Cure Inc., the operator of “Curecos”, an online service enabling global COT tipping supports towards cosplayers and purchase of NFTs, and specialised cosplay news & information site “Curecos Plus”, organised “#MyBestCosplay2022” Contest to select the new heroine in the cosplay industry. We are pleased to announce that “Toriumi Kau” has been selected as the Grand Prix (Champion), with “Hitomin”, “Tefura Suzu”, “Tenbin Usagi” and “Kirara Nagiho” being ranked in the 2nd to the 5th place respectively.

The champion “Toriumi Kau” will be invited to appear as an advertisement model in cosplay magazine “COSPLAY MODE”, as well as the cover model on the pamphlet of the cosplay event “acosta!”. The champion and other winners will also be introduced in interview articles published on the specialised cosplay news & information site run by Curecos “Curecos Plus”.

What is “Curecos”?
“Curecos” is a platform allowing cosplayers to receive appreciation on their creative works and fans to support their cosplayers via tipping. Cosplayers can use their accounts as activity portfolios and upload their cosplay photos, and cosplayers can make use of the platform to discover new cosplayers and support cosplayers’ activities by Likes! and paid comments.

“Curecos #MyBestCosplay2022” was an event aiming to provide a stage for cosplayers’ activities and a new rendezvous with fans through “Curecos “.

Winners of #MyBestCosplay2022
■Champion　Toriumi Kau

Curecos Account：https://curecos.net/user/kau_xoxok
Twitter：https://twitter.com/kau_toriumi
Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/kau_toriumi


＜Winner’s comment＞
Hello, this is Toriumi Kau. Thank you for selecting me as the champion of the contest! I am very grateful for all who spent their time to support me…!
This is not my first time joining this kind of contest. I have been joining contests in various media, and I feel so blessed that every time there was someone there to support me and to enable me to attain good results. Same for medium in the form of paper, recording results in a tangible way allows everyone to retain good memories and it is great that everyone can retain these bits of good results.
I will continue to stay active in order to repay the tribute given to me by those supporting me. Please continue to support me in the year 2023!

■1st Runner-up　Hitomin

Curecos Account：https://curecos.net/user/usagi_hi12
Twitter：https://twitter.com/usagi_hi12
Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/hitomin_usagi12/

＜Winner’s comment＞
Thank you for selecting me as the 1st runner-up of Curecos My Best Cosplay 2022!
I am so surprised that I was selected as one of the winners.

It is my honour to receive this prize and I am very grateful.
I would also like to thank all who supported me.
To become my favourite anime character and to dress up in the costumes I like to make myself more attractive are perhaps the most enjoyable parts, but it was also a great encouragement to know that people are there to support me and that made me feel more blessed.

I would like to let more people enjoy my cosplay works and I will work hard to continue to improve the quality of my works and stay active.

■2nd Runner-up　Tefura Suzu

Curecos Account：https://curecos.net/user/tefura
Twitter：https://twitter.com/tefuran
Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/suzutefura_jpn/

＜Winner’s comment＞
First of all, I would like to thank all those who contributed their time to support me despite their busy year-end schedules, and those who got to know me via Curecos.
I also learnt a lot from other fantastic works during the contest period.
I started my cosplay life around 20 years ago and have been active around campaigns for regional revitalisations. Long before now other than copyrighted cosplays, I already had a similarly strong passion for original ones which once prompted me to carry a big mermaid tail to Okinawa for cosplay photo shooting there.
Looking back on the cosplay works I did in 2022, other than Curecos I also worked to a similar extent with local authorities and enterprises with original costumes. With all these memories in hindsight it was really a great honour to attain 3rd place in a contest held in the same year!
With this prize as encouragement, I will continue to work hard so please continue to support me!

■3nd Runner-up　Tenbin Usagi

Curecos Account：https://curecos.net/user/usagi_costep123
Twitter：https://twitter.com/Usagi_costep123

＜Winner’s comment＞
Thank you for selecting me at My Best Cosplay 2022 contest!
I did not expect to become one of the winners so I am overwhelmed with joy and surprised at the moment.
I would like to thank my photographer who took great pictures of my cosplay, my supporters and judges who gave me this opportunity.
From now on other than copyrighted cosplays, I will continue with my challenge to create original cosplays filled with elements I find interesting.
My activities on Twitter and Curecos may not be too frequent or conspicuous but I will continue to improve the quality of my cosplay works!
Please continue to support me.

■4th Runner-up　Kirara Nagiho

Curecos Account：https://curecos.net/user/xxx
Twitter：https://twitter.com/tNOELt
Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/nagiho121/

＜Winner’s comment＞
With everyone’s support I won the contest in 5th place! Thank you very much!
With original cosplays instead of using existing characters, I created my cosplay work wholly based on my desire to wear this kind of costume in order to become this kind of character.
I am so happy that someone appreciates my work.
I hope the popularity of original cosplays will continue to grow, and I hope the year 2023 will be a year of happy cosplay and Curecos for everyone!♪

Judges’ Comments
■ Mr. Taro Daimon, Chief Editor of Cosplay Magazin “COSPLAY M

＜Overall Comment＞
It was a hard job for the judges. I could see that all participants understood what they excelled at and utilised their strengths to express the personalities for their cosplays.
This is not an event with specific screening standards and the best way is to believe in how you express yourself. In addition to this, the five winners were able to turn themselves into characters. By promoting yourself as a character you can use that character to enjoy being another person. The champion Toriumi Kau excelled in this regard.
“Cosplay” is the abbreviation of “Costume Play” and people tend to focus only on the costume part. During the screening I tried to focus on the makeup part. Contrary to becoming the character yourself as mentioned previously, cosplayers have to transform themselves by putting up a different face and that is the fun part and charm of cosplays. The makeup skill of 3rd-runner up Tenbin Usagi was outstanding in terms of the transformation quality.
The diversity of cosplays is vast, and in this contest I evaluated all works based on these two criteria – the degree to which one has become a character and the degree to which one has transformed their faces. Every piece of work was splendid and this experience allowed me to get a glimpse of the potential of cosplays right at the start of a new year.

■acosta! Mr. Nishizawa

＜Overall Comment＞
I would like to thank all participants for joining My Best Cosplay 2022.
It was enjoyable to view various cosplay photos as many of the works consisted of high-quality costumes and some even allowed viewers to construe the stories behind from just one picture.
I had a hard time to choose which piece of work to vote for.
Please continue to stay active with cosplays and let the industry flourish in 2023!
Thank you.