Today I want to talk about Rio and her hair. It's a simple and rational hairstyle, being a straight black that goes down to her calves, but it also weirdly feels quite chaotic? It doesn't feel like the hairstyle that Rio would actually have, compared to her winter outfit, where it's a lot more orderly. It implies that Rio doesn't really brush her hair due to it being irrational, which definitely tracks, but could give the wrong impression in that she just doesn't wash her hair for extended periods of time which, going by the condition of her hideouts, may unfortunately have some truth to it. However, it may also be that her hair is supposed to look similar to Aris's hair, perhaps to show that Aris isn't really that different, in its most extreme case making it that Aris is the one that feels more human compared to the actual human, due to said human's propensity to break everything down into logical and computational problems. Her bangs feel a lot like a bowl is put over her head and she cuts whatever sticks out, or worse, she just eyeballs it. She also has a Millennium logo hairpin on the left side of her hair, revealing her ear. This one might be to always have some indicator of what school she hails from, but it could also have been done to make it so Rio has a foil in Himari's design. The clifftop flower, and the concrete factory.
Her winter outfit, as mentioned earlier, feels more like what Rio's hair should look like. It's long and black, but it's not going all over the place, instead being somewhat orderly. Tying it further would be irrational, so instead it's given a bit of room to be free. Her hairpin is now perfectly vertical as opposed to slightly angled, which makes it appear more stylish than before, where it was simply a statement of campus. Finally, her bangs now have very small airvents where originally there was only a vague notion of it, making Rio appear more symmetrical. It definitely is the more stylish of the two hairstyles Rio currently has.
While Rio is meant to represent Orwell's Big Brother concept, there's actually something else she reminds me of-- from a different 1984-- and that would be the Apple company. The red accent in black and white, the ideals of control that are similar to the walled garden approach of appliances, and for some reason, her halo. Maybe it's a stretch, but it does seem like she'd fit right in with Apple.
Rio's eyes, like the rest of Seminar's eyes, are interesting. Yuuka has a red iris in the center, Koyuki's always sparkles, Noa's, while normal, feels like it glows just a bit more than other students in Kivotos, though perhaps her eyes really are normal (though what she does with them is up for debate on if that's normal or not). Rio's ringed eyes gives the impression of a camera, which, once again, gives her similarity to Aris in the fact that the same is true of her as well. It's pretty well done how Aris and Rio's similarities challenge Rio's idea that Aris is something else which must be eliminated, and the differences make the two appear more human.
Rio's halo can best be described as a black ring in the form of an industrial appliance like a bearing (without the balls and much thinner), with a big red S that's been rotated 90 degrees clockwise and split in two. Something that highlights symmetry and order, while also not being strictly symmetrical, but also being an indirect nod to her affiliation of not just the club, but her campus in how the Millennium logo also appears to be a split letter, this one being m. Speaking of the Millennium logo, it's very clever how it could also be interpreted as a 7 with an upside down U, indicating the original purpose of the school that it still pursues to this day.
Going back to the Apple analogy, this time it's her tablet having a carrot icon on it, likely meant to be the stand-in for Apple. This gives her yet another student she has a similarity, but also a difference, in, and this time it's Hare- Hare's tablet instead has the Millennium logo on it, as well as a cute accessory on it. It wouldn't be surprising if this was intentionally done to resemble the difference between Apple and Android (at the time), or even just Apple and GNU/Linux. This topic would fit Hare more, going by her overview, so that will be left for when that fateful day arrives. But back to Apple, it might be a stretch, but her turtleneck could also be a subtle homage to Steve Jobs, while giving her an office jacket so she still has an official, authoritative appearance. There is a joke about her chest and Big Tech but I have no clue how to make it work, so I'm going to instead flatly point it out, not for any rational reason, but because it's a dumb joke that I can't help but chuckle at Rio's Big Tech.
She has a watch on her left wrist, which is strange, seeing how she's also holding her tablet in that hand. She doesn't use her gun much at all, so she could hold her tablet in her right hand instead, or put her watch on her right wrist so that way she can more accurately see the time. However, a watch just feels weirdly strange for Rio to wear, since she's almost always in front of some device or other that can tell the time for her, making it an irrational choice. Why does she wear the watch, then? Perhaps it was a gift, or something she tinkered with early on that she's since grown attachment to, despite it being a tool. Or, perhaps it's simply a good reminder of why she does what she does- machines are made to perform a task as diligently as possible. A watch is no different from a fridge, or robot, except in how efficiently it's able to do its job. It doesn't need to think about irrational things like what tastes good, or if it will get home, or if tomorrow will be a good day. It will instead be by your side, ticking along, much like a dog. Man's best friend may be known as something we can pat and give treats, but the hidden true friend of man has been the ability to logically step through problems. At least, that might be what Rio would say if you asked about her watch.
Rio's hair is either unclean, clean but doesn't smell like anything (scents are irrational), or smells of Lavender and other calming scents (the rational choice). In Rio's case, all three are likely true; she doesn't wash her hair enough to make it have any scent, but her hair product is calming scents. Next time Rio invites me over, I should probably see about getting her to relax a bit while also getting her to take a shower to refresh herself. After that, brush her hair since while it might not be in disarray yet, it's a constant struggle to keep it straight and smooth, and I want her to look her best.
Link to previous entries (following a template is rational, after all):
https://rentry.org/hair_archive