[Cosplay] How I styled my Hajime wig

Hi everyone! I've gotten some questions on my cosplay posts on how I styled my wig, so I'm writing a tutorial for it! I'm going to generalize it a bit just in case you find it useful for other characters. Here's some pictures for reference while you read the guide: https://imgur.com/a/rzylWn7

Step 1:

Determine whether the spikes are consistent. Some character's hair is always consistent, no matter what. Think of Kingdom Hearts where the characters are 3D models and their hair are consistent. If this is the case, move on to step 2. For characters who are not consistent, like Hajime, Nagito, and a lot of other spiky bois in the series, it’s a bit more complex. Try to have an idea of how you want the wig to look before you start. Look at specific art where you like how the hair looks, how other cosplayers styled their wig, anything that helps you form a solid image of how you want it to look. I found it useful to identify a few specific spikes that are pretty consistent on Hajime, namely the front spikes around his forehead.

Step 2:

Reference, reference, reference. Get some reference photos, as with anything in art reference goes a loooong way. Use a photo mode if the game has it, take stills of the show, and look at concept art. For Danganronpa 2, the game has the character design sheets. I used this not only as wig reference, but also for the pin and tie. It's super helpful.

Step 3:

Once you have your wig ready to style, make sure it’s on the wig head/stand properly. Otherwise you may think you're spiking the top of it but are really making a unicorn horn spike (I can vouch from experience). Secure the wig to the stand. Now it’s time to spike! And by spike, I mean plan out the spikes. Planning out the spikes helps keep everything in order, and forces you to plan out every spike in advance. This helps to avoid situations where you don't evenly space the spikes, make a mistake and need to cover it up, ensure the really big spikes will have enough hair, etc. Use bobby pins and hair clips to make the sections, and comb it out before you put the pin in. I've also seen people use hair ties, but I didn't have an abundance of those laying around.

Step 4:

SPIKE! Now it’s time to start spiking. I encourage you to find your own rhythm when doing this, and test out what works and what doesn't. First remove the pin/hair clip and comb out the section of hair. I start by cutting the hair down to the size I want by cutting it parallel to the hair. It'll take awhile, but it lets you stop precisely where you want. The hair should be relatively the same length, with slight variations if the spike isn't going to stick straight out. Take the hair and form the spike with one hand. Take hairspray, ideally Got2B hairspray, and spray the spike lightly. If you use too much, the hairspray will weigh the spike down meaning it won't be so gravity defying. Once its dried, either by holding it in place or using a hairdryer on low, take some spiking glue (Got2B is the best choice again here) and form the tip of the spike. You don't need a lot, and the previous point of not-so-gravity-defying hair applies here. I like to twist the tip while pulling away to form the spike, but definitely experiment here on your own. After this, rinse, and repeat!

Some misc. points:

Depending on the size of the spike, you may need to tease and/or backcomb the section a couple of times to get it to really stand straight up. You may also be able to use a straight iron to get fluffy spikes, but I've never done this myself yet (and make sure the wig is heat resistant!) so I can't comment on exactly how to do it. Secondly, don't be afraid to wash the hairspray out and start over, but try to do a couple of spikes before you decide to reset to get practice and a better idea of what to do better. Lastly, I believe heat would work to curl spikes slightly, and I imagine that you can also hairspray one section, curl the spike in a new direction, hairspray it, rinse, and repeat. This should help you spike a truly hope-filled wig.

Thanks for reading! I know it’s a bit of a doozy at first, but with some practice you'll make an awesome wig! It took me a couple of tries and a unicorn horn or two to make something I'm happy with, and if I can do it with absolutely no hair styling experience you can too!