If you love anime or manga it is natural to want to dress like characters from your favorite comics, and even pretend to be them. The Japanese characters always look cool and cute. Think of all those anime shows like "Naruto", "One Piece", and even "Yu-Gi-Oh!". If you want to look like the characters in those shows, read on.

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[edit] Steps

Look at your favorite characters and examine how they dress and how their personalities are reflected in how they dress. If your favorite character is Gaara from Naruto, then it probably wouldn't be a good idea to wear the gourd... It looks like an oversized peanut.
Consider your own personality and decide how you can change the way you look to show your inner self using the styles of your favorite characters.
Change your hair. Manga characters almost always have unusual hair, one primary way we can tell who they are. Consider some of the following options when considering a new cut:
- Make a statement with your hair. You should look unique.
- Try dying it colors like blonde, black, red, blue, pink, purple and orange.
- Keep your hair shiny and clean, and styled artistically.
- Keep your hair spiky or wild and messy.
Choose good clothing. Wear something that stands out and creates a statement that defines you. Look at anime characters to get ideas. Try the following ideas:
- What to you want to be like? The promiscuous anime girls like Faye of Cowboy Bebop? A stately looking person like Twighlight Sazuka on Outlaw Star? Crazy looking like Vash the Stampede from Trigun? Like wearing uniforms? Get some ideas from the Gundam Series.
- Wear belts, chains, leather, bright colors, or some sort of uniform. Don't go too far with this though, especially the belts and chains. You'll look like a clown player.
- Wear Asian inspired clothes, like a shirt designed like a little kimono. If you do martial arts, wear a gi. Then folks won't think you are ridiculous for going around in a gi.
- Wear some Japanese characters on you clothes. Paint some Japanese symbols on your T-shirts, or buy them with characters printed on them from the Internet.
- What you wear should be exciting and make a statement about you, not about your favorite character. After all, you'll be wearing the clothing, not them! When you go for a look, don't go overboard a little goes a long way when it comes to changing how you dress.
Find a toy weapon, a kunai, shuriken, katana, wakazahi, assault rifle, sniper rifle, or submachine gun to go with your outfit. In real life, carrying a 4 foot shuriken is illegal and can get you or someone else killed or in jail.
Be as healthy as possible. Since anime characters are drawings, their skin is always clear. Clear up your skin, groom yourself, exercise to get a skinny body or build up to look huge, like Goku. You're not an anime ink drawing, so be hot in real life to REAL people.
Be flamboyant! Wear some makeup to enhance your look, especially for parties and going out. Try Smoky eyeshadow or glitter at a party. Let your imagination run wild. If you are a guy, try eyeliner.
Consider getting some piercings.
Decide what anime character you want to be like and then emulate their personality to some degree. What to you want to be? An emo, quiet guy like Sasuke in Naruto, Hyper like Naruto, the strong girl like Utena Tenjou, or like her slave Anthy, are you crazy like Ryoko on Tenchi Universe? Want to be bishounen (those pretty boy, weird androgynous anime guys)?
Do other anime or manga related things. Most anime characters are working for some goal or something? Like Ash in Pokémon, Goku trains so hard when he has to beat the bad guy, or Kenshin the manslayer, or Utena Tenjou, she would stop at nothing to be the Prince that never came for her. That's cool. Find something to strive for. For example, take up Tae Kwon Do and work hard to be the best in the dojo. Be cool. Work hard, discipline yourself and don't give up on your goal. Whatever it is - being an honor student like Kudou Shinichi on Detective Conan who's really smart and a great soccer player, etc. Make it like an exciting adventure.
Wear big side pockets or back packs, preferably green, red or black colored. Anime characters often wear those (for example Ash and his green backpack). Don't just make them look manga, they should also BE manga and contain things that show more about your personality and your goal (like a notepad and pencils if you're a songwriter).

[edit] Tips

Anime and manga are cartoons, so it will be impossible to look exactly like your favorite characters as they are not real to begin with. You can suggest a certain look, but do not compare yourself to the cartoon characters as nobody can be that perfect.
You don't have to do all of this all at one time, you can choose to just change your hair, or wear some makeup at a party. It's not all or nothing.

[edit] Warnings

Never take a fake (or real) weapon to school or work.
Don't get too crazy with your hair like Goku's, for example.
Check with your parents before painting on your clothes.
DO NOT use Japanese words in normal conversation. You're just trying to suggest an anime character in your appearance, not make a full-blow transformation. Calling a puppy you see in a store window "Kawaii" will either confuse the people around you or make you seems silly. If you don't normally speak Japanese, stick to English.