A cosplayer at Anime NYC has managed to bring One Piece's shipbuilding cyborg Franky to life in an incredibly inventive cosplay. Anime NYC is an annual convention held in New York City where anime and manga fans can gather to discuss and honor some of their favorite series. This includes dressing up as some of their favorite characters in costumes that are often very impressively detailed. This cosplayer’s outfit definitely fits that bill.
One Piece by Eiichiro Oda is a manga following the pirate Monkey D. Luffy as he attempts to become the King of the Pirates. Along the way, he assembles a diverse crew to accompany him. Luffy’s relationship with his crewmates is one of the most beloved parts of the series and the crew contains many fan-favorite characters like the swordsman Zoro and the navigator Nami. Franky is the shipwright of that crew, who also happens to be a cyborg who runs on cola. His design plays up the absurdity of this premise, as he has a metal nose and large mechanical forearms. While this design is very cool and distinctive, its quirks make him a very difficult character to cosplay.
A Reddit post by user girl-who-waves-hands shows two images of the cosplayer CallHerSensei dressed as the character at Anime NYC, wearing their iconic Hawaiian shirt and speedo and with a pair of bulging forearms and fists to boot. The text of the reddit post reads “SUUUPER! Franky from One Piece” referencing the character’s catchphrase. It also features CallHerSensei posing in Franky’s most iconic pose, leaning to the side with their fists raised.
Part of the reason why the cosplay is so impressive is due to the accurate depiction of Franky’s massive arms. In the manga, Franky can use these arms to perform various attacks. For instance, by bringing his arms together he can fire powerful gusts of air in his “Coup de Vent” attack. He can also detach his right fist and launch it towards his enemies in a powerful punch. In the comments section of the Reddit post, girl-who-waves-hands says they're working on a “weapons left” set of fists that may be detachable like in the manga. So one of her future cosplays may potentially be able to replicate some of Franky’s powerful moves.
This Franky cosplay is an impressive feat that shows real devotion to bringing the character to life. The amount of work it must have taken to create this SUUUPER cosplay shows how much One Piece fans love the series and its characters, and hopefully even more technically proficient Franky costumes will follow.