Category Archive for Books + Magazines
GOTHIC & LOLITA ILLUSTRATIONS BY MITSUKAZU MIHARA.
You may not know the name Mitsukazu Mihara (let alone be able to pronounce it), but I’ll wager that you’re familiar with her art. The Osaka-based illustrator is the maven behind the first eight covers of the Gothic & Lolita Bible. She is recognized for her contributions to Gothic Lolita, both through the style of her drawings and the themes of her manga.
Mihara’s art conveys a deep sensitivity to Gothic Lolita. Her style is daintier and less exaggerated than typical anime; I love the fragility of the girls’ hands and faces in the drawings above. The neo-Victorian garments always hang well and are rendered in caring detail. Mihara captures every Gothic Lolita fashion signature: the sweet headdress, the tiny crown, the lace capelet.
The artist has received wide acclaim for her manga, some of which has been published by TokyoPop. She likes to explore boundaries, and her plots tread between the disturbing and the sublime. “Beautiful People” is inspired by Frankenstein and vampire legends. “The Embalmer” dwells on the relationship between the dead and the living (and yes, that includes necrophilia). “R.I.P” has a gory premise: an angel named Transylvania Rose rips off her wing and gives it to an undertaker who slits his wrists, trapping them both between life and death. “Doll,” her most famous work, is a series about lifelike robots that serve human masters, leading to explorations of the sadistic lust for possession.
Mitsukazu Mihara’s illustrations are dark, provocative, and unexpectedly beautiful – a perfect visual transmission of Gothic Lolita. More of her art is visible here, and several of her books are available from TokyoPop (just search for her name).
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TOKYOPOP'S GOTHIC SPORTS: A GOTH LOLI SOCCER TEAM.
Gothic Sports? What exactly would that be… a group of Victorian-obsessed girls who gather in a playing field to write bad poetry and self-mutilate?
Not quite. Gothic Sports is Anike Hage’s manga about a Gothic Lolita soccer team. (You read that right: Goth Loli and sports in the same sentence.) To date, TokyoPop has released three volumes of the series.
The story centers on Anya, a tenth grade transfer student who is rejected from all of the school’s sports teams. Like many high school misfits, she falls in with the Goth crowd. Anya convinces the principal to let them form their own soccer team… but as you can imagine, the listless lolis aren’t exactly Beckham material.
But boy, do they know how to dress. The team unveils fabulous Gothic Lolita uniforms and suddenly becomes the center of attention. But do the girls have what it takes to compete with the official school team – and win?
Push it to the limit! / Walk along the razor’s edge / but don’t look down, just keep your head and you’ll be finished (finisssssshed)! 
Gothic Sports retails for $10 a volume; I read a few chapters for free on TokyoPop’s site and was tickled pink. (Hey, I loved The Karate Kid and Shaolin Soccer). And who knew that Gothic Lolita soccer jerseys could be so becoming?
LA CARMINA
