#rsa analysis

Dorm Fashion Style

As referenced in this post by @twstarchives, Yana Toboso wanted each dorm to look “mismatched” when lined up together, with emphasis in reflecting the different tones, themes and settings of the Disney films they were honoring/referencing. 

Octavinelle’s dorm is described as “employees of a jazz lounge”, which can also be interpreted as a business men, suit and tie, kind of vibe. It flows with the character of Ursula: a witch that entrapped many merfolk with predatory contracts. In the Disney wikia, it states: “Pat Carroll, Ursula's voice actress, envisioned the character as ‘part Shakespearean actress, with all the flair, flamboyance and theatricality, and part used-car salesman with a touch of con artist’.” 

The uniform is flamboyant (although far from the only one) but it’s overall one of the more serious and somber of them all. It’s described in the Wiki.gg of Twst in its entirety as:

- A black tuxedo jacket with matching pants. The jacket can be either buttoned or unbuttoned. - A lavender colored dress shirt. A black cummerbund is worn around the waist, visible when the jacket is open. - A white bowtie, either tied or untied. - A black fedora with a silver ribbon tied around its middle and tied into a bow. The bow has an ornamental purple seashell in the middle of it. - White gloves and white kerchief in the left breast pocket. - Silver lavender scarf, the same color as the ribbon on the fedora, with the Octavinelle dorm emblem on one side. - Black and white dress shoes, with purple socks emblazoned with a vertical pattern reminiscent of octopus tentacles. - The housewarden of Octavinelle has a white dress shirt instead of a lavender shirt, and has a purple bow tie instead of a white one. The housewarden also has a large grey coat that they typically wear over their shoulders.”

As you can see, the black suit and pants are a direct fashion translation of how Ursula’s body from the chest down to her tentacles is similar to a black dress, her tentacles violet suckers also are referenced in the dorm’s purple socks. And her classic shell necklace is used in their hats and central part of the dorm's crest.

Azul’s dorm uniform shares most of the elements with the rest of his dorm colleagues, with the exceptions mentioned above. Needless to say, it’s crucial that he’s the one that should resemble Ursula the most out of all of them.

The choice of colors for Octavinelle also reflect her influence. Silver from her hair and lavender (or, I could argue a pale lavender that falls into the tone shades of periwinkle) for Ursula’s disguise as Vanessa, more specifically her first periwinkle dress and a black cloak. 

I feel like they probably translated Vanessa's cloak into the outfit as Azul’s gray coat. The combination of black and white also falls into Ursula’s general color scheme and it gives elegance to Azul's figure (and naturally, to his merman form as octopus).

He is the perfect fit in all senses.

Now, unto Marinafinne!

Marinafinne’s dorm uniform, or at least Rielle as Dorm Leader, is a classic simple suit consisting of:

- Rielle has three hair accessories in the shape of little shells and one sea star, and a silver fork in the middle of his fanfiction messy bun. - Sea-green jacket with four parallel golden buttons and pants that get baggy at the top of Rielle’s boots. - The jacket has pink lapels and cuffs, with golden details around both, and special golden embroidery that puffs out like sailor knots (from my view) in the forearm parts. - Marinafinne’s gold dorm crest is pinned in the right lapel, with a cord that has a seashell pending from it. - The inside shirt is a long fabric in very, very light green with a collar and as it descends, it takes on a mermaid tail scales pattern and appearance. Maybe in future art books we’ll see if the entire fabric has the scales print or only that long lower part that goes down until his knees and it appears to be more sheer than the upper part. - Rielle uses his shirt unbuttoned and if you look close enough, the button closer to the vest seems nearly unbuttoned as well. - The vest is purple, buttoned and surrounded by three brown belts with different buckles, some golden accessories hanging out from them, including little golden Sebastian. The last belt excess comes down next to Rielle’s middle. - Hanging from the first and second belt are two types of seashells, with Sebastian on the second as well. Around the third belt it’s a long chain with multiple loops with other trinkets. From left to right: a spoon, a clock in a position at 3 o’clock, a fork, a little golden Flounder, a medallion with a trident engraved and three different types of corkscrews. - These accessories could be personal to Rielle and maybe not mandatory dorm items. - [according to the Wiki Fandom description of the shoes, which I thought were clearer than my own]: (...) His shoes are dark blue button boots that reach his mid-calves. On the front of each boot are pairs of gold buttons secured together by a string of gold lace per pair.

