Kara Dennison
October 31, 2022 
We love dressing up for any reason—and no reason—but some of the most creative costumes we’ve ever seen are mundane by design. That’s right, Jimi Halloween is back, with even more low-key relatable cosplay.
Low-key doesn’t necessarily mean low-effort, though. Whether it’s in terms of construction, accuracy, or overall cleverness, these costumes definitely took some effort. And it’s all because the folks at Daily Portal Z had a wild idea back in 2014.
Just Normal Things
Jimi Halloween came about because the folks at Daily Portal Z wanted to engage in the festivities, but felt awkward about going out in typical costumes. Thus, this new tradition was born. Rather than sporting elaborate, stand-out costumes, the grown-up attendees of the annual event wear costumes based on more standard attire. This doesn’t mean they’re uncreative; if anything, these merrymakers have to get extra creative to be recognized.
Some costumes are just relatable things you can recognize at a glance. Some of our favorites this year include the three above: someone having an idea, an AI portrait of a person, and… Street View. You’ll also see lots of references to advertisements and viral photos, many recreated with picture-perfect accuracy.
The Big Screen
Pop culture characters have become a major cross-section of Halloween costumes, and that’s no different here. From specific roles to tropes, many attendees turned out as recognizable characters.
A couple we especially liked are “the pointing guy from the cursed tape in The Ring” and Adrian from Rocky. In terms of recognizable tropes, there’s “random character who shows up in an early scene to demonstrate that you turn into a zombie when you get bitten.” There were plenty of other TV and movie references scattered throughout the event, too. Many were several layers deep, referencing candid camera series and talent segments on Japanese TV. But, of course…
Fandom
This is Otaku USA, after all, so it would be wrong to leave out these fan-adjacent Halloween treats!
The most relevant costume of the year goes to the participant on the left, dressed as YouTuber Tarue Totsugeki. (That’s the guy who threw 1,000 karate punches a day until the Hunter x Hunter manga came back.) There were plenty of other clever ideas alongside him. Check out “Avatar who only got one SSR item in the gacha” (center) and “One Piece background character” (right).
You can see all this year’s costumes on the Daily Portal Z Twitter account. Which are your favorites?
In the mood for a scare? Here are more Magic: the Gathering cards we think Junji Ito should redraw.
