Every so often a costume comes a long in anime that you have to say to yourself, "that can't possibly exist in real life" and yet cosplayers still have a go at pulling off these costumes, some with better results than others. So here are the top ten impossible costumes.
Honorable Mentions
Lina Inverse: Difficult to make sense of but not impossible.
Anything Skin Tight: Not impossible but horribly impractical.
Most of the Strike Witches: I doubt anyone is brave enough.
10. Juraian Kimonos from Tenchi Muyo
While not impossible and ain't half as impractical as their bizarre spaceships, it certainly looks like it takes some effort to put on.
9. Bloodberry's Costume from Saber Marionette J
Has actually been proven in real life to be impractical mainly for the rope loops on the back of the kimono. Then again this is the same show that has characters with cheeks that make them look like they swallowed a coat hanger.
8. Dragon Kid's Hair Decorations from Tiger & Bunny
How do you fight with those disc things on your head? Seriously Dragon Kid is quite a mobile character when she gets going so how on earth do you support those disc things?
7. Knight Sabers from Bubblegum Crisis
I could say the same for other battle suits but these ones are especially notable for their high heel design for the feet, as they are part of the suit itself they cannot be taken off so easily so you definitely don't want to walk in them for long missions.
6. Yuuko's Kimonos from XXXHolic
Clamp does impossible clothes quite a lot but Yuuko's takes some effort to pull off. Many a cosplayer find it easier to make up a design for Yuuko to wear rather than copy her directly.
5. Haydee's Dresses from Gankutsuou
The Art style plays more of a role in this than the actual costume, although her opera dress is especially extravagant.
4. Neya's Cyber Dress from Infinite Ryvius
Provides the image for this top ten list. It looks like it was made from colored tin foil.
3. Lacus Clyne's Entire Wardrobe from Gundam Seed
Whether it's a kimono that can't fit a spacesuit or a dress that seems to defy physics, Lacus Clyne always looks fabulous.
2. Erza's Armors from Fairy Tail
The Heaven's Wheel Armor alone is on a different level to other battle armors. But looking at her extensive catalog of clothing it's fair to say that Erza doesn't always have eyes for style or practicality.
1. Any Stage Dress from Aikatsu
Seems to be a trend for Idol shows these days but Aikatsu takes it a bit further, either through it's impossible color schemes or over the top decorations and wings, you can guarantee that the Aikatsu stage will always light up.
Bonus: A close real life example would be Heian Period Kimonos. Hard to put on and so many layers to wear.
Sorry for the lack of updates as I've been on the convention trail but before I left for the convention I finished an anime series I was desperate to review but ultimately ran out of time. Now that I'm back and eager to recover quickly here is my review of Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon.
In the distant future the world is devastated so the human race moved to the heavens but something went wrong and they are forced to return to the world which was still very much ravaged; however Japan is still functioning so the human race gets squeezed into their country using pocket dimensions to separate each nation. The nations in control are called the Divine States while the pocket dimension nations are called the Harmonic Divine States.
At this point the worlds decide to reenact history from 10,000BC in order to rediscover their lost technology and return to the heavens all run by the Testament Union, but in 1413AD War broke out and the Harmonic Divine States invaded the Divine States and split up the States to each group in a similar way to how Sengoku Era Japan worked.
In 1648AD the residents of Japan now live on the battleship Musashi but rumors of an apocalypse coming soon creates waves of concern within the Testament Union who precede over the viewing of history. Taking advantage of this situation, Tori Aoi, head of Musashi Ariadust Academy's Supreme Federation and President of the student council, leads his classmates to war against the Harmonic Divine States in order to reclaim their homeland and recover the lost emotions of his android girlfriend Horizon; which being an anime is in the form of weapons and strictly speaking each nation is controlled by student councils and anything and everything you can expect is there including ecchi.
That is a long ass explanation for this series, it's any wonder this light novel series is longer than most western manuscripts.
So is it any good?
Well it's difficult to keep up with and set universe laws seem to break pretty easily; the assortment of characters are all unique with little to no focus on Tori Aoi who often walks around naked for no reason, Horizon herself barely has any focus at all either despite being the title character, as other characters often steal the spotlight. I do give this series a lot of creativity points for unique character designs and equally unique battles, but getting through the story was a tough enough barrier and I pretty much wore myself out just explaining the plot.
The dub is okay but Season 2 suffers with audio issues with too much clashing between music and dialogue and with such a complex plot it can be a little daunting to read subtitles and it really needs the dub to be clear and precise.
Final Verdict: It needs a bit of love and care to get past a heavy barrier of plot and dialogue but within lies a host of unique characters and action that leaves you feeling more satisfied by the time you finish season 2. The light novel goes on for much longer and there's little to no info about future seasons.
