Highlights
- Cosplay company First Stop Cosplay has released an official cosplay pattern for the Protagonist from Persona 5 Royal, making it easier for all cosplayers to make their own costume.
- First Stop Cosplay, founded in 2019 by Amanda "Mari" Gregory, aims to empower cosplayers with detailed and accessible instructions in their patterns, along with modernized sizing.
- The cosplay pattern, licensed by Persona 5's parent company, ATLUS, is a recognition of the hobby and is available for purchase on First Stop Cosplay's website and at ANIME Impulse in Anaheim, California.
Cosplay is a huge part of the anime and gaming world for a lot of fans, and one of the biggest ways that people can express their love for a character or a series. While many cosplayers figure out how to make the costumes themselves from the characters' reference photos, an official cosplay pattern has been released for a popular character - the Protagonist from Persona 5 Royal. This pattern makes it a lot easier for even beginner cosplayers to make their own costume.
The cosplay pattern has been released by a cosplay company called First Stop Cosplay. It has been licensed officially in collaboration with ATLUS, the company behind Persona 5 along with many other JRPG titles, including Shin Megami Tensei. While anime and gaming studios do not have any problems with cosplayers making costumes themselves (in fact, many encourage it, running official contests or even thanking cosplayers in the credits of their works), seeing a company officially make a cosplay pattern is a new recognition for the hobby.
First Stop Cosplay was founded in 2019 by Amanda "Mari" Gregory, who was only 15 at the time. Her goal was to empower new and experienced cosplayers both with the skills needed to make their own cosplays. All the patterns produced by First Stop Cosplay come with detailed, accessible instructions, and modernized sizing.
The paper is also reusable and durable, so it can be used over and over again. Patterns for cosplay are rarely available even in Japan, so it is no small feat that First Stop Cosplay has a product officially licensed by the series' parent company.
The cosplay is for the Protagonist from Persona 5 Royal, the latest edition of the Persona 5 franchise. Persona 5 originally came out in 2016, and due to its popularity, has inspired four spin-off games and an anime series. Persona 5 Royal, which released in 2017, added two new characters and some new storyline to the original game.
The game won several awards, and had even more nominations. It lost "Best Role-Playing Game of the Year" only to Final Fantasy VII: Remake. Review for Royal were even better than for the original game.
All the characters in Persona 5 have two different versions, one in modern Tokyo in the "real world," and their "persona" version in the Metaverse. The Protagonist, who is unvoiced and can be named by the player, is the title used for the main playable character when he is in the real world. The cosplay is for this version of him, not his persona version, so it is for his school uniform from Shujin Academy. That makes it a little easier for less experienced cosplayers, but no less recognizable.
The cosplay pattern for the Protagonist from Persona 5 Royal went on sale September 2nd on the First Stop Cosplay website. The company will also be selling it in person this weekend at ANIME Impulse in Anaheim, California, at their booth. Likely, it will continue to be for sale at First Stop Cosplay's booths throughout the US this convention season. The pattern itself is rated at 3.5/5 stars for difficulty, and comes in men's sizes. The pattern is available entirely in English, and you can buy the full set, or only the part that you need (jacket or pants).
Source: AnimeNewsNetwork