Hellchick wrote:

"It's a challenging concept to attempt when body language and atmosphere are confined by things like polygon limits," admits Associate Producer Melissa Miller. "Early on, we conducted a focus test specifically with female gamers. They liked the concept of Kurenai but felt she was showing too much skin with the short kimono. Once we justified the need for some sexiness with the seduction mechanic, they bought into Kurenai completely and were really excited about playing her."

So, rather than actually put more clothes on the character when female gamers didn't like that she was showing a lot of skin, they instead went completely in the other direction and added seduction as a gameplay element for the character. On the one hand, I think it's odd that they didn't just cover up the character more, and on the other I find it bizarre and interesting that the women reacted positively to that change.