In Defense of Momoko

I believe that I mentioned a while ago that I had gotten into lolita fashion through Kamikaze Girls (or Shimotsuma Monogatari) which was advertised on Animerica's mini magazine at Waldenbooks (how I miss this shop!). I believe I was fourteen at the time I discovered the fashion, which is really crazy thinking how long ago that was now that I am twenty-five!

For those new to the fashion (and I welcome you!), the book is about a lonesome, sweet lolita named Momoko Ryugasaki who moves from the big city to the boonies, and incidentally befriends a wannabe biker-chick named Ichigo. It's no War and Peace, but it's the only few books that feature lolita fashion (pretty well), and it was adapted into manga and film. It's considered a hallmark piece in the lolita fashion subculture. I personally prefer the book and enjoy the film, but not the manga because skips out on much of the original content.

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Today, someone brought up the book/film in a conversation about individual's behaviors that would be considered "less than lolita". Personally, I don't care if lolitas engage in recreational drugs and/or alcohol on occasion, swear, and/or have sex - so long as they don't flaunt the actions for public viewing (in real life or for social media).

my face when edge lords

 Everyone is human, and with lolita being expensive rendering most wearers past their teens, one can assume that most lolitas have already done at least one of those things, and it doesn't make them less of a lolita. To me, a lolita is a lolita if they are able to put together a few coordinates and thoroughly enjoy the fashion.

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A couple of people brought up Momoko's less than maiden-like behaviors and attitudes, and while I agree that some of the things she did early on in the book are embarrassing to pretty-damn-low, I still don't think think it makes her less of a lolita, and the story isn't about how lolitas should or shouldn't behave (in spite of how much it was sprinkled within the book, according to the author): it's about an unlikely friendship; Japanese pop culture simply happens to be a vehicle in the story.

If you haven't familiarized yourself with Kamikaze Girls/Shimotsuma Monogatari. I suggest you do it before you continue reading, otherwise you'll see a lot of spoilers (unless you're like me who enjoys reading spoilers!).

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One person brought up how much of a special snowflake Momoko was - which is terribly true: she's obsessed with 18th century France that she does whatever she can to live out her maiden fantasy, whether she's dolled up for a walk along the rice paddies while pretending Shimotsuma was the rolling French countryside, or refusing to work for her brand because she found work "unmaiden-like".

Honestly, I'm more annoyed with the historical inaccuracies about 18th century Europe than I am about Momoko's fantasy because to me, Momoko is just a lonesome teenager looking for something to brighten up her bleak life and prospects. Her parents divorced when she was little and neither of them had good prospects in the first place (her mom was a high-school drop out turned cocktail waitress and her dad was on the bottom of the local Yakuza), and even though Momoko is certainly intelligent enough to move out of the working class, she doesn't really have a mentor to help lead her to a brighter future (save for Mr. Isobe toward the end of the book, but we never know if she decides to work along side him at Baby, the Stars Shine Bright). And teenagers in general are pretty self-centered; it's in their biology to carve out an identity and focus on oneself.

It helps to understand the story by familiarizing yourself with the author who goes under the pen-name, Novala Takemoto. He claims to be born in 1745, during the Rococo period (he's actually in his mid-forties now) which to me is a little more snow flake-like as an adult than if a teenager says it.

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Another person mentioned how Momoko had scammed her poor father into giving her money which was used to buy lolita. I don't think this kind of behavior is appropriate for anyone, lolita or otherwise, and thank goodness this is a work of fiction - though anyone who have been in the fashion for quite some time might be familiar with scammers within the lolita community and fashion production.

Momoko's early attempts to make money not only reinforces her characterization, but is also used to move the story along and provide comedic effect, in particular, irony, which is used quite heavily in the story. Given her background and motivation, it wouldn't make much sense for Momoko to pursue a part time job after school like most people would, and chances are, she might have been too young at the time she was leaching off her dad, and it wouldn't have reinforced the reason why she calls her dad, "the Loser". Her father was on the lowest rung in the Yakuza and couldn't even face getting his pinky chopped as a punishment, whereas Momoko who tries very hard to be a "pure Rococo maiden" was the Yakuza thug her father could never be.

The irony of characterization continues to be reinforced when she meets Ichigo and her double-crossing biker gang. Ichigo is a biker enthusiast and part of an all girl's biker gang, although she only rides a (seriously souped up) scooter, and even though she comes off as crass and puts up a tough exterior, she has a sweet tooth and even had a one-sided infatuation with a male character (which Momoko makes fun of her for). Ichigo originally called herself Ichiko to hide the fact that her real name means "strawberry" and feels an equal amount of discontent over her last name, Shirayuri is a flower. Likewise, Momoko hates that her name is associated with a Yanki manga character.

Another notable irony between Ichigo and Momoko is that although Ichigo isn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, she is sometimes the voice of reason. In spite of be a try-hard biker-chick, Ichigo did grow up in a proper nuclear family and was raised with conventional values which is why they're constantly questioning their moral values and judgement.

When Ichigo's biker gang was originally run by Akimi-san, it was purely about riding, but when she left, the band of misfits went under a different leadership with the goal of becoming the biggest and toughest all girl gang by resorting to bullying tactics. They were not exactly thrilled with Ichigo's involvement with Momoko and modeling gigs, and insisted in punishing Ichigo, but in spite of resorting to violence, Momoko was far more intimidating than all of the girls in the gang.

I don't believe Novala Takemoto condones Momoko's behaviors as presented in the book, nor would he believe them to be appropriate for lolitas, based on his essays and poems about lolita fashion, but once again, Kamikaze Girls isn't about that, nor should we put down Momoko because of her circumstances. 

After all, she does change for the better. 

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