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One set of armor plates almost done... #toukenranbu #cosplay

Got four of the six armor plates I need for Mikazuki cut out (along with two screw-ups). Having access to a CNC machine helps so much. #cosplay #toukenranbu

So I'm working on throwing together Mikazuki's battle outfit for Anime Central, which is in five weeks (oh god I don't want to think about that). Like a lot of the Touken Ranbu designs, there is kind of a lot going on, so I thought I would break down the components and make some notes of them for my own reference, and maybe that will be helpful for other people out there, too :) This post is going to be the big fabric bits, because they're sort of the foundation of the outfit.

Most of these pieces are actually pretty close to traditional Heian era garments - I'm using Reconstructing History's Heian men's clothing pattern as a base for most of it.

-Kosode: This is really only visible on the concept/reference art - on the in-game sprites, it only shows as the innermost white collar at his neckline. Important, though, because this is what actually covers your arms and sides! His is pretty much the same as historical versions, or a slight varation on a modern kimono - narrower body, no front tuck, ends about knee-length I'm using a white cotton sateen because I had a bunch already, and I'm a sweaty person so I need an under-layer that's machine washable. Mostly done already because I can sew kimono in my sleep, practically.

-Hitoe: The white layer that's mostly visible, right under the blue one. It's pretty close to Heian hitoe, with two exceptions, both in the sleeve area - one is that the sleeves look to be all one piece, instead of made up of two pieces (which is more an artifact of traditional Japanese fabric widths than anything), and then the sleeves are open on the bottom and wrist edge, as well as the body edge. So I'm going to take the traditional hitoe pattern, cut the sleeves as one block, and then line them because the edges are super-visible when they're open like that and I have enough hemming as it is. I think I'm going to buy some white polyester chirimen (chirimen is a type of tight crepe weave that is easily the most common fabric used for kimono). Normally I'd buy a bolt of vintage kimono silk from Ichiroya - you can get them for ~$50 plus shipping, and they're 15m or so - but 1) a lot of the whites tend to have discolored with age and 2) they're traditional width, which is about 15" and thus too narrow for me to do the sleeves in one piece for. Thankfully Tomato has 44" polyester chirimen for ~$14/m on their Rakuten store.

-Kariginu: The giant blue monstrosity. Like the hitoe, this mostly only differs from the traditional cut in having single-piece sleeves that are open all the way around. I'm lining the whole thing because there are a lot of visible edges/insides, and I have the feeling the fabric I'm using is going to be fray-tastic. It's a royal blue brocade with the sayagata pattern woven in - it's a little bigger, with slightly thicker lines than the patterning on Mikazuki's kariginu, but honestly, it's probably as close as you're going to get without actually weaving your own (don't do that, please). Okuyama sells it online, though I was lucky enough that a friend was willing to pick some up in person for me when she was in Tokyo last month, which saved me a bunch on shipping. My sewing project for today, I think!

-Hakama: The only part of this that isn't mostly-Heian in style. Hakama were part of Heian ensembles, but they had fewer pleats than modern styles, and were waaaay longer so they could be gathered up at the ankles and have a nice poof. The pleat arrangement and length on Mikazuki's place them pretty solidly in 'modern' (19th century to present) style. Round Earth's hakama pattern is my go-to for that, though I may leav off the backboard (which is solidly a 20th century martial arts addition). I'm airbrushing the gradient on a heavy matte polyester satin, which, uh, is an adventure. And probably a whole post to itself at some point.

Next time: armor, armor, and more armor!

Three guesses who's coming up soon on my cosplay list, and the first two don't count ;) #cosplay

Last-minute #ouji coord for lunch at Max Brenner - I went straight for dessert, haha. Blouse is #littledipper, cost is #atelierboz and everything else is off-brand.

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Toushizou Hijikata
CANON: Peacemaker Kurogane
POINT IN CANON: N/A (AU)
AGE: 34
APPEARANCE: Hijikata’s appearance is close to canon - however, his left arm has been replaced with a cybernetic replacement, owing to injury, and he has some very light scarring on his upper chest and the left side of his face from the same incident, though you’d have to know it was there to spot it. His hair is also much shorter - he’s only been growing it out for about two years, so loose, it’s midback. His clothing is modern business-wear, if frequently rumpled because he just doesn’t care.
CANON HISTORY: History (written by Andy, used with player and mod permission)
CANON PERSONALITY: The side of Toshizou most people see is that of the ‘oni vice-commander’. Where Kondou and Yamanami are the kind ones among Shinsengumi command, the task falls to Hijikata to be the harsh one, enforcing discipline with an iron fist. He is responsible for drafting the Shinsengumi code to which all members are sworn, where the only punishment is sepukku.

It’s not a particularly forced role for him - Toshi is, by nature, a somewhat gruff individual. He’s blunt about expressing displeasure, and as he holds individuals around him (as well as himself) to very high standards, he’s displeased often. He’s the type that seems to love to have something to complain about. He can also be ruthless in his pursuit of greater goals - as evidenced by the code. He feels such measures are necessary to make the units cohesive, and protect Kyoto and Japan. He often butts heads with Yamanami, who takes a more moderate stance on the matter. Some of this is out of a striving for legitimacy as a samurai as well - unlike many of his companions in the Shinsengumi, Hijikata was born to a farming family, and not a bushi family. Becoming samurai was something he longed for from a young age, and having acquired that rank through his position with the Shinsengumi, he does as much as he can to not tarnish that reputation or that of those around him.

