Pokemon Designer Reacts to a Special ‘Sword and Shield’ Cosplay

Within the anime fandom, there is a joke which we all know well. Plenty of shojo anime has carried on the meme of “Notice Me, Senpai” since it cropped up on the Internet, and it has yet to go away. These days, if you can get your role model to look at you, then you are doing a good job. But for one cosplayer out there, they managed to get none other than Junichi Masuda to notice them and their Pokemon look online.

And yes, the fan is still alive and well. The shock didn’t take them out, and if anything, you can bet Masuda’s praise has only made their love for Pokemon even stronger.

Over on Twitter, the fan LERDC hit up followers to share their latest cosplay based on Pokemon Sword and Shield. The fan said the latest generation title inspired him to pick up cosplay, and his costume was impressive enough to warrant some love from Masuda.

“AMAZING,” the game director wrote, and his all caps speak for themselves. There is no denying that Masuda is a fan of the look, and Pokemon fans were quick to join in with the franchise icon in supporting LERDC.

Of course, you can see why Masuda’s praise would go a long ways. He is a video game designer for Pokemon, but he is best-known for being the franchise’s steward. Masuda has been part of Game Freak since 1998 which he helped found with Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori. The trio are often regarded as the real Pokemon Masters given their influence on the franchise, so it is no small feat earning his praise.

Clearly, TERDC and his love for Pokemon got through to the creator, and fans are glad to see Masuda engaging with the fandom. As Pokemon prepares to expand its eighth generation with DLC packs and its ongoing anime, it’s more than nice to hear from the designer every now and again.

Which one of Galar’s Pokemon would you be willing to cosplay as? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!