Epaulettes win with AKB48's Final Fantasy XIII-2 costume

12:00 PM on 12.05.2011   |   Josh Tolentino

In a move that proves Japanese gamers have great taste in their game characters' shoulder accouterments, otaku have decided that Final Fantasy XIII-2's Serah will be wearing the fancy, epaulette-equipped costume, designed by AKB48's  Yuko Oshima.

The outfit, named "Exposure and Defense" for some unfathomable reason, was up against another Oshima-designed costume, a skimpy number sporting a red hood, dubbed "Little Red Riding Hood". The more sensible outfit won by more than six thousand votes, proving once and for all that having cool, pseudo-military shoulders is where it's at. The outfit will make it into some future FFXIII-2 download content to be released for free.

Additionally, Oshima will be cosplaying in the outfit at a promotional event, which should draw in fans of the group, as well as regular Final Fantasy adherents.

Clearly, I am pleased that "Exposure and Defense" won out. There are times and places for your clothes to have a hood, and those times are closer to the ones wherein one must dress up like Assassin's Creed's Ezio Auditore.