Kamikaze Girls - A Second Glance

For some reason, when I go to France I take Kamikaze Girls with me, or end up wanting to write some Kamikaze Girls fanfiction. Some kind of weird, self-inflicted tradition, perhaps? Who knows, but I have had a lot of fun reading it for the second time, and I even finished it over a couple of days. Whilst reading I picked up on more things that I didn't notice the first time around, and got to squeal over the final line of the book - so cute and fluffy!

The pace of the book and the way Momoko relates the events in her and Ichigo's life sometimes seems to be abrupt and almost lifeless at first, making it occasionally a bit of a dull read - though at a second glance, it appears that the way it is written embodies her indifferent personality, and almost a lack of emotions in some cases. I haven't read any of Novala Takemoto's other books yet (though I really want to see what the Kamikaze Girls sequel and Emily are like), so it would be interesting to see if that tone is conveyed in all these books, or just this character or English translation. No offense is intended if it just happens to be the author's style - I just found it rather different to other books I've read, where emotion is the main focus.

I've also noticed that there is a slight romantic tension between Ichigo and Momoko, even though the girls are sometimes unsure whether they're friends or mere acquaintances. Maybe I just have my femslash goggles on, but there sometimes appears to be flirtatious sparring between the duo. "Hey, Momoko, what am I to you?" made me wonder, as did the way both are wary around men, find them disgusting and crude, etc, and obviously the last line of the book where Momoko laid her head down on Ichigo's back, "like a lover". There are also parallels to the 'butch and femme' stereotypes/examples of real and fictional relationships, as well as many other examples that I've forgotten to include here.
Obviously Ichigo is not a lesbian, as she falls in love with Mr Slick and is heartbroken when it turns out he's Akimi's boyfriend and fiance, but at the same time she had a lot of dogmatic admiration and respect for Akimi, that borders on love almost...
As for Momoko, she admits right out that she may have a mild case of being fearful of men and boys, and calls them a variety of things along the lines of 'ew, gross'.
It may not be the case, but I ship them anyway like the annoying fangirl I am! 

The book was also a lot courser in language than I remembered, and Ichigo reminded me a LOT of my character Cherry from When the Summer Ends, that I'm writing! I think subconsciously I based a lot of my novel on Kamikaze Girls, though I've never intended it to be a direct copy. I was alarmed at how many similarities there are!

The sweet bits are very, very sweet, and the sour bits are very, very sour. Even though Momoko's tone is the way it is, there's no escaping the extremes of the novel; i.e. shopping at Baby the Stars Shine Bright, meeting Sir Isobe and being invited to design for the brand is sweet, and all the violence and gang wars where Ichigo is almost killed is a very tense moment. As is the black and white opposites of dress and personality, happiness and sadness, and their individual philosophies, especially on the subjects of loneliness and friendship.
There is actually a lot of thought in this work, despite the initial tone and outwards appearance of being a teenyboppers' novel. I really enjoyed it and it made me want to visit Baby again, though I know it's not happening anytime soon.

Old School Chic

Recently I've been pouring through the earliest versions of the Gothic Lolita Bibles, mainly for nostalgia, but also because I'm in love with the Old-School sub-style at the moment. The way that it's not as polished as today's Lolita style is a huge bonus for me, and the slightly frumpy look makes it much more natural and easy to style. It's before the modern print-crazy trend, so it's much easier to make your own dresses and is a lot less busy!

Here's some pages that I loved the most:

 

Both are from the Gothic and Lolita Bible volume 7.
I love this girl; she's really pretty and still has a typically Western figure that Lolita designers seem to forget, yet is still included in the Bible! I think she's a natural Lolita model, with no need for a wig or circle lenses that I think are so excessive. And those clothes are the style I first fell in love with in Lolita; black and white clothes inspired by Victorian things, that also has a slightly Hogwarts feel to it! Also, she makes me really want shoulder-length hair! I need to grow mine longer.

Kamikaze Girls and Novala Takemoto! I must resist the urge to ship Momoko and Ichiko together, but they're so damn cute! And Anna Tsukiya is really attractive...

I love these hair styles and make up; it's so fluffy and sweet!

 

It reminds me of when I first discovered Malice Mizer - which led me to find Lolita fashion. I still listen to them now for hours on end! As a side note, I recall once writing in my French essay that I strive to look like Mana-sama when I grow up! It shows how my style has changed quite a lot in Lolita, although to be honest, I'd still love to wear Mana-sama's wardrobe.

These pages are also really sweet. I like the way they're not as polished as the modern-day Gothic Lolita Bibles, which can seem really fake at times. I just really appreciate natural beauty.

Momoko Ryuugasaki

Momoko out of Kamikaze Girls has to be one of my all-time favourite characters. One of the reasons is that I can relate a lot to her. She's one of the characters I feel is a lot like me. From the love of frills and lolita as well as the downright rotten personality!

Kamikaze Girls means a lot to me, so I'm surprised I've never drawn anything for it before!

Character (c) - Novala Takemoto

Frame brush is by lileya.deviantart.com/

Kamikaze Girls by Novala Takemoto

Just before I went to France, I was browsing through the books on Ebay as I was about to finish the book on my Kindle (Huckleberry Finn if anybody's interested). On Tumblr I'm always seeing those Kamikaze Girls GIFs on the Lolita blogs, and turns out, it's a book as well as a movie! Now, a book about the Lolita lifestyle is unusual and hard to find - which is why I became very excited when I found Kamikaze Girls. Buying the paperback despite being in love with the Kindle, I definitely didn't regret it when I began reading on my vacation! I am absolutely positive Kamikaze Girls is in my top five favourite books.
Momoko is a Lolita girl who dreams of living in Rococo-era France and adorns herself from head to toe in Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. Ichigo is a biker in an all-girl "Yanki" gang. How would the two get along when they are constantly at odds? This is what I love.
I love the relationship between the two girls; they go from almost hating each other, to becoming acquaintances, to tolerating each other, to being maybe-friends - then really needing each other. In their own way, both Ichigo and Momoko are very lonely. Ichigo may have her biker gang, but near the end she realizes that they're never really there for each other despite always confirming that they are friends. Momoko never had any friends at all - and she blames that on her cold and blunt personality. Maybe it's just me, but I actually don't think Momoko is as bad as herself and Ichigo thinks? I'm probably biased. Momoko is so much like me that it's scary! I'm probably just defending her because of it ahaha.
Together, Ichigo and Momoko set out to find a legendary embroiderer who can add some embroidery to Ichigo's Kamikaze coat. Turns out, this embroiderer is too good to be true! In fact, I may have missed something, but didn't Ichigo make up the embroiderer? Anyway, they can't find him and eventually Momoko sews the Kamikaze coat instead.
In the end, Momoko and Ichigo become really good friends; each doing things together that wouldn't suit their lifestyles just to make each other happy. Think a lolita girl playing Pachinko and a Yanki biker modelling for Baby!
Basically I just love these characters so much and Kamikaze Girls has inspired me so much! I literally couldn't put it down! For the first time, I have found a character that represents myself so much in every way, and I couldn't be happier. I really recommend the book Kamikaze Girls to any lover of lolita fashion and lifestyle - and the film is amazing too.  Shortly after the book I watched the film and it's slightly different in some parts, but still a really, really great watch!