Our contributor connected with internationally prominent cosplayer and visual artist HaneAme (雨波, ハネアメ) following Anime Expo 2026 to discuss her time at the convention, the art of cosplay, and the unexpected ways it can change people’s lives.
Anime Expo 2026 and Reconnecting With Fans
Michael: Anime Expo is one of the largest anime conventions in the world and brings together fans from many different countries. How was your experience at Anime Expo 2026, and what moments stand out most in your memory?
HaneAme: Anime Expo has always been special to me, because within just a few days I really do get to meet people from all over the world. It feels a little like being inside a dream.
Every morning I wake up very early to do my makeup and get my wigs and costumes ready, and by the time the day ends my feet hurt so much that I barely want to walk. But then someone comes to see me holding a piece of work I made many years ago, or tells me, “I’ve been following you for a long time, and today I finally get to meet you” — and suddenly all of it feels worth it.
The moment I remember most isn’t one big, spectacular scene. It’s the way a fan stands in front of me, eyes shining, telling me something. That’s when it hits me that the work I spent so long preparing alone in my room really did find its way into someone else’s life.
Michael: You’ve attended Anime Expo a couple of times now. Did anything about this year’s event surprise you or feel different compared to your previous visit?
HaneAme: I come to Anime Expo in a slightly different frame of mind each time.
In the past I was probably more nervous. I was always worrying about whether my costume was perfect enough, whether the photos looked good, or whether I was living up to what people expected of me. This year I enjoyed the time I actually spent with everyone much more, and I was more willing to slow down, chat, and listen to fans share their own stories.
What surprised me was that many of them weren’t meeting me for the first time. I would recognize a familiar face or a familiar name, and some people would say, “I met you here last year too.” In that moment it stops feeling like we’re strangers who happen to cross paths once a year, and starts feeling like we’re friends who meet up again every so often.
Michael: Many fans look forward to seeing your new cosplay projects each year. Was there a particular costume or appearance at Anime Expo 2026 that you were especially excited to share with everyone?
HaneAme: I wore a different look each day, but my favorites were Ada from Resident Evil and Ahri from League of Legends.
I made both of those costumes specially for AX, and I found real satisfaction in reworking the details over and over. I was genuinely looking forward to standing in front of everyone in them.
I love it when fans notice the small things. Whenever someone spots that I changed a colour, an accessory or something in the makeup, I think to myself, “Wonderful — you really were looking closely.”
Michael: Meeting fans is a big part of attending conventions. Were there any memorable conversations or interactions with fans during Anime Expo that left a lasting impression on you?
HaneAme: One fan told me that a few years ago he had felt completely hopeless about his life, and that around that time he came across my Ane Naru Mono cosplay online.
He said, “When I saw your Ane Naru Mono cosplay, I thought — if such a beautiful girl is living her life this seriously, maybe I can pull myself together too?”
He told me he weighed around 100 kg back then, but after that he started going to the gym, and whenever he felt like giving up he would look at my cosplay again to keep himself going.
Years later, we met at AX 2026. He told me he’s healthy now, he’s even built muscle, and he’s about to have a girlfriend. He cried right there in front of me, and it shook me deeply. It turns out that my cosplay — the costumes I make alone in my room night after night — can actually change the direction of someone’s life.
For me, being able to leave a mark on someone’s life, and to grow alongside all of you, is the greatest gift I could ask for.
HaneAme on the Art of Bringing Characters to Life
Michael: Your cosplay photography is known not only for the costumes themselves, but also for its atmosphere and storytelling. When you begin planning a new project, what usually inspires you first: the character, the setting, or something else entirely?
HaneAme: The first thing that comes to me usually isn’t “which costume should I wear.” It’s an image, or a feeling.
It might be the character alone in her room, or the quiet right after a battle ends, or a side of her she wouldn’t easily let anyone see in the original work. Once that image appears, I start thinking about the setting, the lighting, the fabrics and the expression.
Showers are always when inspiration strikes. New images keep appearing in my head, and I end up stopping halfway through to grab my phone and write them down.
When people look at the photos, I don’t just want them to think, “That’s pretty.” I want them to find themselves imagining: so this is what this character would be like if she stepped into the real world.
Michael: Over the years, you’ve portrayed a wide variety of characters from anime, games, and original works. Has your approach to cosplay changed as you’ve gained more experience, or do you still approach each new character in much the same way as when you first started?
HaneAme: When I first started cosplaying, I cared most about whether I looked like the character. Now, I care more about whether I understand her.
I think about why she makes a certain expression, what she truly wants within her story, and how she would look at people if she came into the real world.
Skill and experience have definitely made me better at building costumes, controlling the image and organising a shoot. But when I’m working on a character I love, I’m still just as excited as I used to be. When I see a new character I like, I still save reference images endlessly, study the details, and lie in bed imagining how I could shoot her.
So I think I’ve changed a great deal — but that simple feeling of loving a character and wanting to become her, just once, has never changed at all.
