My Hero Academia Cosplay Proves Lady Nagant is MHA’s Best New Hero

Kaina Tsutsumi (hero name Lady Nagant) is one of the most recent characters to make their debut in the hit manga My Hero Academia, and she immediately left a huge impression on fans. Cosplayer Stardust (II.vi.II on Instagram) gave a perfect rendition of Lady Nagant, accompanying it with a very personal and heartfelt message.

Lady Nagant is one of the main antagonists in the Tartarus Escapees Arc. She was hired by the villain All for One to track and capture Izuku Midoriya (Deku) during the time he was carrying his solitary crusade to capture all the escapees from the Tartarus prison. Kaina is, in fact, a former Pro Hero. As a young girl with great talent, she was hired by the Hero Public Safety Commission to secretly dispose of troublesome villains and heroes who were abusing their power. The Commission took advantage of her quirk (Rifle) and her unparalleled sniper skills, but also of young Kaina’s optimism and sense of justice. After many years of non-stop murders, Lady Nagant snapped and killed the president of the Commission, ending up in Tartarus, where All for One found her.

As a professional assassin with an incredibly dangerous quirk and many years of experience, Lady Nagant was one of the hardest opponents Deku ever faced, and he had to make good use of all the powers granted by his One for All quirk to best her. The confrontation between the two is not just a physical one: Izuku manages to break through Kaina’s disillusionment with hero society, which she considers founded on lies and hypocrisy. Just as she is about to switch to the heroes’ side, however, Lady Nagant is killed by an explosion, as All For One had placed a self-destruct Quirk within her in case she failed her mission or tried to turn on him. Despite her short tenure in the manga, Kaina’s tragic story managed to leave a long-lasting impression on fans, as proved by Stardut’s amazing cosplay.

Besides the great attention to the costume’s details, this cosplay managed to perfectly reproduce Lady Nagant’s quirk that allows turning her whole arm into a precision rifle. The building in the back of the photo is also a nice reference to the location of Lady Nagant’s and Deku’s fight. What leaves the strongest impression, however, is the message left by Stardust. She praises Lady Nagant, citing her as another strong female character that Kohei Horikoshi created for his manga. The best cosplays are always the result of some form of connection between the cosplayer and the character represented, and this is obviously the case.

For Stardust, as well as for many other fans,  My Hero Academia means a lot more than a simple manga or anime, as they find comfort and hope in this form of entertainment.

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