One of the most popular anime shows today, One-Punch Man has plenty of characters that are cosplay-worthy. If you like going to cosplay events, you’ve probably seen various iterations of the different characters from the show. Some are good, some are passable, and others simply look like a joke.
But the ones on this list are a different story. In fact, they’re on a different level. These cosplayers have exerted a tremendous amount of effort (and possibly money) into looking like the best real-life version of One-Punch Man characters. Without further ado, here are 10 of the best One-Punch Man cosplays.
10 Female Saitama by Anna Lynn
Who knew that Saitama would look fantastic as a woman? Credits to northern California cosplayer Anna Lynn for making this happen. Imagine if Saitama was actually a female character—that would’ve been very interesting.
Anna Lynn started cosplaying at Anime Expo 2013 and has since cosplayed Albedo, Saber in a swimsuit, Princess Zelda, Yaoyorozu Momo, even our favorite fast food sassy icon Wendy, female Naruto, Princess Peach, and many more. The photo on the left is by Kitten Cabada Photography while the one on the right is by David “DTJAAAAM” Ngo.
9 Terrible Tornado (Tatsumaki) by Misa
Sometimes it can be really hard to figure out how to pull off cosplaying certain characters, especially if you have no physical similarities with the character. But some are lucky enough to cosplay characters whom they have a striking resemblance to. Take, for example Taiwanese cosplayer Misa Chiang, who did an excellent job cosplaying Tatsumaki a.k.a. Terrible Tornado.
Or maybe it has nothing to do with her resemblance to her. Maybe it’s pure talent—after all, she is kind of a big deal in the cosplay industry. She’s been invited as a guest of honor to cosplay events worldwide and has over 620,000 followers on both Facebook and Instagram.
8 Speed-o'-Sound Sonic by Soyo
Korean cosplayer Soyo joins the ranks of female cosplayers cosplaying male characters. If you think about it, a lot of male anime characters look very feminine, so it’s really no wonder female cosplayers often cosplay them and sometimes do a better job at it than their male counterparts.
Here, Soyo is cosplaying Speed-o'-Sound Sonic and rocking it. Sure, it helps to have a professional photographer with godly Photoshop skills, but it’s not the only thing that makes this cosplay look really cool. The costume is nothing short of amazing and her poses are very Sonic-like.
7 Saitama by Elffi
You don’t only need a well-made, elaborate and accurate costume to be a good cosplayer. You also need to look like the character you’re cosplaying—from your physique down to your facial expressions. And cosplayer Elffi from Finland really has those, as well as everything else, down pat.
The guy is also ripped in real life, which makes his cosplays even more convincing. Elffi has over 71,000 followers on Facebook and has cosplayed plenty of notable characters, including Trafalgar Law, Aang, Sinbad, Ichigo Kurosaki, Asahi from Haikyuu!, Gildarts from Fairy Tail, and Kagami Taiga from Kuroko’s Basketball.
6 Genos by Gesha
There are a lot of good One-Punch Man cosplays out there, so it’s kind of hard to decide on which ones are the best. But Russia’s very own Gesha Petrovich takes the cake with his Genos cosplay.
We always tend to appreciate cosplayers who put a lot of time and effort into incorporating lights in their costume. It doesn’t sound that easy and it’s always very exciting to see costumes lighting up. Not only that, but he also has Genos’ signature serious and aloof look. And whatever he did with his cheek to look like that, whether it’s makeup or Photoshop, is legit.
5 Mumen Rider by Luc
Mumen Rider is such a great character. He may not be one of the most powerful characters in the show, but his dedication to saving others is very commendable. It’s uplifting to see that he’s being properly represented in the cosplay community, especially by someone who’s notable for wearing costumes that look like the real deal.
Californian cosplayer Luc Luzzo wears some stunning superhero costumes. It’s almost impossible to believe they’re not the real thing. He’s cosplayed Spider-Man, the Flash, Captain Marvel, Nightwing, Deadpool, Green Lantern, My Hero Academia’s Bakugo and Dekku, and many more.
4 Silverfang (Bang)
Cosplay photographer DTJAAAAM takes some pretty amazing photos, but you also have to give some credit to Twitter user @MizunoHadouken for pulling off such a convincing cosplay of Silverfang. Unless it’s a parody, it’s always better when muscular characters are cosplayed by muscular cosplayers.
And since @MizunoHadouken is much younger than Bang, who’s supposed to be 81, he really had to depend on some good old makeup to recreate those wrinkles. These, as well as Bang’s ridiculous-looking wig, eyebrows, and mustache, really make this cosplay fun to look at.
3 Atomic Samurai by ButT
This South Korean cosplayer’s Atomic Samurai cosplay looks totally epic. She looks exactly like what a real samurai would’ve looked like. If you’ve seen even just one Japanese samurai movie, you know that her facial expression is on-point.
It’s been really hard to find any information about her, except that her nickname seems to be ButT. Apart from Atomic Samurai, she has cosplayed Slam Dunk’s Mitsui, Klaus Von Reinherz from Blood Blockade Battlefront, Daichi Sawamura from Haikyuu!, Thor (surprisingly), and DC Comics’ Bane.
2 Genos by Reika
Another fantastic Genos cosplay is this one by Japanese cosplayer Reika. So the lights are obviously a big plus and the wig is just perfect, but what really makes Reika rock this cosplay is her face. She looks exactly like him. It’s almost as if she were born to cosplay male characters.
If you look at her Facebook or Instagram profile, you’ll see that her cosplay of My Hero Academia’s Todoroki is just as impressive. Her tendency to cosplay male characters has confused many people as well. Some fans actually ask about her gender in the comments section of her photos. She’s that good.
1 Terrible Tornado (Tatsumaki) by Eki Holic
South Korean Eki Holic’s Tatsumaki cosplay may not be as good as Misa Chiang’s, but she comes really close, and her cosplay is definitely the second-best we’ve seen yet. If you look at her Facebook and Instagram profiles, you’ll see plenty of her magnificent cosplays. They’re so good it’s almost like the characters themselves have been brought to life.
And it helps that she’s absolutely gorgeous—it makes it easier for her to pull off our favorite characters. With her good looks, she might as well have been a Korean pop idol.