to my armor with velcro, and I added additional rope to the sides of the bandages to complete the look.

The top and shorts are patterned by hand. The top’s pattern was painted on with the aid of some stencils I made from 2mm EVA foam and toothpicks. All of the trim and rope was hand sewn, with the choker being detachable with small magnets. To build the shorts, I created a back panel before attaching it to my base, with eyelets and an invisible zipper to complete the front details. I sewed in a nude panel to hold up my tights, and for additional coverage.

During the two months it took me to build this cosplay, I had so much motivation to make everything as best as I could. From top to bottom, lunar tear to heels, everything was made by me and to date it is among my proudest achievements.

BIO: Hi, I’m Poppy, of Poppy Lop Cosplay! I am a native to the California Bay Area. Being a neuroscience major, my first love in life is STEM. However, cosplaying has quickly become one of my favorite things to do in my spare time. I began cosplaying in general and making my cosplays in January 2021 due to an abundance of free time given to me by a series of life events. 

Since my first convention in late August of 2021, I have won multiple awards (Judge’s Choice at SiliCon, Honorable Mention at Powerhouse, Second Place Journeyman at Dreamscape) and been on panels (Armor Attachments) and in publications (Cosplay Zine, The Cosplayer Annual). 

Still, I definitely feel like I have much to learn! With each cosplay I make, I try to teach myself at least one new skill, or to figure out new techniques and methods of crafting cosplay. Documenting my cosplay journey on Instagram has definitely had its challenges, but I have been so honored to learn from so many talented seamstresses, foam smiths, wig stylists, prop makers, and many more! Every new build I try to make as many work in progress pictures, videos, and tutorials as I can to share what I have learned. Join me on my Instagram page as we can continue to grow, together!

DUAL BLADE 3D KIT: @thedangerousladies
FOAM: @cosplaypros
WORBLA: @tapplastics
ROPES: @damngoodropecompany
FABRICS: @bluemoonfabrics, @moodfabrics, @cosplayfabrics
PAINTS: @createxcolors
BUFFED PIGMENTS: @eyecandypigments
WIG BASE: @ardawigs (Magnum in Silver)

COSPLAY AND WORDS BY @POPPYLOP_COS
PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN BY BRIAN NISHIMOTO