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Asuna Kimono Figure Planned for Sword Art Online's 10th Anniversary
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
The Sword Art Online light novel series is celebrating its 10th anniversary with an interactive exhibit, new cover artwork, and a brand-new short story. Aniplex+'s “WAHOO!" brand, a line that is "inspired by traditional Japanese culture which aims to bring together animation and tradition in a series of products" is joining in on the festivities with a new Asuna figure.
The figure will depict the series' heroine wearing a kyoyuzen silk kimono. Aniplex+'s Takao explained that the idea originated from Sword Art Online itself.
"With Asuna's episode in Kyoto and Yuki and the other's travelling there, there were a lot of events taking place in the real world from autumn to winter, so we started thinking about 'Kyoto' as a keyword. Our thoughts naturally ended up with the trend of making figures wearing traditional Japanese clothing," Takao said.
Kyoyuzen is a fabric dyeing technique that originated in the late 1600s. Artisans directly paint the dyes onto the fabric to achieve vibrant, intense color. The figure project brought together kimono artisans that utilize the technique and modern technology to recreate it accurately for the figure.
"The figure brings together Kyoto's 2,000 years of history and SAO's ultra modern story. It's not just the complete figure that fans will be able to enjoy, but the production process too," Takao said.
The project manager's selected the kimono style and design, had it fitted on a real model, and then 3D scanned the model in the kimono to create the figure.
Further information about the figure will be announced at the Kyoto International Manga Anime Fair on September 21-22.
Source: Tokyo Otaku Mode
