Forum - View topicINTEREST: H&M Taps Into Otaku Style for Spring Collection
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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I actually came here expecting a clueless western company to make "Otaku Style" based on the idea that Japan is sushi, ninja, kaiju, sumo, and tea ceremonies with anime being entirely Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Sailor Moon, and Pokémon, and that sufficiently animesque clip art will do. In other words, not aimed at anime fans, but at young women who admire anime from a distance without really consuming any of it, or are nostalgic for anime without realizing it still exists.
Considering the sushi-themed pants, and the single generic magical girl image repeated as a pattern, I seem to not have been that far off. Could've been much worse though. At least this character H&M invented for this line seems to fall in line with trends in art style for modern anime, rather than the incredibly confused 90's-inspired Christopher Hart stuff you see so often in western media and products, a la Chaotic or Perfect Hair Forever. It seems to be an offshoot of "geek chic" which seems to have become really popular as of late. Time will tell if Otaku Style will catch on, but I don't think it will.
Because that will cost them money in licensing, the people who designed these likely don't know what Evangelion is in the first place, and the people they're aiming this line at don't care what anime something is from, as long as it merely looks anime enough.
Also, La Brea Tar Pits with some du jour on the side. |
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marshmallowpie
 Posts: 300 Location: Nova Scotia, Canada |
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I'm actually really impressed with the character art; it could have been so awful, but actually it's pretty cute. Galaxy prints are way too 2012 for me though!
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#810558
Posts: 53 |
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You all need to calm your fedoras down. This style of clothing is what's "in" for the majority of the demographic that shop at H&M. It's for the hipsters on tumblr who "ironically" like the tacky-early 2000-MS Paint-grunge prints. These aren't for your typical otaku that sport the XXXL black Walmart shirt with a little picture of Konata's head over in the corner, that you'd typically find on RightStuf. People they expect to buy this don't know any better when it comes to anime. So the "Kawaii Cutie" and random generic galaxy anime girl prints aren't going to bother them.
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EricJ2
 Posts: 4016 |
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And the school uniform (not specifically Sailor Moon, but well, they all are, aren't they?), don't forget that. To bring in said 90's-fangirl audience who don't watch it now but used to consider themselves "total anime fans" because they bought the manga at Barnes & Noble. And wow, sushi jokes, haven't heard those since the 90's, back when 80's-Asiaphobic regular people thought anime was a quaint ethnic-joke fad, like telenovelas or Bollywood. What plastic bubble have H&M's people been in? Last edited by EricJ2 on Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:13 am; edited 1 time in total |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14794 |
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Whatever happened to just the simple, like cat-themed:
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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Cut it out. (i.e., just how "cool" would it be for you to be placed under moderation?) Mocking others is unacceptable behavior. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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That Espurr cell phone cover looks more interesting--and indicates at least some level of familiarity with what's coming out of Japan nowadays.
Well, at least based my offline social interactions, anime is still that weird thing a few people in America and young people in Japan are into. The 90's was the last time anime was truly mainstream, big enough to have caught the attention of people important enough in culture production to have an effect on how westerners see the rest of the world. A lot of people who speak to me about Dragon Ball Z or Gundam Wing don't even know that anime is still being produced. For any culture production, you'll see other media depicted in how they looked the last time they were at their height of popularity, or at least how those culture producers thought they looked. It's like how the Dark Age and Silver Age of (American) comic books completely slipped under the public radar, and stereotypical depictions of superheroes were in an exaggerated Golden Age style, with conspicuous pointillism, sound effects in starbursts, and gimmicky villains all the way until Tim Burton's Batman. And that's for domestic works. Or how most people thought video games still had NES-level graphics until first-person shooters took off in a huge way, and video games are often depicted with 8-bit sound to this day. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16939 |
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I'll just stick to my Hawaiian shirts and cargo pants thank you very much. On the topic of the peek-a-boo sweaters....I don't get them. I mean I like cleavage as much as the next straight guy but I just don't get the point of those things. They say to me "I'm pretending I want to be warm but I really just want to flash my boobs so I get noticed." I mean IMHO they're blatantly just there to show cleavage because the whole hole in the chest defeats the purpose of a sweater/pull over. Then again I'm not a chick so what do I know about women's fashion.
