http://tancos.net/wp/2007/08/20/number-of-the-plushie-beast/ There's a fine line between kawaii and kowai Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:50:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 http://tancos.net/wp/2007/08/20/number-of-the-plushie-beast/#comment-137 Robin Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:22:41 +0000 http://tancos.net/wp/2007/08/20/number-of-the-plushie-beast/#comment-137 Lots of well-realized, well-executed costumes here. But a collection like this really drives home the point that anime costumes almost by nature aren't designed to look right on a normally proportioned human body. Almost the only ones that seemed to work on a real figure were the "school uniform" types, which might be because the anime designs are based on the look of uniforms worn by real Japanese schoolgirls, so they translate back to the human body with some integrity. Otherwise, though, most of the costumes seem to be wearing the cosplayers, rather than the cosplayers being able to carry them off as clothing (even fantasy clothing). It's not the fault of the costumers, but of the problem in translating from unnaturally proportioned anime figures. (Not to mention the difficulty in rendering in actual fabric a design that originally was painted with bright, flat colors.) Lots of well-realized, well-executed costumes here. But a collection like this really drives home the point that anime costumes almost by nature aren’t designed to look right on a normally proportioned human body. Almost the only ones that seemed to work on a real figure were the “school uniform” types, which might be because the anime designs are based on the look of uniforms worn by real Japanese schoolgirls, so they translate back to the human body with some integrity. Otherwise, though, most of the costumes seem to be wearing the cosplayers, rather than the cosplayers being able to carry them off as clothing (even fantasy clothing). It’s not the fault of the costumers, but of the problem in translating from unnaturally proportioned anime figures. (Not to mention the difficulty in rendering in actual fabric a design that originally was painted with bright, flat colors.)

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