Michael: Many people see only the finished photographs, but not the preparation behind them. When a new cosplay project is finally complete, what gives you the greatest sense of satisfaction?
HaneAme: The most rewarding moment is when the photograph finally lines up with the image I had in my head at the very beginning.
What most people see is the last few photos. Before that, there may have been several rounds of costume alterations, location scouting, prop building and test shoots. Sometimes we spend weeks preparing for a shot that only lasts a few seconds on screen.
By the time a shoot ends I’m usually exhausted, my wig is a mess, and the room is covered in clothes, tape and props. But when I sit down and go through the photos on the camera and find that I really did capture the one I had imagined, I can’t stop zooming in on it.
And then, once the work is published, when a fan notices the detail I put the most care into — that’s another kind of accomplishment entirely. It means the feeling I put into the work actually reached someone.
Connecting Through the Global Cosplay Community
Michael: Anime, games, and pop culture continue to connect people from many different countries. As someone who regularly meets fans around the world, what have you enjoyed most about seeing the international cosplay community continue to grow?
HaneAme: What I love most is that even when we speak different languages, we can understand each other instantly just because we love the same character.
Sometimes neither my English nor my Japanese — nor whatever language we’re trying — is perfect, and we end up using a translation app or gesturing at each other. But the moment we mention a series we both love, everyone’s face lights up.
I also really enjoy seeing creators from different countries reinterpret a character through their own culture and sense of beauty. There’s no single correct answer in cosplay. Everyone can have their own reading of a character and express it in their own way.
For me, the most precious thing about this community is that it gives people who live far apart — people who might otherwise never have met — a reason to walk towards each other.
Michael: Traveling internationally for conventions can be both exciting and demanding. Outside of the convention itself, do you enjoy exploring the local area, trying new food, or experiencing local culture whenever your schedule allows?
HaneAme: Honestly, I’m not very good at planning sightseeing.
During an event, life is usually a straight line between the hotel, the venue and the shoot location. Sometimes I’m so busy that I only realise late at night that I haven’t eaten, and I end up having delivery in my hotel room, or eating something from a convenience store with one hand while taking my wig apart with the other.
But whenever I do have time, I love trying local food, and I love wandering through supermarkets and convenience stores. Rather than making sure I visit the famous landmarks, I’d rather see what people eat day to day, what unfamiliar snacks are on the shelves, or take a short walk around the neighbourhood in the morning.
Those small, ordinary things make me feel like I’m not only here to work, but briefly living in the city.
HaneAme Looks Beyond Cosplay
Michael: Looking ahead, are there any upcoming cosplay projects, collaborations, or goals that you’re particularly excited about and would like fans to watch for?
HaneAme: Over the past few years, I’ve started turning my own creations into figures, dolls and models. When a character who only existed in a photograph or in my head becomes something you can actually hold in your hands and keep beside you, it moves me enormously. It’s as if the characters who have kept me company for so long have finally arrived in the real world.
In the future I’d also love to visit different game companies, step into the places where games are actually made, and film more documentary-style videos — showing everyone the parts of the process you don’t normally see behind a finished piece, and letting fans get to know the characters, the games and the creators’ stories alongside me.
Beyond that, I’m excited to try collaborations in more fields — games, figures, fashion, film, brand partnerships, or formats I’ve never attempted before.
I hope that the Hane Ame of the future isn’t only a cosplayer who puts on a character’s costume, but a creator who can build characters, make things, and connect different worlds together.
A lot of projects are still slowly coming together. Sometimes I sit in the studio adjusting the colour of a figure or one small expression on a doll over and over. It takes longer than I ever imagine — but I hope that when these things finally appear in front of you, you’ll feel: “I’ve been with her all along, and we built this world one step at a time.”
So please keep watching for what comes next. I’m looking forward to the day I can bring these new characters, collaborations and stories to you myself.
Michael: Finally, do you have a message you’d like to share with your fans around the world, especially everyone who came to meet you at Anime Expo 2026, and with the readers of Anime Diet?
HaneAme: Thank you to everyone who came to see me at Anime Expo 2026, and thank you just as much to those who couldn’t be there because of distance, work or anything else, but who have kept supporting me online.
I know that going to an event isn’t a simple thing. You may have travelled a long way, queued for a long time, and rehearsed what you wanted to say many times in your head before you reached me. So whenever someone steps up in front of me, I never think of it as just another ordinary meeting. (Although the truth is, I get nervous too — my hands shake and I get shy and awkward!)
I’ve been creating for many years, and there are times when I get tired, doubt myself, or want to stop for a while. But when I see you holding my older work, remembering something I once said, or telling me that a particular piece meant something to you, I remember all over again why I started.
We may only meet for a few minutes, but for me those meetings don’t disappear when the event ends.
Thank you for letting me do what I love for so long, and for letting a girl who used to sit alone in her room making costumes and imagining images share her world with so many people.
I hope that the next time we meet, I’ll be able to bring new work with me. And until then, please eat properly, rest properly, and take good care of yourselves.
See you next time.
[Editor’s note: All photographs in this article are courtesy of HaneAme.]
