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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/seifuku17.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:300:[-Everyone looks good in a Sailor Fuku. Even mechas.-][[note]]From top left then down: [[Franchise/SailorMoon Usagi Tsukino]], [[Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei Chiri Kitsu (L) and Kafuka Fuura (R)]], [[Manga/InuYasha Kagome Higurashi]], Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya, [[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Sakura Kasugano]], [[Anime/BloodTheLastVampire Saya]], [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Nobel Gundam]][[/note]]]]
3
4->''"Take it away! I should be the one who'll be laughing in the end\
5Because of my sailor suit←this is my conclusion\
6It's only Monday! Already in a bad mood? What to do?\
7I really prefer the summer outfits←kya? wah! good (cute)v"''
8-->-- ''Manga/LuckyStar'' opening theme (okay, it sounds better in Japanese, but...)
9
10Sailor Fuku (rendered in [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseWritingSystem katakana]] as ''serafuku'') refers to the characteristic [[http://fr.academic.ru/pictures/frwiki/83/Sailor-fuku_for_winter.jpg "sailor suit"]] schoolgirl uniforms worn in Japan. Sailor fuku uniforms are actually based on late Victorian/early 20th-century "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_dress_reform rational dress]]" [[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/File:Science_ofDress101Fig6.png girl's fashions]] (themselves based on European naval uniforms), but the prevalence of sailor-suited school girls in anime, manga, and other forms of Japanese media show how iconic the sailor fuku is in Japan. This is true despite many Japanese schools having switched to uniforms like those of today's Western private schools. However, there are some American schools that use sailor fuku.
11
12Sailor-suit uniforms may be a vehicle for FanService as well, as the uniform skirts are often depicted as being dangerously short. This alteration, while it may be off-putting to those who are not used to anime or manga-based media, is so common that it is rarely commented on or questioned, and it has become TruthInTelevision to some degree.[[note]]In RealLife, the skirt's mandatory length often varies a lot depending on the school, the prefecture and the particular student's preference. Even whenever the skirt is long, many modern students choose to wear it shortened above the knee for fashion, allure or comfort, either by folding it over the waistband or by using a belt underneath so they can also wear it the official way in formal occasions. This custom, which originated early into TheNineties, has been influenced by anime aesthetics and vice versa.[[/note]] Ironically, in the '70s and late '80s, the common image of a ''sukeban'' or [[JapaneseDelinquents female delinquent]] had an extremely ''long'' skirt, but this appears less frequently these days.
13
14Uniforms may be altered in other ways to [[NonuniformUniform distinguish certain characters]], [[CustomUniformOfSexy especially ones considered particularly beautiful]]. The aforementioned Japanese delinquents also showcase a number of modifications, which was sometimes cited as a factor to shift away altogether from sailor-style uniforms among senior high school students.
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16This is more a Japanese cultural trope than an Anime Trope but is found prominently in anime, especially on {{Joshikousei}}; compare the Western trope CatholicSchoolGirlsRule.
17
18It may depend on the region, but in RealLife the sailor suit (and the traditional male counterpart, the ''gakuran'' -- a black ensemble with a high collar, based on Prussian officer uniforms) has become largely the domain of middle/{{junior high}} schools, whereas high schools have shifted towards more fashionable or professional-looking styles of uniform, often with tailored blazers, vests, neckties, and plaid skirts. Elementary schools, if they have a uniform, tend towards collarless jackets and skirts with suspenders -- and sometimes, students wear their gym uniforms during class and change into their formal uniforms when outside of the school or attending ceremonies.
19
20See SchoolSportUniform and SchoolSwimsuit for other types of Japanese uniforms often used to a similar effect in media.
21
22Compare SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack, since some examples here have the uniform as their standard outfit.
23
24----
25!!Example Subpages
26[[index]]
27* SailorFuku/AnimeAndManga
28* SailorFuku/VideoGames
29[[/index]]
30!!Other Examples
31[[foldercontrol]]
32[[folder:Comic Books]]
33* Itchy-Koo of ''ComicBook/NinjaHighSchool'' wore one. Unlike most examples, hers was actually tasteful.
34* One cover of ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' had Mina Mongoose donning one as the issue was dedicated to showing our heroes in school.
