4 thoughts on “Lyric Holic’s DVD Looks Cool as Hell”

1. In your post script you posed the question about the ubiquitous references to”Alice” in the Idol world. I had a similar curiosity a while back.After a quick sprint around the web, this is what we find: 1868. After the revolution in Japan,overthrowing the Shogun,the restoration of the Meiji emperor initiated a major cultural transformation in order to achieve parity with the west, rather than being dominated by it Cultural exchange between Britain and Japan was rapid, as each viewed the other as exotic. Britain was at the peak of the Victorian era and the Japanese found the literature and fashion quite fascinating. Notably, Lewis Carroll’s tales of Alice. Known for his wit and clever wordplay,there is a certain curiosity inscribed to the character “Alice”, perhaps reflecting the “enigmatic” sexuality of the author, Alice herself has been perceived and interpreted in a dualistic way, namely as an innocent child and as a self-assertive sexualized “Lolita”. The idea of Alice embodies the idealized image of the “shoujo”(girl), who is situated between child and adult, emphasizing sweetness and demureness.Japan first translated Alice in 1908. This translation focused more on a story relatable to children,rather than Carroll’s wit and wordplay. Without the linguistic complexities of the original, the dominant feature of Alice in Japanese became surrealism, and the perfect western cuteness of the protagonist.This 1908 translation was published in the magazine “Shoujo no Tomo”(girl’s friend) and marked the beginning of”Hanamonogatari”(girl’s stories). Beginning around 1975 shoujo culture birthed kawaii culture with the introduction of Hello Kitty. Ironically, Kitty is a British character. The creator,Yuko Shimzu, states the name was chosen as an homage to Alice, noting an early scene in “Through the Looking Glass”, where Alice plays with a cat she calls “kitty”. Kawaii culture manifested most dramatically in youth fashion subculture inspired by Alice’s famous outfit. By 1990, most refer to this as ‘Lolita” fashion with three branches,classic, sweet and gothic. Observing the knee length, crinoline infused dress, knee high stockings, pinafores, curls in the hair with ribbons or bows, often called an Alice bow,(Anna Tachibana from Alice Juban always rocks the red bow) gothic goes further with Victorian era items such as petticoats,garter belts, stockings and lace gloves. See Lyric Holic. Currently most pop idols utilize the classic/sweet combo, while Babymetal combines the sweet/goth look, to Lyric Holic’s full goth style.Even Maniac’s favorite(;_;) Ladybaby(gag, cough, spit) maintains the image.What I find interesting is the clever wit and wordplay in a a lot of the band names and lyrics.Whether attributable to Carroll’s writings or not, it’s possible that there is an influence. Knowing that the west will translate, some definite trickery is afoot. Example, Alice Juban. Azuba-juban, a district of Minato Tokyo is their birthplace. Juuban( 2 u’s) translates as “tenfold”.Often called Alice 10ban or Alice #10. Ten original members. “Juban” is a traditional undergarment, worn beneath a Kimono and in true anti-idol fashion,utilizing goth lolita style,some of their costumes show the corset worn as outerwear. Referring to the Lyric Holic video “Alice”, note the surrealism of the girl in the forest, and at :30 seconds, the playing cards scattered about.. There are plenty of other examples out there. Hopes this satisfies your curiosity. See Ya

   • Wow. This is great. Mind if I turn it into a post?

     • Go for it !!!!!

     • Hey Maniac, if you do post this , please correct my spelling error on the creator of Hello Kitty , “Yuko Shimizu” Thanx

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