SHINY COLORS FASHION ANALYSIS: Kiriko Yukoku (幽谷霧子)
"It's not that I have an injury, but... the reason I'm wearing these bandages is… a secret."
This is a project analyzing and taking a look at the fashion design and application in the multimedia series, The IDOLM@STER: Shiny Colors. This section is about the mysterious and soft-spoken bandaged girl of the series, Kiriko Yukoku! If you want to jump to a specific section, go here!
(This is a reprint of my thread on Twitter. I put it on Tumblr for easier reading and for archiving purposes. Enjoy!)
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INTRODUCTION
“Kiriko is a silver-haired girl who exudes a mysterious atmosphere, most notable by her ephemeral nature and being wrapped in bandages. Soft-spoken but kind-hearted. She is very empathetic, sensitive, and interacts with the world around her in a very peculiar way. ”
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Profile
Age: 17
Birthday: September 23rd
Height: 160 cm
Weight: 51 kg
Blood Type: AB
Hometown: Fukushima
Hobbies: Collecting cute things, handcrafts, blood donation
Special Skills: Wrapping bandages beautifully, stepping silently, peeling apples
CV: Yuina Mizuki
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Before starting the analysis, I would suggest if you haven’t already, read her W.I.N.G. (introductory) commu (through the broswer game's English patch or on YouTube). If you don’t play the game, I would listen to her image song and read the lyrics to get a better sense of her character.
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STYLE BREAKDOWN
Kiriko’s fashion style takes great influence from girly-kei fashion, a feminine style that emphasizes cuteness. However, Kiriko turns it into her own by making it more casual, desaturated, and minimalistic, fitting her mysterious, dollish, ghost-like first impression.
Before going into fashion influences, Kiriko has doll-like qualities that aren’t clothing-related that synergize well with her simple design like porcelain skin & light, natural makeup. The attributes listed here combine with her dolly clothing to make her look like a mannequin.
Girly-kei fashion is the main influence on Kiriko’s style, following a common silhouette and typical elements of the style, like ribbons, lace, and heeled dress shoes. She makes it her own by dressing the style down as well as simplifying the outfit composition and silhouette.
Many of Kiriko’s coords take common elements from other girly-kei subtypes leading to a versatile but reined-in wardrobe. Though the style inspirations are varied, a consistent silhouette and repeated bijou elements like ribbons, frills, and ruffles unite her looks.
Another prominent influence on Kiriko’s style is “classical,” an adult, elegant fashion inspired by film actresses of the 1940s-1970s. It comprises of layering basics and a balance of both bold and natural colors, bringing out Kiriko’s mysterious elegance in a less dollish way.
Preppy influence in Kiriko’s wardrobe is easily seen in the her early outfits and forms her usual silhouette & outfit composition that’s seen as the foundation of many of her outfits. Though it really defines her early wardrobe, the influence is more subtle in her later outfits.
Her bandages are a huge part of her identity & how she presents herself. Kiriko doesn’t wear them for fashion reasons or having a fragile body, but they act as a “good luck charm” for her extreme anxiety. It also ties back to her dollish demeanor and how she lives at a hospital.
Kiriko’s image color is an icy light blue, perhaps relating to her mental fragility and her use of bandages. It’s a very dreamy and ephemeral color and synergizes with her doll-like lightness and girly elegance.
Kiriko’s color palette comprises primarily of dull & light neutrals used as a foundation for most of her outfits. This palette often either colors the whole outfit or takes a back seat to a secondary palette of vibrant cool tones and grays.
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STYLE ANALYSIS
Kiriko auditioned at the production to be an idol to “boost her self-confidence” and improve her timid nature. When Producer asks her about her bandages, she lies and said she “bumped into something.” Kiriko says putting them on makes her feel at peace.
Kiriko’s name in kanji (幽谷霧子) contains the character “幽 (yu)” commonly attributed with the word for ghost “幽霊 (yuurei)” and the character “霧 (kiri)” meaning “fog” or “mist.” As such, Kiriko is most known for her fragile and ephemeral appearance.
As touched on in the last section, Kiriko has many qualities that make her feel like a living doll. This sentiment is shared by the other members of L’antica, often complimenting her and how just looking at Kiriko makes them feel “at peace.”
Many of her earlier outfits had her outfits in the same silhouette, like a fashion mannequin, with a collared top and flared above-the-knee-length skirt. Before major development, she was characterized with this dollish silhouette in the beginning.
Also mentioned in the previous section, Kiriko is a huge worrywart: constantly anxious about other’s physical and emotional states and very sensitive to how others interact with her. She tends to bite her tongue and finds it hard to speak freely to others.
Her extreme anxiety isn’t limited to just people, but also real-life events and even inanimate objects’ feelings. As stated before, her bandages are a “talisman” Kiriko uses to calm herself down and “protect” her before she gets “injured” by her pangs of unease.
The frequency and size of her bandages have a direct relation to how much her anxieties are hindering her, bigger size & higher frequency relating to a weaker mental state. Kiriko wore them constantly, but as her character got developed she started relying on them less & less.
She only wears her forehead bandage and sometimes even doesn’t wear any at all in her most recent cards, showing her growth in how she interacts with her anxiety. To add, Kiriko has never been “ashamed” of her bandages either and considers them a part of her identity.
Her bandages also relate to her medical background with both of her parents being doctors, living in hospital dormitory housing, having a hobby of donating blood, and often volunteering at said hospital. Her main color palette of whites/light grays also relate to this.
Kiriko is also very smart to where her career advisor encouraged her to become a medical professional. She is a methodical person with a sharp memory; her preppy influences in her fashion also call back to this as well.
Another trait about Kiriko is her “ephemeral” and “fantastical” aura like that of a fairy-tale character. Some things she does are personify inanimate objects, have vivid daydreams that tend to bleed into reality, and having a very surreal sense of humor.
Though she has notable anxiety, Kiriko’s personality is simple, positive, and tends to see the good in the world and in others (which is why she worries so much about everything). She is easily awestruck and has a high sense of wonder for the world.
Her fashion really suits that side of her personality well with lots of hazy, muted colors, soft fabrics, light textures, bijou detailing, and flowy and oversized clothing pieces. It makes the viewer feel like they’re also in one of her daydreams.
Kiriko’s fashion evolution is subtle, but you can see how her style influences change in the beginning, middle, and end as her character develops. Though her fashion changes, her dollish, plush, mysterious, and dreamy aura stays intact.
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This is it for Kiriko Yukoku!
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Next section: Houkago Climax Girls