Despite all this, he’s a good person at heart, if rarely a nice person. He truly believes in his path and his goals, that they are the proper, honorable thing to do, and he’s willing to sacrifice himself for his country and ideals. He also does care about others around him, even if he’s not particularly good at showing it. Tetsu takes his assignment as a page as an insult, but Hijikata’s reasoning in the choice was to protect the boy from the full harshness of life as Shinsengumi; a page would not be required to adhere to the Shinsengumi code for instance and would thus not be forced to face the punishments it decrees.

He also shows a gruff sort of protectiveness towards Souji Okita, fussing over him at the first signs of illness and the like. He is also far more likely to give in to Souji’s whims, and while he’ll complain and glare the whole way, he will allow himself to be dragged out for candy-shopping or the like. Some of this is rooted in his tendency to blame himself for things he sees as being his fault, even if the connection is, in reality, only tangential, and he holds onto that self-blame for a long, long time. With Souji, he blames himself for Souji taking up the blade at a young age, and for the trauma Souji has suffered as a result. His resulting overprotectiveness of the Shinsengumi’s most skilled fighter is an attempt to make up for those past wrongs.


POINT OF DEPARTURE: PG + AU - previously a native of the universe of [Bad username or unknown identity: ”newbabylon”]
History:
Toshizou Hijikata was born the youngest son of a lower-middle class family on L4. He had five siblings, the oldest brother of whom more or less raised the rest of the family after their parents died - his mother when he was young, of pulmonary fibrosis from work conditions and pollution on the lower levels, coupled with congenital lung defects, and his father not long after, from natural causes. His older brother took over the family business, but Toshi knew he didn’t have the temperament for business, and decided for a career in the police force - he had a strong desire to make the world around him better, and to help keep his family from walking the edge of poverty.

Despite his background, and relatively young age when he joined the force (which is to say, as soon as they’d take him), Toshizou was intelligent, and had a forceful personality that rapidly got him noticed by higher ups - though not always in helpful ways. He quickly gained a reputation for strategic skill and firm dedication to the ideals of justice. While he was climbing the ranks, one of his elder sisters began showing signs of the same pollution-induced illness that killed their mother, and Toshi sent more and more of his savings to his family to help with her treatment. He also managed to gain his precinct a reputation a one of the less corrupt ones, among the NBPD - while he couldn’t single-handedly take of all the problems in his station, he did what he could.

When he was twenty-four, he received a major boost in rank, despite his relatively young age, and was made head of newly formed counter-terrorism unit. They operated efficiently and effectively for nearly a year - Toshizou’s tactical skills being particularly well suited to small-unit work. Then, disaster struck - they were sent in to a situation involving explosives they believe to be disarmed, but were not. The explosives were triggered, killing two members of the team, and seriously injuring several others, Toshizou included. Given the choice between an attempt at salvaging his left arm, with a good chance of permanent nerve damage, pain, and disfiguration, or a cybernetic replacement, his slightly pain-and-drug delirious answer was ‘cut the damn thing off’.

While on desk duty following the incident, as it was unclear how the team would move forward, he was given an offer by Eden Technologies - train one their own in weapons skills and tactics, and in exchange, his sister’s health problems would be taken care of at no cost, with far better quality than the family could afford. He reluctantly agreed, and took on the job - only to discover the man he was supposed to be training was a child, still, the product of an in-house experiment in bioware and gene manipulation testing.

He found the idea of the experiment distasteful, but followed through with his end of the deal for his sister’s sake. As he worked with the boy, he found a certain amount of fondness for him, despite his odd nature - growing up in the lab was a far different experience than growing up in the world outside, but Hijikata did his best to show him respect as a human, not just as a weapon.

When the scientists in charge of the project realized their specimen was not performing up to expectations, Hijikata was given an order to dispose of him, rather than get corp hands dirty. Angry at the way they’d treated him as an object rather than a person, he took the young man and fled to the lower levels, until the it was clear the corp had given up interest in pursuing the pair - Hijikata wasn’t about to sell the boy out to a rival, after all.

Once things calmed down, he set up shop ostensibly as private detective - though while an ex-cop, he gets sent a lot of the stuff his old precinct can't deal with easily through 'official' channels, leaving him and Souji to play a bit of vigilante justice.

Personality:
Toshi’s personality and point of view on the things surrounding him are very similar to canon, due to the parallels his origins between both worlds. As an officer, he treated his position as lawkeeper with a great deal of respect, far more than many of his coworkers, which lead to a certain amount of metaphorical head-butting. He doesn’t have quite as much guilt associated with Souji, though having taught the boy to fight and kill, he feels a certain respoonsibility for him, and as in canon, the two are very close.

ABILITIES: Hijikata’s main skills are a combination of in-born and a lot of hard training - as an officer, he became proficient in firearms and hand-to-hand combat, and he’s taught himself traditional swordforms - a slightly esoteric hobby, in this day and age, but one he enjoys. He’s also a skilled tactician and leader, and capable of making quick decisions in heated moments. His cyberarm is also stronger than the average human (and stronger than his other arm), though given that the rest of his body is vanilla human, this mostly just results in the ability to be really awesome at crushing things with his mighty metal fist.
INVENTORY: Cyberarm, now-useless smartphone, equally useless New Bablyon ID chip and credits, concealed carry shoulder rig with large calibre handgun and spare clip, pocket multitool, crumpled packages of cigarettes, bad attitude.
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW?
The game this version comes from was very short-lived, so there’s no carryover CR aside from things with Souji