Izuku Midoriya (Deku)

LarpLikeRae’s first My Hero Academia cosplay was season 1 Hero Suit Izuku Midoriya. Since 2020, Rae has grown apart from the character but still manages to go back every once in a while to re-cosplay Deku in several versions and alternate universes!

With the exciting passion of starting a new Fandom, LarpLikeRae jumped at the opportunity to complete a closet cosplay of their first My Hero Academia cosplay:

School Uniform Deku

“When I first got into My Hero Academia, I related a lot to season 1 Izuku Midoriya since I was in my apprenticeship era of my tattoo career. The 10 months that Deku had to work to be able to have a suitable body for All Mights quirk felt a lot like pushing and working hard at being full time. In all, we both took 4 seasons (4 years for me) to actually become full time and our work to pay off! So at this time, I wanted my first cosplay from MHA to be as Deku.“

“For this cosplay, I didn’t want to rely on buying a suit from Amazon, so instead I ended up going to goodwill and picked up a gray suit jacket, green pants, red tie and white shirt. When I got home, I rushed to paint on the stripes on the collar and sew on green fabric to the sleeves, I even hot glued buttons on since I barely knew how to sew at the time. Plus I was in a rush since I wanted to cosplay him so bad.”

When passion comes across a deadline, with little to no experience sewing:

Season 1 Hero Suit Deku

“In 2020, right before the pandemic hit, I had just finished my closet cosplay of the MHA school uniform (like mentioned above) and wanted to push myself to make my first ever big project with a suit. I had a photoshoot scheduled for a week out from when I had the idea to make this cosplay, so I set my gears in place and began binge-making this cosplay. I had a deadline… and fast.”

“I had no idea how to sew still, or even how to pattern things. So I took apart old shirts and sweatpants to copy the pattern and re-see it together. I made choices on the hero suit that were not the smartest and I definitely learned from them (like not seeing the white striped until after I sewed the shirt and pants. So it would get stuck in the sewing machine.)”

“The props such as the belt and mask were a tad bit easier and I still use them today for my other versions of Deku (Princess Deku). The leg armor however was constantly falling down during the photoshoot and was super unstable. Later on in 2023, I helped out a friend at the time making their vigilante Deku cosplay in 1 FULL night (1am to 9am) before a convention and finally learned how to make the leg armor properly.“

“If I were to Re-Cosplay as Hero Suit Deku, I would honestly remake the entire suit with my knowledge with sewing and props now, but that is not my top priority since I already have SO many cosplays and versions of characters from My Hero Academia.”

Cosplaying alone isn’t a horrible feat, infact it can be some of the most rewarding and lesson learning experiences you can gain while bringing a character to life:

Casual (Accident Prone) Deku

“One of the most enjoyable experiences in my cosplay journey, has definitely been cosplaying by myself. Since 2020, I began living by myself without any roommates, this was a very challenging, and yet unique experience, especially being a cosplayer. Because of the pandemic, I didn’t work as often and would find myself bored out of my mind doing nothing. So I liked to challenge myself with making new Cosplays and outfits for each character. Thats when I discovered: when you live alone and live in a very small town in Southern Arizona, it’s hard to find friends that also like to cosplay while in the pandemic. So I took it upon myself to find a fun and unique way to Cosplay just by myself, and not rely on anyone.“

“This photoshoot and Cosplay was done in 2021. At this time I was very used to doing photo shoots and Cosplays by myself since I lived in my own studio apartment with my teacup Chihuahua (Trip Hazard) and fat cat (Fall). There was a carnival that was coming into town that October and I wanted to go so bad and Cosplay to make content and take photos, but I didn’t have any Cosplay friends that lived in the same town as me. This was one of my very first times to ever go out in Cosplay by myself, and I was quite honestly terrified. It was my first ever time as well, taking my tripod and camera to do a Bluetooth activated photo shoot by myself. I was testing it out and only got about three photos before the carnival shut down an hour earlier than I expected. So I went back home , and did my own photo shoot in my bed.“

“This photo shoot, even though it was one of my first times doing photos by myself, with my camera, all alone…. it was definitely a mile stone to show what I was capable of in the future and to never let anyone take that away from me. Cosplay can be viewed as cringey and geeky, but the reason why people do it is because they have a love and passion for it. So during this entire photo shoot and going to the carnival, I had to remind myself why I love doing this, and to not let all the weird stares scare me away. It was definitely a confident booster.“

When a challenge becomes nothing but a reward when finished:

Princess Deku

“Now this story, is something very dear to my heart. back in 2020 like I explained with my Princess Bakugou, I taken on the challenge to create a princess version of the hero suit Bakugou in three days, (30 hours total). after the creation of princess Bakugou, TikTok began requesting other princess characters from the series. I took it upon myself to make a princess Todoroki, Aizawa, and even a princess Kageyama from Haikyuu. at this point it was the end of 2020 and I had stopped making princess Cosplays to do what I really wanted to do. But later on that did not stop me.”

“In 2023 I had set my schedule to go to Metrocon, July of that summer, with my partner Cloud, what I really wanted more than anything at that moment was to create my Princess Academia group. So I had asked countless of people to join the group, and we had an 11 person panel set up for metrocon. Now the thing about the Princess Cosplays is that I am very particular in making them almost exactly the same for each character. That meaning the same color, schemes, fabric and glitter. So I had offered to make every single princess Cosplay to the measurements of the panelists. I made 11 princess Cosplays in two weeks before the convention. I somehow don’t know how I did this, but I did. Most of the outfits did fit however, some of them did not because the measurements were not given correctly or they were off. But that did not stop us from having a great time on Sunday at the convention or the panel that we hosted. The panel was amazing, probably one of the best panels I’ve ever hosted. And honestly, I wish I could host another princess, academia panel, but I am unsure if that will ever happen again.“

“Princess Deku, however, was made in 2021 and has been changed throughout the years as different people have worn it and modeled it at conventions and Photoshoots. The mask and belt are the same as my original Deku hero suit, just a different paint job and added glitter!”

Combing both jobs and passions into one!

Casual Tattooer Deku

“In October 2023, I decided every day to show up to work and Cosplay. I had already Cosplayed to work several times that year but doing it every single day was definitely a challenge because coworkers at that shop were not the fondest of me Cosplaying. Some are very supportive and others did not care. Which is perfectly fine. However, I wanted to challenge myself with Cosplaying every single day so one day I brought my Deku Cosplay and honest, it was one of the most comfortable times I’ve ever cosplayed him. He is not one of my comfort characters anymore, and whenever I am in the Cosplay I tend to not like how I feel or begin to get uncomfortable while wearing him. But at this moment I was more open to cosplaying as him because it was such a laid back/casual version.“

A cosplay that is often done by your partner, is now switched around and you are put in those shoes:

Fantasy Deku

“The fantasy AU from my hero academia is definitely one of my favorite alternate universe’s that has ever been thrown our way. I had always chosen to do fantasy Bakugou due to my hotheaded and fiery personality, but on occasions, my partner Cloud, and I, wanted to cosplay the trio of Todoroki, Bakugou, and Deku in their fantasy AU’S. At one point we wanted to do Todoroki and Deku’s cosplays, so I had stepped out of my comfort zone to Cosplay as fantasy Deku. These photos turned out great, and the memories made from it were even more special. If I ever did have time I would want to do more of a canon fantasy Deku, but this cosplay was made by cloud and he did such a great job at adding his own twists to it!”