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Miyanoai
Posts: 327 |
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^ honestly I am a chick and I don't really get it either. Fashion is weird sometimes.
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Madoka...AYUKAWA!
 Posts: 158 |
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Some EVA merchandise is indeed cool, I have seen some nice cloths indeed, safe to wear on public, but the hoodies ares seriously not cool. For a kid it would be fine but for a young adult man definitely not. In fact there is nothing cool about wearing cloths that tell the whole world what anime you like as extravagantly as they usually do, unless its something discreet (small text, small logo) of decent taste at the least (no extravagant colors for example), and look just how extravagant and nerdy those hoodies are...sure there are different tastes but there are extremes to avoid on public really. {Edit: Please don't over-quote. Thanks. ~ Psycho 101} |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar Posts: 16939 |
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It's downright stupid at times lol. I've watched "fashion shows" and wonder who the hell would wear that stuff. So much of the clothing items just look....ridiculous. Not practical, let alone functional, in the slightest. And the booby view sweater thing is becoming a big thing too. I see more and more cosplayers wearing them linked to various shows, games, comics, etc. Like I said, I love a nice pair as much as the next guy. And if you got them and want to show them off hey go for it. Your body. But the booby hole sweater thing just feels pretentious to me. Ooo look I'm classy and wearing a sweater....ooops my boobs are out hehehe. Not to mention it's just not that functional for either idea, being warm or showing off cleavage, as opposed to an item of clothing for that sole purpose. I think I'm sounding like a grumpy old man at this point so I'll hush. As for the actual items of clothing in the link.....I'm sorry but most simply look ridiculous. Forget the whole real fan vs hipster debate. Most of those articles of clothing just don't look good. Especially with the color schemes. Again, I'm just being a cranky old man. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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I've never questioned anything related to fashion, since as someone who's never followed fashion scenes because I, too, find them to look ridiculous. I feel like there's some sort of logic that fashion fans follow that I, as an outsider and a non-fan, will never understand without some serious research and observation.
I mean, you have these fashion analysts all saying X will be the next hot thing while some similar-looking Y is a major faux-pas, then they go into all sorts of technical terminology and jargon explaining why that loses me within a few seconds. That goes for these H&M Otaku clothes too. H&M has been around for a while, so I trust that the designers at H&M know what they're doing. Very little of it makes sense to me, but I figure to most H&M shoppers, it makes perfect sense. |
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Freyanne
 Posts: 216 |
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I'm almost certain that no one gets a keyhole sweater shirt to keep warm or to look "classy but oops! ;D ". It's usually because they like the sweater itself, want something that's (a bit/ adjustable) revealing, or for laughs/giggles (heck, some guys buy them to wear just for that reason). Plus of all the fanart of anime/video game/comic/ect. characters wearing the sweaters brings attention to them. That was how I found out about them existing in the first place. I have one and I truly got it because I thought it was a funny/hilarious shirt/sweater and I think it's "kinda cute" (some of them are, at least - not a fan of the kitty/animal-faced ones). But it is definitely something I wouldn't wear outside of a con or a cosplay/costume (if even that). I wouldnt say you're sounding like an old man or anything - I totally see where you're coming and I feel the same way about some regular women's fashions and clothing trends (I dunno why someone would want to wear shorts/skirts that barely covers your butt unless you're at a beach or it's crazy hot, or wear demin jeans that have fake pockets in it. ) If there is one thing I've noticed from fashion, as someone who barely pays attention to "what you should/shouldnt be wearing now, trends-wise", the clothing doesnt have to be functional or make sense for people to [want to] wear it. |
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enurtsol
Posts: 14794 |
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Think of it as absolute territory............ up north. 
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meepsheeps
 Posts: 399 |
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