What exactly have I gotten myself into?

[gurdymonkey]

bovil's  recent journal entry pegs Costume Con pre-registration at over 600 attendees. I'm on the official schedule grid for Sunday 10 AM. Is it time to start panicking yet?

This is not going to be like the average SCA class where I get anywhere from two to ten people - if I'm really lucky. It's not even going to be like Known World Costuming & Rattan, where I got twenty or so for the sideless surcote class. This is a convention for costuming. SCA attendees are only part of the equation. Instead of a tiny SCA-Japanese niche, I expect to see attendees from the anime/manga/cosplay part of the spectrum, and I could get quite a lot of them.

Here's the thing. I don't know jack about anime. I'm not into it, it's never really grabbed me.

OK, I have actually done some homework when it comes to historical Japanese clothing or I wouldn't have let myself be roped into this gig, but anime? Only this afternoon someone posted a question about a "hime-cut" to Immortal Geisha. I scratched my head and went a Googlin'. (Which is not, praise John Fogarty, the same as Chooglin'.) Please compare the following:

Bangs???? Hime don' wear no BANGS! Sidelocks yes, but bangs?

It's my understanding that the character is supposed to be a miko (Shinto shrine maiden). The woman on the right actually is one and her vestments have their origin in Heian women's underwear, which later became fashionable as outerwear during the Kamakura period (see scroll drawing at far left).  The toon is also wearing hitatare instead of a kosode: note the artistically flying strings at the lapels and the drawstrings in her billowingly not-kosode-sleeves.

This is a bucket of freshly caught squid I just cannot embroil myself in during the presentation.  If someone asks me for an opinion about what some toon in some series is wearing, I'm going to have to say, "Sorry, I'm not a fan, I can't comment without having seen it." Well, shucky darn. Or should I say, shigata ga nai.
 

Comments

Shoganai, ne...

[eleryth.livejournal.com]

Most anime is "this looks pretty", and they don't bother to be historically (or currently) accurate. Inuyasha (which I haven't watched) is about a girl who "falls down a well" and "time travels" to "ancient Japan", where it's found that she's the reincarnation of the miko who sealed the dog demon (the white-haired boy) - so that's why I think it's a mix of styles (they depict Inuyasha's mother in an approximation of juunihitoe).

Either way, saying "I don't follow anime, and I can't comment without having seen the show" is perfectly fine. You can also add that disclaimer at the very beginning of your panel as well. It's also ok to add that "anime isn't necessarily historically accurate, so your mileage may vary". The anime costumers you'll probably have will not be the screaming, rabid fangirly type (unless it's about costumes) associated with many anime fans, as Costume Con is expensive and more focused on costuming and not anime, which weeds out the little rabid kiddies who think they know a lot about favorite show from TV, but don't really.

As for a "hime cut" currently, it mostly means just the sidelocks, not the lack of bangs, which, in my opinion, can look pretty cute. I know it's not historically accurate, but I think that's what it's referred to in "fashion" (I use the term loosely, as I haven't researched it at all). Might have started as a type of pop culture or anime reference, I have no idea.