Check Out the Sly Beauty of this Ibuki Cosplay
Ibuki is a kunoichi, aka female ninja, in the internationally popular and culturally iconic Street Fighter series. She lives in a secluded village composed entirely of ninjas, where she has been training since childhood. Ibuki is a powerful ninja, but she gets tired of the routine of daily training. After doing the same thing for years, she wishes to attend a regular school and live like a normal schoolgirl. Her ideal occupation isn’t to be a ninja. Instead, surprisingly enough she’d rather be a news reporter.
Unlike most female characters in Street Fighter, and in similar genre games, Ibuki’s costume is less glamorous and revealing, and more of a traditional type of ninja dogi. In keeping with her desire to be a regular girl, Ibuki states on several occasions that she finds her ninja garments to be ugly, and her daily training ‘strange’. She’s also has a notable interest in boys. In several of her win quotes in Super Street Fighter IV, she evaluates her opponents based on their looks, behavior, and clothing, as well as their fighting performance. She’s definitely badass, but maybe just a touch shallow. That’s not to say she isn’t awesome. Ibuki has become one of the most popular female Street Fighter characters, and is regarded by some critics and games writers as one of the top ninja characters in gaming.
Ibuki and Elena were the lone females in the Street Fighter III sub-series, until they were joined by Chun-Li and Makoto in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. After a few appearances in other games, Ibuki returned to the series in Super Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter x Tekken. She also even received her own comic book mini-series.
Ibuki’s fighting style is characterized by speed and agility. Several of her special moves are useful in both close distance and evading her foe and their oncoming attacks. Other specials require excellent timing and aim to actually connect with her opponent. This means that the player must be very controlled and have above average reflexes to be effective with Ibuki. Anyone can play her, but it’s takes an especially adept gamer to play her well.
Iris Afasia has put together a killer Ibuki cosplay. It’s nice to see a talented cosplayer take on a costume that isn’t as bright or flashy as others in the Street Figher series and really make it pop. There’s a lot of excellent work here. Iris has the costume, hair, and attitude down pat. And she does some magnificent work in front of the camera. We applaud Iris and her photographers for bringing Ibuki to life in such a fantastic set of pictures. In some photos, she looks tough, capable, and fierce. In others, you see a hint of the vulnerable teenage girl in her pose and expression. Whether in repose or ready to fight, this is a ninja who’s more than able to take you down.
Photography by Massimo Todisco
