Francesca Dani
Encyclopedia
Francesca Aurora Dani is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) is an Italian cosplay
Cosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
er, net idol
Net idol
A Net Idol is a Japanese term that is someone who achieves celebrity status through the internet. Unlike an Internet celebrity, a net idol is more focused on Japanese pop culture.-History:...
and model.
Career
Dani began her cosplay career after entering a contest while she was under age as Sailor Moon. Her website, launched in October 1998, turned into a pay websiteWebsite
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
on 14 April 2002. The website features short videos and thousands of photographs depicting her posing in various risque outfits. Swimsuits, lingerie, and other fetish outfits. From April 2002 to September 2005 she modeled for an American paysite called Varietease, but in October 2005 she left the site for her own paysite under the domain francescadani.com. She won the World Cosplay Summit. She became known in Japan during an appearance on Sekai Marumie on 25 December 2002, directed by Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
. NTV
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...
staff crew chose her for a special live interview because of her status as an international cosplayer. In April 2005 she was chosen as a spokesmodel for Bodyline, a Japanese manufacturer of Gothic and Lolita dresses. Francesca's photos appeared on Bodyline packages. At the end of 2005, Livedoor
Livedoor
is an Internet service provider based in Tokyo, Japan, that runs a web portal and numerous other businesses. The company was founded and led in its first 10 years by Takafumi Horie, known as "Horiemon" in Japan...
, an Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
based in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, started selling Francesca's digital photo-books at DL-Site, a pay-per-download website. Francesca has appeared in dozens in magazines around the world, most notably for Maxim (Mexico) who hailed her as "¡La cosplayer más popular en la web!" ("The most popular cosplayer on the web!")