As we can gather, the outfit for Rielle goes for a more “prince-like” vibe, mixing the two movie leads together.

First, traits that could call back to Eric the most are Rielle’s open shirt, the suit buttons structure and maybe (and here I say maybe with the entire salt pot, not a pinch) on the three belts for Eric’s red belt and the two toned boots, although these are more reflective of Ariel’s dark blue heels in her town clothes too.

The rest of the dorm uniform is 100% Ariel.

The green color that’s the same from Ariel’s tail, the purple vest to recall her brasserie shells, the touch of pink is from her iconic princess dress, and need I say more of the mermaid-tail-shirt? The sheer tail of it is a nod to her fins and waist line’s color, I’m guessing. The Disney wikia describes it in a “seafoam green” tone.

I wonder if the baggy ends of the pants are a subtle recall to Ariel’s sail and ropes dress? Could be a reach on my part though.  

It’s an outfit that has a lot of information, but it could mostly be due to Rielle’s own personality and therefore Ariel’s influence. It combines the messiness of her improvised sail and ropes dress and her mermaid form in and of itself.

This post on X has other notes on the possible references. And there's this post from @/a-fairytale-character that also has a quick analysis.

What Does The Design Inform Us?

Putting Azul and Rielle side by side, my impression is that they manage to “talk to each other” in a very specific way. Both use suits but for different aesthetics, a predominant color in each (black/seagreen).

I wonder if it’s on purpose that the color pop of a unique piece (gray coat and light green shirt-tail) comes in two different ways: from outside for Azul, since the coat is on top of his shoulders and reveals a purple exterior, and from inside for Rielle, with the shirt going almost on par with Azul’s coat length.

I could go on more on that but Azul’s scarf is also a pop of color, so we’ll scrap that. Even so I just wanted to bring attention to this neat detail!

Azul’s design is slick and tight, giving him a serious demeanor, trustworthy and business-minded. The monochromatic color scheme also keeps us in secret of what his personality is like. It’s interesting. There’s flashes of purple in the overall outfit but, even there, the overpowering black brings mystery. 

At the same time, if the design is business centered, the person using it is always looking to serve. (Serving who?, is another question.) Azul’s colors make the outfit work seamlessly, his hair, colored after Ursula, was made for that coat. 

On the other hand, Rielle’s abundance of information is in and of itself the main information of his character. He’s extroverted, honest and has nothing to hide from our view, literally using his hobbies on his sleeves… I mean, belts. 

I don’t know if it will be a pattern for RSA’s dorm clothes but I find it interesting that both Rielle and Minajael have their dorm crests outside the clothes themselves (most of NRC’s have prints of the crests) and it seems made of gold. At least that’s my impression of it.

It’s overflowing in vivace. Rielle’s design brings a youthful feel, the unstoppable forces of color in nature. The golden details make sure you know of his status, deep down he’s really a prince and his thingamajigs all over the clothes are his appreciation of what the above shore has to offer. 

Side by side, in the end, they’re perfect opposites. A suit for a business man and a suit for a prince. Monochromatic with somber grays and ominous purples. A splash of maritime colors and warm tones of pink and red.

The final concept of Ursula serves as an antagonistic foil for Ariel in a lot of senses.

Ariel is a young princess, curious and wild, gentle yet reckless, dreams of a world out there, beyond her understanding, wishing to participate in and belong, with a overly positive and romantic view of humans and life in general.

Ursula is an older mermaid, vast knowledge due to experience, well put together, malicious and cunning, plans to conquer back what "belongs" to her, she also has that world that she wants to go back to, presents to Ariel (in an attempt to convince her to give her voice) a warped, negative view of humans.

The boys functions similarly. Azul wants to prove himself to others, so does Rielle but with his father. But they're these sides of the same coin of personality: Azul seems so mature and trustworthy that it's a full on surprise when he's being childish, as for Rielle... we have yet to see of him.

But in summary, the designs work on these points, for better or worse. Working hard to appear mature, over indulgence in one's childness.

The Difference An Sprite Can Make

But I need to address the seagull at the wedding boat ceremony… it’s Rielle’s hair bangs.