Superheroes are a core part of geek culture and the likes of America are packed with hundreds to choose from; whether it be DC Comics or Marvel, everyone has a favorite. Go international and every country has their own superhero to speak of; come to the UK you get Bananaman.
Bananaman is a British comic made in 1980 about a Superman esque superhero gaining powers from eating Bananas hence the name Bananaman. Three years later, the BBC made a cartoon.
The story is about Eric Wimp who lives at 29 Acacia Road, Nuttytown as were reminded of in not only the cartoon opening but at the start of each comic strip.
After eating a banana Eric becomes Bananaman who saves the world from various evil villains such as General Blight and Appleman among others.
It becomes pretty obvious that it's a piss take of Marvel & DC Comics as every character is a homage to the many villains in those comics.
Bananaman uses good old fashioned British wit, the kind that made the likes of Dangermouse such a household name; in fact British viewers will note that all the voices in the cartoon were done by the old comedy team The Goodies. If you don't know who they are ask your dad.
The series is a bit dated but the humor manages to survive the 30+ year cycle, you'd think with the rapid evolution of technology along with the British comic industry barely surviving these days you'd think Bananaman would be forgotten but you'd be wrong; next year a live action film will be released, although sadly cartoon to live action transitions leave a lot to be desired and I doubt that a name like Bananaman can really compete in today's market, but stranger things have happened such as Johnny Test still being on TV.
Welcome to another rousing news report from the Endless Wardrobe, today is special as I am pleased to announce a Brand New World!
Welcome to the Fantasy Zone!
No not that one but you'll find The Fantasy Zone along with the other Worlds on my profile page or as I upload content.
So What's it About?
The Fantasy Zone is a World covering the lesser elements of the anime world such as the clothes, the weapons etc. It's presented as a TV Channel hosted by the cast of Victory Script.
Wait So What Will Happen to the Victory Script World?
It'll remain in place and proper character background stories will be added to better explain the presenters.
And Walk of Fame
The next entry is ready to go.
And Retro Retrospective?
Even this world will have a proper review shortly as we dive back into the vault to place in a British Superhero cartoon, followed by a Cartridge Diaries review of Space Harrier.
Will You Actually Keep to Schedule This Time?
Other than a four day break at the end of the month for Kitacon Anime Convention it should be easier to manage from now on, my writers slump has ended.
I've been gone a while thanks to a combination of writer's block and a lack of time but I plan to make it up to you starting with this review on Digimon.
Just to clarify, this is only covering season 1.
We start off in modern day Japan as one night, a parrot and a dinosaur monster fight each other in front of a number of scared children with the dinosaur coming out victorious but both soon disappear. A few years later we arrive at a summer camp where seven kids end up being transported to a mysterious world known as the Digital World.
Our characters are Tai, Matt, Joe, Izzy, Sora, Mimi & TK who are each partnered by creatures called Digimon which take on many different forms such as dinosaurs, wolves and birds to name a few. These kids and their Digimon form the Digi-destined as they save the Digital World from the onslaught of Devimon and other assorted villains.
Now back in the 90s there was an intense rivalry between Digimon & Pokemon each believing to be rip offs of the other but both have their own merits and both are still going.
But to put things into perspective both were tv anime in the west but the term anime was in it's absolute infancy and was only associated with the ultra violent 80s era of the genre. Both shows were mixed into the cartoon label but out of the two, Digimon felt more like an anime, mainly because it took it's audience more seriously.
Looking back, while season one of Pokemon is sounding more and more like some sick joke, the first season of Digimon not only stands the test of time but is actually getting better with age.
There are plenty of memorable moments which are not just comedy or action scenes but tearjerkers, darker tones and major deaths; yeah those deaths may be bloodless but are still pretty gruesome in context such as some of the villain and allies deaths, yeah sure death is cheap and you revive in egg form but for some Digimon like poor old Wizardmon can never come back. It also manages to be threatening; with every major villain you always got the sense that when the heroes gained a victory there's always a loss. Even the kids aren't so clear cut in their character molds with each one having to deal with their own personal issues, such as divorced parents, adoption and quite a dark one when Tai nearly causes Kari's death for not recognizing Kari was sick, made all the more harder to watch when you hear Kari apologize to Tai for not being able to play soccer.
Yeah I agree that it's silly in a number of places and the music for the dub is corny as hell but everything else it manages to do and it does it so well that you have to give them high praise for it.
Final Verdict: It stands the test of time and deserves it's place among the greats of anime, in fact I think it deserves a place in an official top ten anime list.
