She stands at the centre of the cosplay site, changing her pose several times a minute as thousands of cameras click rapidly.
Men and women alike jostle to get the best view of her and hopefully take the best image of Japan's most popular cosplayer.
She stands at the centre and for some reason, she not only commands attention but also holds power. People are at a safe distance, several metres away from the cosplayer.
冬コミ3日目はシノン(ソードアート・オンライン)のコスプレで一般参加してました！
寒い中撮影してくださった皆さん、ありがとうございました！ #C97 #コミケ97 pic.twitter.com/9DLhQR8nBa — えなこ@4日目南ア-01a (@enako_cos) December 30, 2019
"Thank you for shooting my photos despite the cold weather!"
The Enako Ring.
The phenomenon where thousands gather to take photos of this anime-like person has been dubbed the Enako Ring. Sometimes it's also called the Enako Wall.
Most recently, Japan held its largest biannual indie manga, anime, game, and cosplay convention, the Winter Comiket at Tokyo’s Big Sight.
Enako was one of the attractions as photographers circled around her and began taking pictures as she channeled Sinon from Sword Art Online. The cold weather did not deter these ardent fans from immortalizing their goddess.
In Japan, Enako is popular. So popular that she commands a whopping US$91,933 (more than 10 million Yen) a day whenever she dons her costume and goes into character.
So packed is the circle that many photographers typically come equipped with zoom lenses.
Multi-talented cosplayer.
The 25-year-old began cosplaying sometime in 2007. It was a friend who had suggested she cosplay after the anime characters from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Rozen Maiden.
She is a singer and a voice actress having lent voices to several anime characters over the years.
Ever since she started cosplaying, she has only gone on a hiatus just once for two years before making a return to cosplay numerous characters in 2015 while amassing a huge following on Twitter.
Cover image sourced from enako_cos / Twitter.
