Tag Archives: t-shirt

Beyond the T-Shirt: Otaku Apparel, or Lack Thereof

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The stereotypical image of an otaku is an overweight or underweight person wearing a t-shirt sporting an anime character on the front and possibly the back. Pants-wise, he’s wearing some kind of jeans or shorts or something. Maybe this is draped in a beat up black trenchcoat in an attempt to look cool. Otaku tend not to be known as very fashionable people unless they’re in the midde of cosplay. One look at anime-themed clothing however, and you begin to realize that it’s pretty much all t-shirts. I think the problem lies not with the otaku’s lack of fashion sense, but simply the fact that there is not enough variety in clothing for otaku to proudly display their fandom.

Uniqlo, with its Shounen Sunday 50th Anniversary, and the recent Pokemon 151, have both been attempts to push this kind of geek apparel into higher fashion, but in the end they’re still t-shirts. You also have the clothes which only vaguely hint at their relationship to anime, and those are fine for what they are, be they from Hot Topic or a super nice Eureka Seven t-shirt (seriously I love those). What I want to see though is clothing that clearly shows its anime roots that can be worn for different sorts of occasions and for different effects.

Why not some polo anime shirts? Why not pull the anime logos and character away from the shirt and towards the pants and skirts and dresses? Then, change up the types of pants. Why not have pair of capris pants with Kenshin on the side or something, for you Hitokiri Battousai fans? Rather than having a Lucky Star t-shirt with a school swimsuit on it, why not have a vest which when buttoned up resembles that swimsuit? You have the Hello Kitty business suit, but why not the Golgo 13 business suit, made to look just like Mr. Togo’s?

I have no intention to hate on the anime t-shirt. I simply lament the sad and lonely state of its existence. If only some kind-hearted designer would take its proverbial rib and create for it an Anime-Clothing Eve, all would be well.

And no, the shoulder bag is not Anime-Clothing Eve.

Even Mewtwo Understands the Principles of Good T-Shirt Design

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Nintendo has announced plans to release Pokemon t-shirts for adults under its “Pokemon 151” line. This means not only larger sizes, but also designs catering to older audiences as well. And I for one welcome this desire to match actual aesthetics with anime/video game t-shirts.

Anime t-shirts and wearable merchandise in general tend to suffer from the recurring dilemma of simply Not Looking Good. This is especially a problem with any sort of non-Japanese t-shirt release, as the design usually just ends up being a stock image pasted onto the front of the shirt with no regards for the overall look. It’s like delivering a punchline with no setup.

This is why I was so pleased with the Eureka Seven t-shirts that came with the DVDs. It’s like someone understood the importance of subtlety (and in some cases when NOT to be suble) when designing them.

So yes, anime t-shirt makers, please learn from Pokemon 151.

Except for COSPA and Uniqlo. You guys are swell. Most of the time at least.