The 'Siga' sweatshirt and T-shirt from Goodbye, Lara become real with Cospa

The clothes that Lara and Mari wear in Goodbye, Lara will no longer be exclusive to the screen. Cospa, the Japanese clothing and cosplay brand, announced on September 17 that the 'Siga' sweatshirt and T-shirt featured in the anime will have a real version starting in early December.

The news was confirmed by Cospa itself in a follow-up statement: both garments will be made of 100% cotton and available in Japanese sizes from S to XL. The sweatshirt will cost 6,820 yen (about 43 dollars) and the T-shirt, 3,300 yen (about 21 dollars). They will be sold on Cospa's online store.

It's not the first time a series has turned its fictional wardrobe into official merchandise, but here the detail has more substance than usual. 'Siga' is not a randomly invented brand: it's a direct nod to Shiga Prefecture, home of Lake Biwa, the main setting of the story. And it's also the birthplace of Takushi Koide, the anime's director.

A mermaid in modern Japan

Goodbye, Lara takes the basis of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid and brings it to its own territory. A mermaid makes a forbidden wish: to be loved by a human. She dies, and 200 years later she is reborn in Lake Biwa, in present-day Japan, where she has to learn to live in a world that is no longer hers.

The series began airing on July 5 at 24:30 on Tokyo MX —technically, July 6 at 12:30 a.m.— and that same night it arrived on BS Asahi and YTV. AT-X premiered it the following day. Crunchyroll streamed it in simulcast, and Anime Central attendees were able to watch the first episode before anyone else, on May 15.

With the finale already aired, these kinds of releases arrive at an odd time. The series closed its story, and now the merchandising appears for those who were left wanting something tangible. I'm not surprised: the sweatshirt has a design discreet enough to wear without looking like a walking cosplay.

The price of wearing the series

The prices are in line with Cospa's usual range. 6,820 yen for a cotton sweatshirt is what one expects from licensed Japanese clothing: it's not cheap, but it's not a ripoff either. The T-shirt, at 3,300 yen, sits in the low range of what an official anime garment usually costs.

What hasn't been confirmed yet is whether these garments will leave Japan through official channels. Cospa sells on its online store, but international shipping and availability outside the Japanese market are usually a headache for those who collect this type of clothing.

The release is scheduled for early December, so we'll have to see if Cospa's store holds up on the first day. With the series' finale still fresh and an active community around the work, I wouldn't be surprised if the sweatshirt flies off the shelves in a matter of hours.