Following an interdimensional incident, the JSDF is pushed into defending Japan’s interests in the Special Zone, a fantasy world with dragons, demigods, and mages aplenty. Early on, the Type IV Flecktarn Pattern is developed specifically for use in expeditionary operations. It bears a passing resemblance to the US Woodland Pattern that saw extensive use in the 80s minus the black and brown. The idea was to equip soldiers with cheap equipment that would pose less of a risk if JSDF forces had to abandon their gear. The soldiers from the modern world quickly picked up the moniker “The Green Men” from the locals.

Early on, Yoji Itami doesn’t seem like a competently trained warfighter, especially when you consider his status as an otaku. After he’s given a full kit and command of a selection from Japan’s finest, the doubt flies out of the window. The image of a young officer sitting, and sometimes fighting, beside knights clad in plate armor gives a wonderful sense of dissonance that highlights the anime’s premise of two worlds colliding on a massive scale.

The students of Hope’s Peak Academy toss away the concept of solidarity most uniforms are meant to push, each set being a stand-out expression of their personality and background. Among the boys, the disparity between Kiyotaka Ishimaru and Mondo Owata’s style of dress is the most striking.

Kiyotaka, in order to preserve his family’s honor, lived a strictly regimented life of hard studying, forgoing video games, TV, and even his social life. His pure white military-inspired uniform drapes a visible symbol of the dedication and self-discipline he weathered over his shoulders. Mondo, on the other hand, is the rabble-rousing leader of a biker gang brought up to be tough from a young age. He’s seen in a massive open jacket that shows off a hint of some impressive muscles, just like one of the stronger stereotypical images of high school delinquents in other titles.

The original 70s anime decked out the Eagle Riders in heavily avian-inspired Sentai suits that were rather striking for their time. While the heroes of the most recent installment made a transition to metallic, highly individualized sets of power armor favoring bright pastel colors, members of the G-Crew still retain the iconic cry of “Bird go!” when it’s time to transform and lay down the law on some bad guys.
Keeping with his likeness to the stoic image of a virtuous samurai, Sugane Tachibana's uniform takes on a sharp, stoic appearance with a more serious design than his peers. It goes well with his strict adherence to his organizations’ core codes.

Ah yes, the plugsuit. These technological marvels are built to match an individual’s specifications and contain a small selection of devices to monitor a pilot’s vital signs and provide basic medical relief in addition to giving them an easier time controlling their mecha. Nifty, but they don’t seem stocked with nearly enough features to give wearers more than a good old college try against the damage an Angel could do if they pierce their cockpits.

On Shinji, the plugsuit really drives home how small he is without the squared shoulders and thick overcoats of other uniforms. The choice of form-fitting material makes him look fragile, even behind the bulk of his EVA unit. Whether intentional or not, the plugsuit offers another harsh dose of genre deconstruction. Who could have guessed that sending teenagers off to do battle with eldritch abominations would prove detrimental to their mental wellbeing?

The uniforms of Scepter 4 take on a certain knightly charm, they feature deep blue dress coats with little variation spared for the higher-ups, even down to their swords. Taken out of context, you wouldn’t be hard-pressed to convince someone that they were musketeers.

The design choice is largely telling of their police organization roots and fits well with their goal to track the movements of other individuals with supernatural talents in an effort to maintain the structure that the other clans upset through the use of their powers.

Of note is the fact that Scepter 4’s king, Reisi Munakata only bears a black border around the chest of his uniform and a saber with a slightly expanded hand guard. He’s a man that commands respect yet remains on the ground level with his subordinates, never asking more of them than he would ask of himself.

The uniforms of the Nadesico’s crew are a mix between stylish and practical, you can see cues taken from other sci-fi anime titles like the original Gundam in the way that alternate colors and slightly futuristic baubles are trimmed into the shoulders, with the rest typically resembling modern military dress clothes.
Akito Tenkawa goes into battle wearing a yellow cook’s uniform rather than the standard red of the other pilots. The fact that he doesn’t drop his kitchen garb highlights his gentle nature and presence as a reluctant participant in the conflict with the Jovians. He never wanted to fight, but he’ll sure as hell throw down to defend the new home and almost-family he’s grown to love.

The Thirteen Court Guard Squads eschew the usual tattered robes and scythes that one would expect death gods to hold as a symbol of their office, instead, Tite Kubo’s Shinigami pay homage to their titles by donning primarily black kimonos, a color strongly associated with the finality of death, or in the case of the series, just its certainty.

Being a military organization, functional variations exist to easily signify distinctions in rank and division affiliation for most officers, take the simple inclusion of a sash in Hanataro Yamada’s uniform, for example.

Captains and lieutenants are often given leave to make extensive modifications to their uniforms, (good luck finding a quartermaster brave enough to complain about dress code adherence) Shunsui Kyoraku presents himself as a fine specimen with the way he drapes an additional flower-patterned piece over his captain’s haori. Together with the cream blue obi, he looks more like an easygoing uncle figure that may or may not have just emerged from a midlife crisis than a leader of monster-slaying guardians of the afterlife.

The most common piece of protective gear given as a leg up against the alien menace is simply known as the basic suit. They look a lot like the bodysuits used for motion capture with the nodules spread through their skintight material. While undamaged, they give wearers superb boons to their physical strength and endurance, allowing for herculean feats like leaping several stories in the air without worrying about something so mundane as a few broken bones on the way down.

The basic suit does provide some equal opportunity eye candy, especially on the young men with fuller forms like Masaru Kato, but you’re more likely to scream than salivate as the package comes with front row seats to the raw deal that is the anime’s plot. While impressive against modern hazards, the suits stand up to scarier alien threats like wet paper resists bullets.

Despite being filled with tree-sailing chakra sorcerers that know how to throw a punch, practical design philosophy reigns over the wardrobe of most senior members of the shinobi world. Probably because anyone caught out in a big, flowing ensemble in the field is either very good, or very dead. In Boruto, there are as many variations on standard gear as there are countries, each a result of founding symbology and adaptation to their home environments. It’d eat up the full length of this article if we described each one, so we’ll just take a quick look at a series mainstay, the post-war flak vests of the Hidden Leaf.
The pieces are of a sleeker, more compressed design than those of the previous generation, helping along the imagery of a world in advance. One can speculate that the transition either came from leaps made in material science or a simple lack of need for the heavier design as conflicts around the world deescalate.
They make for a rather neat fit on Kakashi and Guy. Seeing the two old dogs in new clothes is both a treat and a testament to their incredible wisdom and prowess as they aren’t swept away by winds of time.

Though many of the uniform variants in Code Geass deserve their own mention, the outfit Lelouch vi Britannia wears while under the guise of Zero stands out as the symbol of Japan’s rebellion as well as the anime itself.

The cloaked, dark color scheme of Zero’s uniform is in direct opposition to the primarily white theme of Britannia’s elite Knights of the Round, brazenly challenging the authority of the empire that would see Japan under its thumb. It also emphasizes Zero’s position as an avenging anti-hero, willing to go to absurd lengths to tear down the current power structure in pursuit of his country’s independence.

Literature class stuff aside, can we take a moment to revel in how fabulous it looks? That cloak and head reaching collar are enough to make Dracula jealous!