35* Skin Bender of ''ComicBook/GhostRider'' wears one, due to being an AffectionateParody of Sailor Venus.
36[[/folder]]
37
38[[folder:Fan Works]]
39* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'': Italy wore one when he [[{{Cosplay}} cosplayed]] as Sailor Moon. Too bad the uniform gets ripped to shreds seconds later by Germany and Japan as they tore into Italy like a piece of fresh meat.
40* ''Manga/Evangelion303'': Although Asuka wears an army uniform [[http://grummancat.deviantart.com/art/Asuka-s-alternate-uniforms-167804766 it is based on the marine-blue-and-white fuku of the anime]].
41* In ''Fanfic/WhereTalentGoesToDie'', Reiko Mitamura wears a dark serafuku, while Sora Hoshino and Sousuke Kagami wear gakuran uniforms. Most of the others wear blazer uniforms or their own clothes, although Ami Yuuki briefly borrows Mitamura's serafuku.
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
45* Used twice in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTroubleInTokyo'':
46** Some of Beast Boy's Japanese fangirls [[RunningGag that follow him everywhere]] are clad in either ''serafuku'' or blazer uniforms.
47** The WiseBeyondHerYears little girl that Stafire befriends [[spoiler:and helps her [[HesBack recover her spunk]] so she can search for Robin and her friends]] is wearing a ''serafuku'' with a blue shirt and black skirt.
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
51* The live-action adaptation of ''Anime/BloodTheLastVampire'' has finally brought this fetish to the silver screen.
52* Creator/EmilyBrowning's character in ''Film/SuckerPunch'' appears to do this.
53* In ''Film/TwoBrothers'', Raoul, a French boy in [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchColonialEmpire 1920's French Indochina]], wears the Western sailor suit fashion that became the basis for the use of sailor suits as school uniforms in Japan.
54* Featured prominently in ''Film/SailorSuitAndMachineGun'' (as the title indicates), a film about an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who inherits the leadership of a {{yakuza}} clan.
55* ''Film/AlmostAngels'' depicts the RealLife sailor suit uniform of the Vienna Boys Choir. Needless to say there are several variations from the Japanese school girl model, most notably the use of trousers instead of skirts.
56* In Luchino Visconti adaptation of ''Literature/DeathInVenice'', [[LongHairedPrettyBoy Tadzio]] wears a male sailor suit.
57* In Ingmar Bergman's "Film/FannyAndAlexander" children (both boys and girls) wear sailor suits more than once in the movie. As it was popular in children's fashion back when the movie takes place (early 1900s) this should not surprise. Even Alexander's teddy bear wears one.
58* The ArmCannon equipped heroine of ''TheMachineGirl'' wears a ''serafuku'' for her RoaringRampageOfRevenge despite being a college student.
59* In ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'', the Von Trapp children wear sailor suits (with skirts for the girls, with shorts for the boys) prior to Maria making CurtainClothing for them.
60* In ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'' Violet Beauregarde appears to be wearing a red version of this in her introduction scene.
61[[/folder]]
62
63[[folder:Literature]]
64* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Touma's unnamed high school has the standard gakuran for boys and serafuku for girls. Mikoto's prestigious girls-only middle school uses blazers, but her friends Saten and Uiharu wear serafuku at their more mundane middle school.
65* ''Literature/DateALive'': Raizen High School uses blazers for both boys and girls, but Miku's girl-only academy uses serafuku, as does Kotori's middle school. [[spoiler:Mana's middle school from 30 years ago, and Kurumi's girl-only high school from around that same period, both used serafuku as well.]]
66* Mairu [[spoiler:Orihara]] from ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' wears a standard black sailor fuku when in school. [[CustomUniform Even when that school uses blazer style uniforms]].
67* In ''Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero'' Saito spots a military sailor uniform being sold and knows what to do. With some modifications to the top and adding a skirt, he produces a sailor fuku replica and sets about convincing Siesta to wear it to her bemusement. It ends up making the rounds at the school as different girls try it out.
68* The school uniforms that [[https://imgur.com/a/nMBv1 Saki and her friends]] of both genders wear in ''Literature/FromTheNewWorld'' are definitely based on the ''fuku''.
69* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' revolves around a [[JapaneseSchoolClub high-school club]], and thus, sailor fuku appear in abundance. In the first novel, Kyon [[LampshadeHanging wonders]] if the principal has a fetish for this since male students at North High wear blazers and ties, but girls wear the more traditional sailor uniform.
70* Kamiyama High School in ''Literature/{{Hyouka}}'' also features white-navy blue sailor fuku with blue scarves as uniforms for girls. ''Gakuran'' is also used for boys. These uniforms are based on actual uniforms of Hida High School, the original which Kamiyama High taken from.
71* The sailor fuku worn in ''Literature/MariaWatchesOverUs'' are [[TruthInTelevision more realistic than most examples in media]], since they have very long skirts and are generally not meant to look very flattering; they also appear to be one-piece dresses, as opposed to the typical separate blouse and skirt. There's a notable scene early on in which Sachiko first meets Yumi while fixing the latter's neckerchief.
72* One of the reasons Kumiko Oumae from ''Literature/SoundEuphonium'' chose her school was because it was one of the few high schools around that still used sailor fuku, reflecting the [[RealLife real-life]] trend of phasing out sailor fuku as high school uniforms as explained above.
73* ''Literature/TaishoBaseballGirls'' takes place in 1925. Quite a big deal is made about some of the female cast wearing the new, Western-style sailor fuku uniforms rather than the traditional kimono and hakama Japanese schoolgirls would typically wear to school before that point.
74[[/folder]]
75
76[[folder:Live Action TV]]
77* ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'': Tendou Juka, Tendou Souji's little sister, is a prime example.
78* Surprisingly, ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. In the episode "Court Martial", a young girl is wearing a futuristic sailor fuku. [[HilariousInHindsight Humorously enough]], it looks like something Sailor Mercury would wear.
79* ''Series/{{Oshin}}'' features Oshin's sons Yuu and Hitoshi, who go to school right before UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and therefore wear ''gakuran'' as uniforms.
80* ''Series/MillionYenWomen'': Midori, the youngest of the women, is still in high school and wears that style of uniform.
81* ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'': In the subplot of Season 7's "Team Cherokee", a young girl whom Trent and Carlos rescued from a pedophile (then had to recover Trent's stolen car from an auto-theft ring in order to recover the evidence needed to convict him) was seen wearing one of these.
82[[/folder]]
83
84[[folder:Music]]
85* Chibi from Music/TheBirthdayMassacre wears a sailor suit in the video for "Looking Glass".
86* Music/SasakureUK's ''Fukashigi Monoyukasy'': The illustrations for "A Millennium and the Spiral, For Things that Fall" and "Ki Ki Kai Kai" depict Nagare as a young boy in a ''gakuran''.
87[[/folder]]
88
89[[folder:Visual Novels]]
90* ''VideoGame/YoakeMaeYoriRuriiroNa'' gives sailor uniforms to about half the haremettes: Feena (as an exchange student), Natsuki, Mai, and Midori wear it when they attend Katherina Academy.
91* In ''VisualNovel/KisetsuODakishimete'' (the 2nd game of the ''VisualNovel/{{Yarudora}}'' series), the school blazer Mayu wears when the player character first finds her is a plot point. At several moments of the storyline, they use it to try and find the school it's affiliated to, and consequently [[QuestForIdentity discover Mayu's identity]]. It doesn't work, nobody they ask has ever seen this blazer. When following the [[spoiler:"Spirit of the Cherry Trees"]] storyline, it's implied the blazer is [[spoiler:the one Mayu's sister Mami, who just came back from overseas, wore when she was accidented]].
92* Athena Cykes has one as a DLC costume in ''Franchise/AceAttorney''. Even all the female law students in 5-3, Including Juniper and Scuttlebutt, excluding [[spoiler:Robin Newman]], wear this.
93* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' has many girls wearing ''serafuku'' and some boys wearing ''gakuran'', while others have blazer uniforms. They all differ quite a bit in design, since the kids originally attended different schools:
94** In the first one Sayaka Maizono and Sakura Ogami wear fukus with white blouses and short blue skirts, and Sayaka adds ZettaiRyouiki. Toko Fukawa wears one as well, with a much longer skirt than the other two. Among the boys, Kiyotaka Ishimaru wears a white ''gakuran'' and Mondo Oowada has a darker one modified to look [[JapaneseDelinquents like a delinquent one]]. [[spoiler:The flashbacks to the time they all went to Hope's Peak Academy has them wearing the school's Western uniforms, though]].