Pffff- Okay, it’s way to see the problem. Ever since his design reveal, I was a bit surprised by the team’s decisions and at the same time kinda fascinated. Yes, Rielle’s design is messy but, at the same time, the information it conveys is very objective of who he is and we feel like we know him from the start.

That isn’t to say that the mixture of colors could be better directed, especially the pink. Since the dorm color is green, the inclusion of pink in the clothes doesn't seem all that necessary aside from the mentioned “reference” points. 

But it’s the sprite that makes it a little more difficult to buy their idea. But while the artwork can get away with lighting and body movement, sprites don’t have the same luck and everything facing the same direction brings attention to how the colors are just this close to fighting each other, the lighting on them is flatter than the artwork and their intensity is messed up. 

I won’t comment on the shoes because Twisted Wonderland has a story with shoes. We all have been there. We all know it.

I agree with the sentiment that either the team got pressured into deliver the impossible and take all the remaining Ariel motifs for Rielle or they overindulged in the concept and went balls to the wall it the direction.

Because even in my best intentions, I can't deny it is too much. It's overflowing with information as much as anything else.

But… and here I explain how all these statements aren’t necessarily criticisms, I personally feel like this has Rielle’s name written on it. Nobody could use something like that. Think about how in taking out his personal touch, Marinafinne’s dorm clothes are very simple in nature.

They just feel “a tad worse” in simplicity than Octavinelle’s bc our sea boys have the monochromatic tones at their side and advantage, keeping the seriousness (and with that, unwavering charm) of the clothes at 100, all times.

Maybe things will be clearer if we ever get to see a Mob Student with the dorm clothes and discover if that amount of accessories are required or if it's Rielle himself. I don't know what I prefer in this case. At the same time, it could be interesting to see that Rielle, as a ironic reflection of the team who designed him, is overindulging in human culture and bringing to surface some of the things he like (the sea creatures motifs mixed with human objects).

Everybody has a right to dislike one design or the other, even feel like there’s something fresher to one another.

My personal problem is Rielle’s hair bangs. I think they could’ve made them puffier. It feels like a crime to me to give Ariel’s inspired character the flimsiest bangs known to men and fish. 

But even then I’m still getting used to his design. And Rielle feels sorta of right next to Azul, they state loud and clear who influences them (Ariel and Ursula) and it solidifies my goal (and persistence) of appreciating their school’s artwork storytelling. 

1st Edition Conclusion: RSA Overall Style vs NRC’s

Night Raven College brought us the dorm leaders in imposing poses. They’re determined towards their goals and personal ideas.

Royal Sword Academy (will possibly) deliver us dorm leaders that feel like their battles are almost won over. They’re living the moment, it’s who they are.

Azul isn't too simplistic nor Rielle is too much, in a way. They weirdly balance each other out. When I found this image on pinterest, it dawned upon me that maybe the reason we feel there’s something “refreshing” in the RSA boys is that simply… their poses are more dynamic or at least they give that impression. 

Actually, from Rollo up until Swing, Twst new silhouettes are becoming more dynamic and puts the boys in a more “moving” fashion rather than a simple pose.

It could also be because they’re mostly brand new and there’s always this commotion around news in general. Whatever may be the case, I’m happy the team got to advance so much in all those years, not forgetting the already amazing work they made from the very first year!

As I wanted to show, Azul and Rielle are both crafted to give a character subtext through their designs and make callbacks to their patrons, Ursula and Ariel (& Eric), and I’m sure the rest of the boys will follow in the same steps.

Next time, I’ll put Jamil and Minajael side by side, the ones that kick started most of the conversation lol

While I was studying each design, I got some ideas of what I would personally change (although imo once canon, it’s kind of cemented in my mind anyways) but this is not the place for it and I’ll do a separate post in the very, very far away future~ Not a critique still, just… *inhale/exhale* bro, even Eric has bushier bangs! This is so not fair-

Anyways. Thanks for your attention and patience! Until next time!

...

Case in point:

I noticed first when I was searching for Dunasmina logo and realized the font was closer to Aladdin's than Scarabia... which, like Octavinelle here, utilizes almost the opposite approach. I wonder if it will be a pattern later? Or we're still in the realm of coincidences?