Naruto Uzumaki Cosplay — Patara Ruins

Naruto Uzumaki cosplay — a female Naruto in the ruins of Patara

Naruto Uzumaki is the loud, stubborn ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village who wants to become Hokage, and the hero of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto. One of his very first jutsu turns him into a blonde girl with long twin tails — the form fans call Naruko. This gallery runs with that idea: a female Naruto with all the swagger kept, photographed on a bright day among the stone streets, columns and stairways of ancient Patara.

The costume

A golden-blonde wig with a fringe and two tails that reach past the knees. The Hidden Leaf forehead protector is worn as a headband over the fringe: black cloth with a blue-steel plate engraved with the Leaf symbol. A cropped jacket with black sleeves and yellow front panels carries the red Uzumaki spiral patch on the left sleeve, over a black crop top and fishnet. Three black grommet belts are stacked at the waist above a yellow pleated mini skirt, with fishnet tights and bare feet below. A white thigh wrap holds a black ninja pouch on the left leg, and the nails are painted orange.

Kunai and gestures

The prop is a black kunai with a red-wrapped handle — drawn from the thigh pouch, pressed to a cheek, raised to the forehead like a salute. Just as much of the character comes from the hands: V signs at the eyes, a palm shading the face from the sun, winks and wide grins. It is Naruto's energy rather than a solemn ninja pose.

The location

The set was shot in Patara, an ancient Lycian city on the southern coast of Turkey, under hard sun and a deep blue sky: weathered limestone blocks and stairways, a carved stone doorway, marble column bases standing in green grass, a colonnade reflected in still water, and a wooden boardwalk running past an ancient theatre. The yellow of the costume sits right on top of the warm stone and the blue sky.

The ten frames

The cover is a wink and a sideways V sign between the colonnade and the water. A quiet seated frame on a marble column base in the grass follows, then a low-angle salute with the kunai on an ancient stairway and a smile with a palm on the cheek in front of flowering yellow shrubs. By the water again, a hand shades the eyes from the sun. Then a double V sign on the wooden boardwalk with the theatre behind, an extreme low angle on a column base against pure blue sky, the kunai drawn from the thigh pouch in front of a stone doorway, a fist with the kunai against the cheek on sunlit steps, and a final wink with both palms on a marble block on the old paved street.

Related galleries

More cosplay shot on location: Inosuke Hashibira from Demon Slayer at Saklikent Gorge, Asuka Langley in a yellow dress at Himeji Castle, Frieren in the Kayaköy ghost town and Tifa Lockhart on the streets of Osaka. For another anime hero, see Kirito from Sword Art Online.