95** [[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair The sequel]] has Peko Pekoyama and Ibuki Mioda, with Peko's looking almost like Fukawa's but with a shorter skirt and [[ProperTightsWithASkirt tights]] and Ibuki's also adding ZettaiRyouiki. Among the boys, Hajime Hinata wears what looks like a summer version of a blazer uniform and Nekomaru Jidai wears a long ''gakuran'' jacket.
96** ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'' has Fukawa again, plus Naegi's younger sister Komaru. The former's uniform has seen better days, and she apparently wants to become a full member of the Future Foundation to get a change of clothing. The latter had a blazer uniform when she was briefly seen in the first game, but said she got her current uniform as a replacement when the one she had wore out. [[spoiler:There's also the "Kill List" featuring the loved ones of the students in the first game: out of them, Leon's cousin Kanon is shown in ''serafuku'']].
97** In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' Shuichi Saihara has a simple dark blue ''gakuran'' and both Kokichi Ouma and Korekiyo Shinguji have heavily modified ones. On the other hand Miu Iruma, Tenko Chabashira and Maki Harukawa wear just as heavily personalized ''serafuku'' while Kaede Akamatsu has a blazer uniform.
98* In ''VisualNovel/TrueLoveJunaiMonogatari'', the girls from the PlayerCharacter's highschool wear the traditional white and light blue ''serafuku''.
99* The Hinamizawa school in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' is a small rural schoolhouse with a single class of students from elementary though high school grades, so it has a very lax dress code and [[CustomUniform everyone wears different outfits as "uniforms"]]. However, Rena wears a traditional sailor fuku (made of a white blouse with a blue collar, a long blue pleated skirt, and a yellow scarf) and Satoko uses a light blue-green dress with a white sailor collar/greenish scarf that's clearly inspired by fukus.
100* The girls' uniform in ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' is a sailor fuku. The summer uniform has a ribbon for the sailor collar, but the winter uniform lacks it.
101* In the standard branch of the ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' series (aka ''Tokimeki Memorial 1'' to ''4''), only the first game has an actual sailor fuku as Kirameki High School's uniform, with the schools in the next two games using blazers. When ''Tokimeki Memorial 4'', set in the same high school as the first game fifteen years later, was announced, some fans cried "TheyChangedItNowItSucks" regarding the change of Kirameki High's iconic sailor fuku to a blazer-type uniform: the complaint fortunately died down quickly, thanks to Creator/{{Konami}}'s [[TakeAThirdOption clever move]] of making Kirameki High ''gradually'' change its uniform, so that the two senpai characters keep the sailor fuku as the last graduating class to wear it, while the main protagonist and the characters in the same year as him and below wear the new blazer uniforms.
102* ''VisualNovel/KindredSpiritsOnTheRoof'' features two ghosts clad in sailor fuku uniforms- Sachi, who died 80 years ago, wears a black one while Megumi, who died 30 years ago, wears a white one- and presumably, [[JacobMarleyApparel they died wearing them]], since Sachi died at school. In the present day, the school phased out the sailor fuku in favor of a vaguely blazer-style uniform with button-down shirts, plaid skirts and sweater vests.
103[[/folder]]
104
105[[folder:Webcomics]]
106* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', [[RaisedByWolves Grace]] pictures herself and most other female characters wearing fuku in her school-related DreamSequence. This is probably meant to imply that her impression of school up until that point came almost entirely [[http://egscomics.com/?date=2007-05-23 from watching anime]]. Judging by the design, it's specifically ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh''.
107* The heroine of ''MAQ #41'' used to wear Japanese uniforms to school. Since she lives in the United States this was viewed as quite odd and helped make her a target for bullying.
108* ''Webcomic/TheWotch'': The spell used to turn Professor Sorgaz into [=MingMei=] Wu was allegedly created by a "rabid anime fanboy" which is why she ended up Ka-fuku'd as well as "Ka-Girled." Since it also gave her a Chinese name he must have been ''ignorant'' as well as rabid. She ditches the fuku after Anne undoes the part of the spell that is messing with her head.
109* In the ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' Act 6 Intermission 3 Ministrife, among the many different costumes that can be seen, Damara is wearing a serafuku.
