NAME OF CHARACTER: Lady Achika ANIME SERIES: Tenchi The Movie (Tenchi Muyo In Love) COSTUME STATUS: 100% made by Claudine Roselle Puente COSTUME DEBUT: Anime Expo 2003 DETAILS: When the Tenchi Muyo In Love movie first aired on the Sci-Fi Channel back in the summer of 1996, I thought it was the most beautiful movie I had ever seen at the time.  It was so great that I had to go to the nearest Suncoast to purchase the video and soundtrack.  If I had to choose a favorite Tenchi character besides Ryoko, I'd have to say Lady Achika.  Like Belldandy, she's beautiful, innocent, and pure.  So, why did I wait until now to cosplay as her?  Well, it all started when Mom and I were organizing my TV stand.  She saw the Tenchi Muyo In Love video cover with Lady Achika on the front, and asks, "have you ever thought about cosplaying as her?"  I said, "you know?  That's not a bad idea.  Maybe I will."  Also, now that I look at it, I'm practically the spitting image of her.  She has thick eyebrows like me, and her hair is long and dark... so is mine (although I need work on piling the hair really high). :p  As to the question why I chose the sailor fuku rather than the battle kimono... well, there are two reasons for that.  One, everytime someone cosplays as Lady Achika, they always choose the kimono.  There's more to Lady Achika than the battle kimono.  Two, I'm on a low budget.  Hey, it's better than having no new costume at all. For the top, I had absolutely no pattern.  Fortunately, I found one of my old school uniform blouses, and it still fits me perfectly. :)  I just copied the pattern from that.  As for the skirt, I didn't know if it was pleated all around, or if she only had a few pleats.  I had to watch the movie at least a couple of times to get it right.  In the end, she has two pleats in the front, and two pleats in the back.  I used the Butterick Pattern #3088 (Skirt C).  The skirt in reality is down to the ankles.  However, Lady Achika's skirt is just below the knee, so I had to shorten it.  Both the blouse and the skirt were made from 100% polyester, or as JoAnn Fabrics likes to refer to it as "Poly Poplins".  I found this fabric in the bargain section, which was $1.96 a yard. :)   Oh, one more note.  I finally taught myself how to make button holes with that whacked out sewing machine of mine; it came in handy for the cuffs. :)