A fantasy series with costumes inspired by — but not accurate to — historical Chinese court costumes, Saiunkoku Monogatari presented an interesting series of challenges. We researched authentic Chinese clothing, visited museum exhibits, and photographed extant samples, but quickly discovered that the animation took some stylistic liberties. Ultimately, we did our best to replicate the animated version, which meant sacrificing historical accuracy.
This set was one of our most technical projects to date: All of Ryuuki’s silk was hand-dyed, with the designs and trim hand-painted using batik dyeing techniques. Seiran’s armor was handcrafted from flooring vinyl and assembled with magnets. The filigree on his sword was sculpted using epoxy putty, and all the gems were cast from resin with metallic pigments suspended in them. All his cording was hand-braided from 16 layers of embroidery floss to match the weight and texture of the source images. Ensei’s sleeve trim was drawn, digitized into a pattern, and machine-embroidered. The set also included handmade jewelry and props and extensive wig styling.
With Mogchelle as Kou Shuurei.
Characters
- Laura as Emperor Ryuuki
- Alena as Shi Seiran
- Mark as Ro Ensei
Awards
- Yume Cup runner-up, New York Comic Con 2010 (Seiran & Shuurei)
- Best in Show, Ohayocon 2011 (Ryuuki, Seiran & Ensei)
- First Place, Professional Division, Gen Con 2011 (Ryuuki, Seiran, Ensei, Shuurei, & Terra Cotta Warrior)
- Best Group Craftsmanship, Anime Central 2014 (Ryuuki, Seiran & Ensei)
- Arda Wigs Craftsmanship Award, Anime Central 2014 (Ryuuki, Seiran & Ensei)