110* Chihiro (and the other girls in her school) in ''Webcomic/TokiNoTanaka'' [[http://www.tokinotanaka.com/comic/episode-1-page-6 wears a fuku]].
111* [[https://megatokyo.com/strip/336 Lampshaded]] in ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'', where Seraphim is bemused by Piro's serafuku fetish. Doubles as a ShoutOut since the one she wears to make her point is the girls' uniform from ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}''.
112[[/folder]]
113
114[[folder:Web Original]]
115* ''Literature/SailorNothing'', as well as Sailors Truth and Beauty, wear embellished versions of their school uniforms when they're in sailor form.
116* Music/{{Vocaloid}} Rin Kagamine wears a sailor fuku top, though it's sleeveless. Her [[FlipFlopOfGod twin brother / mirror image]] Len wears a sleeved one.
117* In the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', Tennyo's school uniform is based on this design.
118** During the orientation for a group of new students arriving in the Winter term, Sgt. Wilson begins to explain that they would be expected to wear a school uniform most of the time... at which point [[TheTrickster Thorn]] uses ectoplasm to manifest himself a sailor fuku, complete with [[Franchise/SailorMoon blonde pigtails]] and a MagicalGirl wand.
119--->“You’d better be careful with the drag, kid,” Wilson warned. “You looked too good like that. It could get you in trouble.”\
120“Oh, trouble? Perish forbid!” Thorn murmured.
121* The [[http://www.elouai.com eLouai Candy Bar]] allows you to dress {{Virtual Paper Doll}}s in a number of sailor tops and skirts.
122* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Anjren's outfit resembles this.
123[[/folder]]
124
125[[folder:Western Animation]]
126* Katana, the (at first) girl Outsider in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', wore a sailor suit in Season 1. However, in Season 2, she ditched it for the classic costume of her comic book counterpart.
127* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Clementine}}'', the protagonist Clementine Dumant's most iconic outfit is a short-skirted sailor suit. It's not as surprising as one might think, since such clothing was sometimes worn by young girls in the Western world during the interwar years.
128* Whenever Aja from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' is shown as a child she wears a red sailor suit for some reason. It could be Creator/ToeiAnimation accidentally putting Japanese tropes into an American setting.
129* [[ThePrimadonna Lily]] wears one in ''WesternAnimation/KappaMikey'', even though she actually is not a student.
130* ''WesternAnimation/NapoleonDynamite'': In the second episode, a scantron dating machine pairs Napoleon up with a Japanese foreign exchange student named Tokiko, who's sporting Sailor Fuku and every other Japanese schoolgirl-related trope you can imagine.
131* ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'': The Sorceress in her human disguise, Amanda Levay.
132* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'': Madison, the President's daughter wears one.
133* "WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends": Becky, from the episode "Lost and Foundling", wears one.
134* Dot's Animesque design in the big anime fight scene in the ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020'' episode "Bun Control" sports a pink sailor outfit, because it just wouldn't be an anime tribute without one.
135[[/folder]]
136
137[[folder:Real Life]]
138* Logically, the ''sailor fuku'' and the ''gakuran'' are still in use among Japanese schools. Though as mentioned above, middle-schoolers are more likely to wear it.
139* The murderer of the Japanese left-right politician [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inejiro_Asanuma Inejiro Asanuma]] was the 17-year-old right-winger [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoya_Yamaguchi Otoya Yamaguchi]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Death_of_Inejiro_Asanuma.jpg who was wearing a gakuran]] as he commited such a crime.
140* [[http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/02/19/japanese-twitter-user-illustrates-the-difference-between-schoolgirl-uniforms-in-major-cities/ A Japanese twitter user illustrates the differences between schoolgirl uniforms in major cities]], including serafuku and blazer uniforms. See [[https://daydaynews.cc/en/international/93701.html here]] for the ways students use to shorten the skirt.
141* [[http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/10/15/sailor-style-school-uniform-outfits-for-men-are-warm-fleecy-and-said-to-reduce-stress/ Some sailor fuku specially tailored for men]] and [[http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/05/12/rocketnews24s-meg-models-the-entire-line-of-japans-new-schoolgirl-outfit-loungewear others outfitted for non-school use]] have been released in Japan.
142[[/folder]]

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