Coming from a background in fashion, I always enjoy examining how video game designers utilize a combination of costume and character design to send messages to their players. I find that creatives, whether cartoonists or fashion designers or video game designers, use fashion and design as means of foreshadowing plot elements to the player, and also as a means to hint at a character's needs, desires and given/developed personality. When finally presented with a game that features both human characters and quite a few fashion moments, I was instantly excited to explore these characters through their fashion and though the progression of the game took me by surprise, I was very intrigued by how each character was wholly represented through fashion and I suppose this post is my breakdown of some interesting takes on the style of Doki Doki Literature Club. Sayori: An Alice that can't be Contained
Recognized notably for the way she wears her uniform, Sayori is a very peculiar fashion plate to examine. She epitomizes the classic genki girl, characterized by more childish and feminine accessories like a ribbon headband, coral hair and simplistic, pink top and denim shorts in her casual look. In many ways, her style can be compared to Alice from Alice in Wonderland, particularly in how she fits (or doesn't fit) into her clothes. A lot of Sayori's style points towards a more overtly emotional character, which we also pick up from her poems and the words she favors in the poetry-making minigame. Her open blazer, which differentiates her style from all the other members of the literature club, points to Sayori being both more emotionally open, and less put-together and organized, which the game admits in many instances. Furthermore, her open blazer and her cropped sleeve, and short casual outfit seem to hint at her exterior being unable to contain the vulnerabilities of what is going on inside. This idea of being or having uncontainable emotion is a pretty notable feature in Sayori's persona, and and early indication that perhaps there would be tension with regards to that later in game. It's a need to keep in heavy emotion, but an inability to do so.
Natsuki: A Hardened Magical Girl
Natsuki, the youngest member of the club, represents a subversive take on the traditional character trope of the Tsundere. While she embodies the cold-turned-warm relationship dynamic of the Tsundere, Natsuki's style would be more traditionally categorized as that of a genki-girl because of its hyper femininity and Lolita-esque elements like pink frills, ribbons and short hair tied in ponytails. Many have drawn comparisons between Natsuki and the popular magical girl Anime character: Puella Magi Madoka, who embodies that genki-girl persona. The direct subversion of what players may have expected of Natsuki suggests that Natsuki's hyper cuteness acts as an escapist, cover for trauma. Heavily implied that Natsuki faces both the emotional baggage of caring for Yuri as well as an abusive father, and also an overt interest in manga points to her magical-girl style to be a means of escaping the harshness of her life. Controlling elements like personal conduct may be all she has to control, and in some ways, an attachment to cute things may signify a need to be adored, loved and cherished.
Yuri: The Shrinking Violet Corrupted to Perform
The Dandere or Shrinking Violet of the group, Yuri's style represents her sophisticated and shy persona. The most mature of all the girls in the club, Yuri wears her clothing with a very mature and conservative hand. From a fully buttoned school uniform (despite her fuller figure) and a heavy turtle-neck sweater in her casual look; much of Yuri's style revolves around a need to hide herself, which makes sense given Yuri's self harm. It's a dynamic contrast to how Monika manipulates her to be far more performatively destructive in the second act of the game. Probably the most shocking twist of all the characters, Yuri's character design represents how styling of a character can ease players into a false sense of security with a character; though the heightened and almost fetishy sexuality of Yuri's fullness, even through heavy sweaters and restrictive clothing implied that there was something bubbling up beneath the conservative exterior.
Monika: The control-freak squid.
Probably the most interesting of all the characters as far as design and style, Monika is most distinguished by the way she separates herself from her club members. Even in the title page, Monika wears black stockings instead of white and is the only character wearing red shoes, while all the others wear blue. The attempt to distinguish herself from the other girls also implies a need to be noticed, which as we all know is Monika's central struggle in the game. Notably, she also wears her hair in one long ponytail, which was a peculiar choice. I personally thought that it looked like a large squid's tentacle, only because Natsuki compares her to a fried squid by saying that it's in her name (Ika is japanese for squid, a joke that wouldn't be understood in translation), and I also thought her dark tights to be a nod at squid's ink, but that might just be personal speculation. What's more viable is that the choice to tie up Monika's hair may be an attempt to represent's Monika's need for control. She doesn't like having hair in her face or in the way of what she wants; there's a practicality to keeping her hair up, and also it allows for a better sightline with the player. This is complimented by her illustration design: Monika is the only character who faces the player face on, giving her an eerie look past the fourth wall. The choice to give her a westernized name strikes me as curious too, only because it would bring her closer to the western player, which was likely intended to draw a connection between the player and Monika, which would be later subverted. She and Sayori are also the only characters to have human eye colors, which once again connects her more closely to the player.
So those were my thoughts on the styling of DDLC, if anyone else has any thoughts on the fashion of the game, I'd love to hear them.
i'd also like to point out the very deliberate posing of the characters. so most would agree posing is key to letting an audience know some aspect of a character's personality even before they speak or interact, and in ddlc it's done skillfully as any game with a varied cast of characters is expected to. however, the one sprite that still bothers me to this day is monika's main sprite. the others show some sense of personality, be it a relaxed, shy, or confrontational disposition.
however, monika is literally just... standing there. i don't know, her pose could even be compared to a menacing t-pose or those comedically static front facing sprites that the danganronpa franchise is now obscenely notorious…
As someone who doesn't often pay attention to the clothing of characters, I found this analysis very ground shaking. When playing Doki Doki Literature Club, I found Yuri's character presence particularly unsettling. For a while I thought it was mainly because of the way she carried herself in a reserved manner. It was almost as if the shyness of her character made me anticipate a really dark inner character. Now that you bring up the way her clothing echoes that, I might think there is more to the reason I felt that way. One question I have after reading your post is, to what extent does Yuri's clothing and shy personality work to foreshadow her darker personality? Without the shy…