⭒⁎✧ Fashion in Anime - Death Note, Nana, and Ai Yazawa ✧⁎⭒

When thinking about fashion in anime/manga, the series that first come to mind are Death Note and Nana, at least for me. Although, I believe this is the same for other anime fans, especially those with an interest in J-fashion. These two series have a chokehold on many online spaces, maintaining themselves as fashion inspirations to many far past their original peaks in popularity, especially as the trend cycles moves to the early-to-mid 2000s (when these series were published).

In Death Note, Misa is the most well-known character for her fashion sense. This compliments her story as the up-and-coming, trendy model that she is in the show, since it only makes sense that if Misa is really trendy and cool, she would have trendy and cool outfits!

Her outfits have an extreme amount of detail to them, particularly in stand alone art, but even in the manga and anime (relatively, of course. it's not AS detailed, but by anime/manga standards her clothes are pretty detailed). In the same vein, Misa also frequently changes outfits, adding another layer of complexity. It’s difficult for illustrators and animators to constantly have to draw new clothes, and this can slow down production, but all of this adds believability to her story of being a fashionista, and the hard work paid off in her amazing styling. 

As it relates to the plot of the story at large, Misa’s great fashion sense contrasts with Light, who is not so fashionably dressed. It places emphasis on Misa being an “accessory” to Light, especially in the beginning of their relationship, when she is much more detailed and decorated than he is. You can see what I mean below, just comparing the back of her outfit and all of her accessories to the simple outfit Light is wearing.

Misa’s Goth Punk… or Gothic Lolita?.... style is similar to the punk fashion in Nana, which I admittedly haven't watched or read (I know, I know) but know a bit about due to its popularity and impact. Ai Yazawa, the creator of Nana, takes heavy inspiration from fashion, which reflects in many of her works. This inspiration naturally leads to many of her characters having iconic outfits, which influence many people to dress similarly to them. In particular, Vivienne Westwood is a brand that is almost synonymous with Nana in many online spaces, as many (and I mean many) characters wear pieces from this brand very often. 

Here, Shin is wearing the Vivienne Westwood orb lighter, which has become a highly sought-after piece for Vivienne Westwood collectors and Nana fans alike (although most Vivienne Westwood collectors are Nana fans) which has sold for thousands post their limited-release collaboration with Nana.

Overall, the impact both of these series has had on J-fashion communities and anime/manga fans is immeasurable, as even a decade past their initial release, their fashion design has remained popular and has become a source of fashion inspiration to many. While I hope to see another series release and have the same impact as these two, many animation studios have moved towards optimizing their animations, so I doubt that we will see another series create such a fashion impact in the near future as it takes a lot of care and work to make these outfits work.