An observation on anime school uniforms

An idea popped into my head randomly one day, and that was 'Why are school uniforms in anime what they are?' Usually very colorful than anything life can actually offer. Usually.

Traditionally, Japan uses military-style uniforms for their schools called seifuku, though many schools use more 'western' outfits like blazers.

Most anime will simply depict their uniforms as slightly modified versions of these, usually with more more vibrant colors to make them more eye-catching. For example, these are the uniforms from the Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu series compared to real-life:

Baka to Test provides a milder example of uniforms in anime; still convincing to be comfortable with a touch of flair. But some shows tend to push this to an almost absurd degree; having uniforms that are stylish, cool, and colorful, but not seeming to be particularly practical. As another example, here is a picture from The Irregular at Magic High School (Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei):

The uniforms here are...unusual to say the least. The boys wear a green and white trenchcoat over a grey button-up shirt, while the girls wear long one-piece dresses under green blazers with these strange, translucent capes (?) attached to them, which according to concept art are supposed to be something like a camisole. Granted, the anime takes place in a world where magic exists, but I digress. Since this is a show about people fighting with magic (I think, the show didn't really capture my attention. But since it's a light novel published by Dengeki...), I don't think heavy coats and dresses that cover your knees would help with mobility.

Irregular is only one of the many examples however. Below is The Asterisk War, a series about high schoolers fighting to the death with swords.

Aside from the previously mentioned points, the uniforms in this show have strange Tron lights all over them, which don't seem to have any power source. I would say that they are phosphorous, but that would mean the uniforms need to be constantly switched out for new ones, since phosphorous lights like in glowsticks don't last long.

But after looking at this particlar uniform, and the ones from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, I realized something. The uniforms, when they're not grounded in reality, seem to be specifically made with one or a few characters in mind, usually the main protagonist. Pulling from GX, here is the protagonist Jaden with his friend Syrus.

You can definitely see that the Slifer Red uniform works plenty better with Jaden than Syrus. perhaps since red just isn't Syrus' color? But if you didn't already know it was a uniform, you probably wouldn't have guessed (like me). 

Incidents like these often leads to workarounds with the character design, perhaps adding an accessory or two to make it fit with the rest of the character more. I don't mind this type of design choice, but I do expect a more utilitarian and simple look for school uniforms.

And so that concludes this little article. Please stay tuned for more if you enjoyed it, and if you didn't leave a comment on how I should improve. Cheers!