My Acting Skills Improved After Crossing Over in Cosplay

Four cosplayers obsessed with tragic characters had just finished attending an anime convention in Tokyo when they transmigrated on their way to find a restaurant.

In exchange for getting home, the cosplayers must, with the System’s help, create a new anime series at a certain citadel. It’s called Touken Ranbu: The Human Chronicles, and they are to play the final big bosses who will be defeated, as well as the darkness lurking beside the protagonist, the Saniwa.

Fake Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, the company president, rubbed his chin. “My acting is terrible. Anyway, I need to find a good reason to turn evil.”

.

One of the swords who manifested in the citadel’s early days, the young man draped in white cloth spoke in a low voice. “As a replica sword, I don’t expect anyone to love me.”

Gokotai, found on the battlefield, leaned against the replica sword beneath the Thousand-Leaved Cherry Tree in the still of the night. “Master, Lord Yamanbagiri is lonely.”

A darkened sword brought back to the citadel and welcomed into the ranks, Tsurumaru Kuninaga dyed his hair white one day and told them, “A crane won’t be bound by the past. Anyway, think of it as a surprise!”

And Yamatonokami Yasusada, one of the Shinsengumi swords who seemed perfectly normal, had a blazing fire and cherry blossoms falling like flowing water hidden in his eyes. “Kiyomitsu, I miss Okita so very much.”

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A Saniwa from a declining family of onmyoji joined a newly launched program by the Time Government, dispatching swords to explore and investigate other worlds. Life in the citadel was long and peaceful, and he thought that time would gently smooth everything over.

But when the beautiful illusion shattered, everyone in the citadel discovered that the seemingly gloomy, withdrawn Yamanbagiri was actually the leader of the rebellion. This silent, shy, reserved, and insecure tsukumogami could also wear an expression of scorn and mockery, revealing a cold malice.

The Saniwa realized too late: that wasn’t “Yamanbagiri.” What was the “alteration” Foxy had described when Yamanbagiri first manifested, supposedly a harmless change brought about by the tsukumogami’s own experiences? What had he encountered on his unknown journey that made him this way? So cold, cruel, resolute, and skilled at disguise.

“I want to seek my own heart, to no longer be bound by anything, and to pursue the freedom that belongs to humans.”

Tsurumaru, who had thought he’d already overcome his pain and come to regard the citadel as “home,” laughed heartily and stepped forward with his sword drawn. “Yamanbagiri, Tsurumaru is coming too!”

The black-haired, blue-eyed boy knocked away his companion’s hand and shouted, “So we can have a future of our own!”

The petite, white-haired child quietly stood behind the three, took hold of the corner of Yamanbagiri’s white cloth, and smiled without a word.

The Saniwa and Time Government officials followed them into another world. The good-for-nothing onmyoji and his swords, his companions, began creating a story of their own.

A hot-blooded shonen tale from a certain citadel was about to begin.

* The premise is staying the same, but I may revise the blurb. I’m not very satisfied with it.

* This is a similar but different idea to the one next door (not really). It’s a clichéd cosplayer transmigration story. The characters won’t act like their original selves, and Fake Yamanbagiri is the protagonist.

* I’ll go into a little detail about the cosplayers’ real-life experiences. The swords will have clichéd misunderstandings and mistaken assumptions.

* There will be scenes of people in a fake real world watching events, mostly on forums. There should be quite a few of them.

* The other worlds are from other anime. For now, I’m planning on Detective Conan, Bungo Stray Dogs, and Jujutsu Kaisen.

* I’ve recently returned to my old Touken Ranbu obsession. I quit the game a long time ago, and I’m pretty casual, so I basically don’t know the new swords. I’ll probably only write about some of the older sword boys.

* Lots of original interpretations, major out-of-character moments, terrible writing, and I’ll write whatever comes to mind.

Theme: Pursuing the heart and freedom