The Ardis: Universal Fashion Symbol
“Ardis” is my own coinage, from the Greek for “arrow point”, for the slit or color pattern found on the front of many outfits throughout the Leijiverse, usually a vertical line ending down in an arrow shape or a heart shape. The line is longer or shorter, and it sometimes disappears leaving only an arrowhead slit. In this page I will catalog instances of characters wearing the Ardis. If you’re curious to hear about the origin of this symbol in the Leijiverse, the post [here] has all the answers!
I. SLIT ENDING IN A HEART SHAPE
Lafresia, Queen of the Mazone (Space Pirate Captain Harlock)
Layla Destiny Shula (Galaxy Railways)
Promethium, Queen of the Mechanization Empire (Space Symphony Maetel)
Stella, Crescendolls bassist (Interstella 5555)
Yayoi Yukino a.k.a. Promethium (Millennial Queen)
II. SLIT ENDING IN AN ARROW SHAPE
Emeraldas and Maetel (Maetel Legend)
Nami Shimaoka (Marine Snow) <granted, it’s an odd arrow if it’s an arrow at all>
Shadow, caretaker of the graves on Pluto (Galaxy Express 999)
Starsha, Queen (Space Battleship Yamato)
Sunora, Aurora Mazone (Space Pirate Captain Harlock)
III. COLOR PATTERN ENDING IN A HEART SHAPE
Maya (Mirai – Snow Angel)
Miyuki Moriki (Out of Galaxy Koshika – Bohemian Rhapsody video)
IV. COLOR PATTERN ENDING IN AN ARROW SHAPE
Emeraldas (Cosmo Warrior Zero)
Emeraldas (Space Pirate Captain Harlock)
Gamilon robot guard (Space Battleship Yamato)
Mazone squad members, led by Dainess (Space Pirate Captain Harlock)
Sabella, Comet Empire Commander (Space Battleship Yamato)
Susumu Kodai and 0ther crew members (Space Battleship Yamato)
Ze Strait (first from the left) and Ze Stroger (third from the left) (Submarine Super 99)
VI. ARROWHEAD SLIT WITHOUT A VERTICAL LINE
Leafle, from the planet Istarion in the Alfort Galaxy (Galaxy Railways)
Promethium, Queen of the Mechanization Empire (Space Symphony Maetel)
Silviana (Cosmo Warrior Zero)
SPECIAL MENTION:
There is a pattern that recurs in tight-fit suits in the Leijiverse that could be related to the Ardis. A dark vertical line runs down the chest and splits at the groin into two lines meeting in the back, so that from the front it looks like an arrowhead. Here from left to right Yuki Mori (Space Battleship Yamato), Yuki Sexaroid (Galaxy Railways) and Selen the Millennial Thief (Millennial Queen) are wearing suits with this pattern.
Special thanks to fallen, iskra and yamiangie for making this page possible.
Kritik der Animationskraft 
Lafresia’s is the sexiest!
You’re totally right!! Maybe I could cast Lena as Lafresia 😛
Cast Julia! She is dark haired and just looks the part! Then you’ve got both girls on the show!
I’m so used to Julia having short hair I just don’t know…
you’re right – I read about the ‘Ardis’ and I was DAZZLED! Now, why didn’t I ever notice that? (Must’ve been too busy looking at Harlock’s pants…mutter…)
😀 OK, you stare at Harlock’s pants, I’ll stare at Lafresia’s Ardis, and together we can rule the world. Hmm, that doesn’t make any sense.
Anyway, if you see more examples do tell. I’ve run into a ton in the manga but I’m trying to stick to anime instances.
lol! That makes perfect sense — I’m aiming for world domination, as if you didn’t know… grin! (this is pollywantsaharlock, btw….and I have my own fatal obsessions, alas.)
Oh, I knew you were Polly 🙂
Let’s hope the Harlock CG project will make for a nice addition to your site!!
I gave up on trying to take over the world after hearing the Tears for Fears song. I was 9 years old then…
oh god yes, I can’t wait for the CGI Harlock. I just hope I’m not horribly disappointed! Already worried about the battlebots and Kei’s buxomness (at both ends, shudder). Yes, the old site is definitely due for an upgrade and update. I even have a new location to put it, so it’s just a matter of getting myself motivated. Hopefully the new movie will provide the impetus, grin!
And kudos to you as well, keeping the legend alive and giving people like myself things to smile over. Thank you!
The best way to avoid disappointments is to lower your expectations. I’ve been using this technique for years to great effect.
I’m terribly happy that you enjoy the blog, as I deeply respect and admire yours. That said, are they really battlebots? I thought it was the crew of the Arcadia (Maji etc.) in spacesuits?! Also, if Kei looks like that, I’m dying to know what they’ll do with Miime.
thank you! and right back at you!
As for the CGI – I dunno. They look like battlebots to me. Do you really think there are short little stumpy dudes inside them? To be fair, the promo doesn’t show us much at all, but I’m wondering how the production company will modify the Arcadia crew to bring them into the 21st century. Short Matsumoto characters work well for anime and manga and purists like ourselves, but if they are aiming for a realistic reimagination of the property, and want to market it to a wider audience that has no clue who or what Matsumoto or Harlock is about, well, we might lose some of the things we love so much. And I get the part about lowering my expectations, I do, and I’m trying, but… it’s hard!
I don’t know. If Interstella 5555 has that tiny little drummer in it, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a few of the little guys in the CG as well. I think the Japanese will market to Japan (as they usually do) and in that case plenty of people there have been exposed to the Tochiro/Tetsuro manga/anime phenomenon in one way or another…
I’ll be very surprised if they are battlebots, because that would be a huge departure from the original (one robot, like Wawa, would be cool, but several, actually fighting?) We’ll see….we’ll see…
Interesting (the CGI trailer) the “battlebots” remind me of the Rozenritter troops in Legend of the Galactic Heroes in their use of axes. I also seem t recal that aside from Harlock, Kei was pretty much taller than the rest of the crewmen of the Arcadia. Speaking of which…that’s yet another design for the legendary vessel…yet still have the skull and crossbones bow and triple turrets.
Could you link to a picture or screencap of these Rozencritters? I couldn’t find anything, maybe because I insisted on insterting that “c” 😀
No, seriously. I want to know what they look like.
A small one of the Rozenritter
And one of the Imperial troops
Oh, totally, yeah!!
Hey, for all the recommendations and ravings on LOGH, I must say those pics have made more of a positive impression on me! I mean, this screams WATCH ME 🙂
[…] we can be very pleased. The heroine sports a gorgeous triple-hearted Ardis design ending in a Yuki Mori-style groinline pattern!! I don’t think you can get much […]
http://error888.tumblr.com/post/8104204797
:3
wowie. hadn’t seen that style yet!!
I know you are focusing on anime but I saw the arrow down the back and thought you might be interested …. not sure where this one comes from though.
That would need its own category (!), it seems like pattern II of an Ardis but backwards 🙂
I recently caught Maetel with an Ardis, but in the 999 manga. This stuff is everywhere!!
[…] By the wat Mimei sports a heart-shaped slit on her back, what I would call a reverse Ardis [see here]. Cases of reverse Ardis are rare but they do […]
i don’t mean to offend you, but stella is actually the bass player
No prob 🙂