If it's Tuesday, you must be Kitsune..... Part 3

[gurdymonkey]

It was inevitable. Once I put up web pages on Japanese historical dress, I knew I was gonna get 'em.

Anime fans. Otaku. Cosplayers. People from a subculture that is alien to me, O My Readers.

Perhaps it's generational. I generally don't care for anime. We got dribs and drabs of it when I was still of an age to watch cartoons on weekends and I never felt particularly inspired by "Speed Racer" or "Marine Boy." I liked "Spirited Away" based on its subject matter, not on its animation art. "Tokyo Godfathers" turned out to be a pleasant surprise, but honestly, most of it just leaves me stone cold.

It was right around this time last year that I received an inquiry from a young lady who was trying to research and re-create a costume. The way she oh so carefully phrased her introductory email to me made me ask, "Is this a cosplay thing?" Sure enough a character from some manga/anime was the subject. I warned her that I didn't particularly care for anime so she would have to accept ignorance of the character/story/series as well as some possible bias on my part. That said, I agreed to look at the images she furnished and see if we could figure out what was going on sartorially for the character in question.

I can hear the gnashing of teeth and I know exactly who you are, so knock it off. You know what? She posed intelligent questions. Her approach was identical to the process examining a portrait for a historical costuming project: what do these images tell us about what this man is wearing.
 
We  managed to identify some of the design motifs on Angry Bearded Guy's Pink Flowered  Bathrobe.  We discussed dyeing techniques that would achieve a gradient pale-to-darker effect on a garment. We ultimately concluded that the creator of the manga was having his fans on because he knew some of them would try to cosplay the character. Basically he took a married woman's irotomesode (a type of kimono with decoration around the hem) stuck the decoration around the shoulders instead, and put it on a male character.

Why did I get involved?

She asked nicely.  Really, that's all it takes.

I get all kinds, O My Readers. I get people from other countries apologizing for their "bad" English - which, BTW, is usually quite functional. I get SCA folks. I get moms whose kids want to be Inuyasha for Halloween. I get the cosplayers. I got the guy who wrote "Marry me!" after I answered an email about attaching a collar to a kosode. I got the guy whose question was so vague I had to write back and ask him to explain what it was he was actually trying to ask me.

Because it takes all kinds.

Comments

[moonflake1978.livejournal.com]

LMAO, what about sca'ers that enjoy Cosplay? I have never been to an anime-con but I really want to :) I personally enjoy Devil Hunter Yoko, Ghost in a shell, etc. etc. I could keep going but it would be moot. I personally have always felt a love for the Japanese culture, so manga is humorous to me. I loved Spirited away and still want to buy it. I am very interested in becoming as historical accurate as possible so, any advice you were willing to lend would be highly appreciated. (see? I'm asking nice;) Also, any tips on where to look for accurate history?

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Is there a particular period you are interested in?

Pierre Souryi's "The World Turned Upside Down" is a pretty good overview of Japanese history from the end of the Heian period in the 1100's up to the battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

If you like manga, you may find emakimono (picture scrolls) interesting. Some depict historical events: http://www.bowdoin.edu/mongol-scrolls/
http://learn.bowdoin.edu/heijiscroll/

Others can be about religious subjects:
http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/kitanomaki/kitano_viewing.asp

Or romances:
http://miho.jp/booth/html/imgbig/00008560e.htm

Or humor:
http://www.kokingumi.com/ChojuGiga/index.html

[moonflake1978.livejournal.com]

The Heian Era is what I am interested in. Thank you for the links, I will take a look at them when I have a bit more time :).

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Ivan Morris' "The World of the Shining Prince" talks about everyday life among the Good People of the Imperial Court. I refer to this one again and again. It's really useful.

Morris' translation of "The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon" is also an excellent read. Sei-hime is catty, opinionated and pulls no punches. It's like trading gossip with a neighbor.

There are other diaries from the period, including "The Diary of Lady Murasaki," "The Gossamer Years" and "As I Crossed A Bridge of Dreams."

[moonflake1978.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much :)

[kproche.livejournal.com]

This is one of the reasons I like you :-)

I wander into cosplay.com and answer questions there every so often, since I've been corrupting various and sundry techniques to my nefarious ends for 40 years now, and can often suggest things the cosplayers might not have even considered.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

And here I thought it was 'cause I could hold my sake. ;-D

[kproche.livejournal.com]

Well, technically, 'cause you could hold *our* sake which you so magnanimously helped us demolish :-)

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Which YOU so magnanimously kept pouring.

[bovil.livejournal.com]

Cosplay is all about recreation. It's much like SCA costuming; you've got the "attempt" people and the half-assed I-don't-really-care people. The attempt side varies between people going for the 10' rule and the folks who want every design detail to match to scale.

On the upside, you've got the fact that the basic structure of wafuku hasn't changed in over a millennium. On the downside you've got the fact that most historical anime is historical fantasy, and it's created by manga artists who aren't costume historians or anthropologists, so they're winging it and designing based on abstract concepts rather than real examples.

I caught an episode of Samurai Champloo the other night (it was on and I was fiddling with a computer). Its Edo-period settings and designs were remarkably good, even if the characters' behavior is totally modern.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

You guys are just gonna LAUGH at me this April when I get to Costume Con and have no clue what to do, aren't you?

[kproche.livejournal.com]

Do? Do? DO!!???!!!

I hope you're going to be so excited by all the things to check out that you'll get dizzy deciding what to do :-)

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Who died and made you Sting?

[kproche.livejournal.com]

It's the whole Chair thing.

Expectations are that the Marketing Juggernaut infection will start to fade around May 1. :-)

[bovil.livejournal.com]

You'll meet up with a bunch of great SCAdians you didn't expect to see there and they'll help you acclimate. Trust me.

[czina.livejournal.com]

Heh - now if you wear THE HAT (the one that can second as a dayshade) - just stand there: I'm sure people will come to YOU!

[kass-rants.livejournal.com]

For the record, I've helped tons of cosplayers make costumes for their activities. I've even helped people analyze the costume in a screen grab from a video game. You're right -- it's not different from analyzing a historical painting. That's my favourite part!

It's only the people who swear up one side and down the other that they want to be historical and then want to wear fox ears that piss me off. Or the rude ones.

[momstable.livejournal.com]

From the mom whose kid was Inyuyasha for Halloween, Thank You. And he loved it. Which means if you want any anime or manga explained...the 10 year old (almost) owes you one.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Of course he loved it. Reminds me, I MUST get those teeny Maythen hakama and kimono to you for him to try. And return your belt.