Should You Make Dinner in a Kigurumi? Science (Fiction) Says Yes
When does one wear a kigurumi? Donning one at parties is understandable. Even if's not the main theme, so long as the gathering is informal enough, you could still probably wear one with style.
Sleepovers? Ehh, maybe a bit too typical. When lounging around all day in your place? Still quite normal actually. But as we have previously seen, it can get somewhat above your average couch kigurumi situation.
So how about dinner? Apparently, one Yayoi from a certain parallel universe thinks that kigurumi is as universal as something you'd wear when preparing dinner.
"We're celebrating your debut to the group, but the whole group mustn't know, okay?"
"Sure... but why just the five of us?"
First, a short context intro. The occasion was a planned dinner by Ritsuko, inviting people over to celebrate the debut of Haruka as an IDOL... pilot (parallel universe remember?). There are about five people attending the small party in total. The two of them, Yukiho, Yayoi, and deko-chan Iori.
"You know, I feel like only two people here are directly identifiable in this angle."
If you're confused about the names, just remember these words in order: stupid ribbon (Haruka), glasses (Ritsuko), worrywart (Yukiho), kigurumi (Yayoi), and forehead (Iori).
"Do you... often wear kigurumi like that?" "Only in this parallel universe actually."
"Parallel...universe? You know what, never mind. Haruka's waiting for you already."
Hmm... did i say kigurumi? Yes, we're getting to that. Anyway, we first see the glimpse of our kigurumi when Yukiho answers the doorbell for an arriving guest. Haruka was already with Ritsuko helping at the kitchen, so the only person left is Miss Yayoi Takatsuki. And for this episode, she choose to present herself in a chicken kigurumi.
"My wings do overextend my shoulder here, but don't mind that."
"...Because, we're making gyoza?" "Yup.!"
If it's not visibly obvious already, this one is technically classified it as a rooster-themed type 2.0 kigurumi. The same "slots" are present just like your average full-body suit. Overall design still fits the human physique, although to be fair fowls being bipedal makes this a no-brainer issue.
"Let me just be clear that this is not cosplay. Well, it can be cosplay, right now it's not!"
But the most apparent difference, of course, is the size of the kigurumi itself, which is why it falls under the type 2.0 classification. Not the average pajama you'll sleep with, and more like something along the lines of these kigurumi with similar inspiration for motifs.
As a reference, here's another chicken kigurumi that you might more directly associate with the much more familiar (and available) type 1.0, though the yellow also falls under type 2.0
"What about the penguin kigurumi you wore last episode two?"
"Wait, are we using penguin meat for dinner?"
Yukiho was the unfortunate(?) lady who had to answer the doorbell for Yayoi. She gives a general remark of Yayoi having already worn the same thing before, but miss chicken kigurumi quickly corrected her that it was a penguin kigurumi during the previous two episodes.
"Behold, the ultimate answer to time-consuming wrapped and steamed delicacies."
"...You might as well just make omurice at that size."
So what kind of dinner were they making exactly? They were trying to make gyoza (pot stickers). You know, the type of food that you have to prepare by hand one by one?
For a long-sleeved suit like a kigurumi, it could get rollingly difficult, even if it's mostly Ritsuko that's mixing the filling. Especially so, if the sleeves happen to be built like a chicken's wings as we see here. She didn't seem to mind though, as her solution to the issue was simply to wrap a single huge gyoza. Hmm, this actually reminds me of that infamous jumbo gyoza at Kagurazaka-Hanten in Shinjuku.
By the way, it's unclear if they were using chicken specifically as the main meat, but we'd like to imagine that it is the case. Otherwise we might have seen a pig kigurumi instead.
"The focus on her veers off a short moment, and now this."
Yukiho... doesn't have any impact in this moment, unfortunately. So we'll skip her for this blog entry.
"Well, I almost forgot that this isn't a slice of life anime."
"You two sure are enjoying over there though."
As for Iori, she's definitely not amused by the current set of developments, talks back at the excited Yayoi, who yet again provides a quick correction that her chicken kigurumi is not a cosplay. She's never going to give up on that would she?
"You know, our poses and these images remind me of something else"
"Try splitting and combining the image in two vertical halves then."
Nope, she pretty much didn't. Like some agitated rooster, Yayoi started going offensive towards Iori. First by snapping similar sarcastic remarks with Haruka as support...
"Well, excuuuse me Sunshine Forehead, didn't realize you're such a partypooper"
"Says the guest who literally came walking in with a chicken kigurumi."
...and then directly attacking her "head on" when simpler verbal abuses didn't work. Iori, being the feisty gal that she already is, didn't back down either. You can probably already guess where this is going.
"I'm going to pretend that nothing is happening behind me and... oops!"
That's right. It ended up being a mess for all of them, with the most of the filling getting scattered all around the dining room. RIP Yayoi's chicken kigurumi. It was a short trip from the wardrobe to the gyoza wrapping factory. Let's just hope that it is the washing-machine-safe variety.
And in case you're wondering, Iori and Haruka eventually settled their differences later during the same episode...the motivation for which having no relation to Yayoi's kigurumi moments whatsoever.
Maybe they should have kept Yayoi's kigurumi lover perk outside of Idolmaster: Xenoglossia and let it out into the mainstream after all.