Pure Mannequin Nightmare Fuel Will Keep You Up at Night

In the past mannequins just showed off clothes. You know, they gave you an idea of what you, the shopper, would look like in a particular outfits. But now, it seems like they’re just frightening the hell out of everyone.

During the past few years, there’s been an increasing number of scary-looking mannequins, especially in Japan. They’ve existed before that, and granted, terrifying mannequins most certainly exist in other countries, too. They shouldn’t exist anywhere.

The nightmare mannequins in Japan often appear to be influenced by big, anime style eyes. That’s perhaps what makes them so unsettling? The way they bring unreal looks into our real world? Or is simply it that those anime eyes are being used to sell clothes?

Even the ones that have more realistic features also seem disconcerting. You notice them first, instead of the clothes. That somewhat defeats their purpose, no?

Keep in mind that people in Japan also find these particular mannequins scary, since they are quite different from the typical “normal” ones you find in most shops. Let’s have a look.

Those green eyes…

White eyes.

Even the toy section isn’t safe!

Nowhere is safe, really.

I’ll never forget this photo. Never.

Let’s leave One Piece out of this mannequin insanity, okay?

Shop staff or somebody is screwing around, I see.

Yeah, take a close-up. That’ll make everything better.

Um…

New dress clothes, fuck yes!

Two adorable kimono ruined by four horrific eyes.

Flame on candle heads.

Thought you might need a breather.

It’s more worse than I could ever imagine.

Many of these mannequins (not all, though) were discovered in the children’s clothing section. And Ito Yokado, a Target style retailer, is guilty of having lots of these scary anime mannequins. So their extreme anime appearance might have been designed to appeal to youngsters. But what kid wouldn’t get nightmares from these things?

Photos: _p5, kiraran02, iEtoSharu, o_zi_5, MrPiani, Kriegesang, Twimg, cos283, tech_k, IcdLu, nyarguy, Jlla4696, mdk27, Komachi, Knight_Katsuki, Kuuba, Shosen_bt, nippon1900, vivit, Gumivocal, toshimi, Tabclear, さつまのうっちん茶

To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.