A Brief Analysis of Towa and Setsuna’s Kimonos and How We Know That Rin and Toga Were Alike
Towa’s kimono is obviously based off of her grandfather’s. Not only does it have the same white, red, navy and violet color scheme as Taisho’s (not coincidentally also the the colors of Towa’s school uniform) but the pattern on Towa’s sash matches the one on Taisho’s shoulder and the stripes resemble her grandfather’s demon markings. I also noticed that the stripes on Towa’s top are shaped more like her father’s double markings in Toga’s colors, while the ones on the bottom are jagged like her grandfather’s single one.
The episode where Towa receives this kimono makes it clear that Sesshomaru chose the fabric and I think it’s interesting that he chose to dress Towa very similarly to his father. Especially in light of Rumiko Takahashi’s illuminating comments about Sesshomaru ordering Jaken to buy and rebuy kimonos for Rin until he found one he thought suited her. He would’ve put a lot of consideration into what he chose for them to wear and it would have to match with his own image of them and his idea of their individual personalities.
So, clearly the implication is that Towa must remind Sesshomaru of his father. If that’s the case, then who does Setsuna remind him of?
Well, yeah.
She’s his moody, imperious mokomoko-wearing little mini-me. But she’s Rin’s daughter too, so along with getting a kimono with the same exact color scheme and design as her father’s sash, Setsuna also has same red obi that her mother wears.
But why does Setsuna get an element of Rin’s outfit in hers and Towa doesn’t?
Maybe because Towa is already so similar to her mother that it doesn’t need further acknowledging. Or maybe, by acknowledging his father in the clothes he chose for Towa, he’s also acknowledging Rin at the same time. Towa reminds Sesshomaru of both Rin and his father. We know this because the show tell us, indirectly, that Rin and Taisho are similar.
In Zero’s Wish, Towa reminds Zero of Taisho.
And in The Secret of the Rainbow Pearls, Towa reminds Kaede of Rin.
