Are you a guy wanting to try out makeup for the first time? Well Japan, the land where anything goes, has just the thing for you. Allow us to introduce the ‘my first makeup set’ especially for otokonoko! Otokonoko is written with the kanji character for ‘man’ and ‘young woman’ or ‘daughter’, and is a word used to describe men who look and dress like women.
Japan has a long history of genderbending and crossdressing, especially in the 2D universe of anime and manga, so this isn’t actually such a shocking thing to find on a shop shelf in Akihabara.
From the package designs, this is clearly a product that has been born from the weird and wonderful world of otaku culture. The pure, innocent, little-sister (imouto) type girl is a staple of harem anime everywhere, and maybe there are some guys out there who love the trope so much that they’d actually go so far as to try and transform themselves into a little girl. Whether or not these small makeup sets will actually help is another matter, but I’m sure they appreciate the sentiment.
Not everyone thinks this is a great idea though. One twitter user’s reaction was simply, ‘I’ve had it with this country…’
▼ The first set includes lipstick, foundation, and a powder puff, plus the tag line ‘with this you can transform into a charming otokonoko’! And of course there’s the obligatory wide-eyed anime character of indeterminate age.
▼ Set number two is a manicure set to pretty up your nails, and comes with a red and a pink nail polish, and a bottle of remover. A note to guys putting on nail polish for the first time – you’ll need that remover!
▼ And this is… a full body fishnet suit?!
I go by the motto ‘live and let live’, and my only gripe here is that I’m confused as to why men would need different makeup to women? Smells like a marketing ploy to me. The modified body suit, on the other hand, is a little more understandable…
Source: Hachima Kikou, Twitter