lb:gyaru
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| lb:gyaru [2026-05-09 05:31:36] – [Personal...thing] ninjasr | lb:gyaru [2026-05-11 05:20:40] (current) – [Personal Discovery] ninjasr | ||
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| ===== Personal Discovery ===== | ===== Personal Discovery ===== | ||
| <section sakura> | <section sakura> | ||
| - | My first experience with gyaru was through anime and...the //**other one**// – how most Westerners encounter them. My reaction to them was mostly neutral though...as in, it didn't really lead anywhere. | + | My first experience with gyaru was through anime((: |
| I thought it was weird, but kinda interesting. But I'd gradually learn more...not through anime, but through Wikipedia of all things. | I thought it was weird, but kinda interesting. But I'd gradually learn more...not through anime, but through Wikipedia of all things. | ||
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| But then I got into [[lb: | But then I got into [[lb: | ||
| - | From ParaPara, I started looking into the rest of the subculture and, well, here we are today. | + | From ParaPara, I started looking into the rest of the subculture and, well, here we are today. Actually, ParaPara might be //the// reason I'm interested in gyaru. Gyaru went from just some fiction trope and museum artifact, to being something more concrete. |
| </ | </ | ||
| + | ===== Gyaru Types & Subtypes ===== | ||
| + | <div callout> | ||
| + | In this section I'll list the different kinds of gyaru to the best of my ability. My information will mostly be derived from [[lb: | ||
| + | |||
| + | Those with a skull icon (<span icon> | ||
| + | |||
| + | I'm going to try to organize it according to lineage, so you can roughly see how stuff evolved from one to the other. I'll also be adding references a little later. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ** **Proto-Gyaru** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. According to Galture, the earliest the term 『ギャル』 had been used in Japan to refer to <q :en sakura> | ||
| + | ** **Amlers** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. Amlers are girls who wanted to copy Namie Amuro. For those not in the know, she's one of the biggest Japanese idols...// | ||
| + | .. This had apparently started around 1995.((: | ||
| + | .. Amuro-san is from Okinawa, so she had tan skin and, as an idol, wore bold makeup and interesting fashion. So girls across Japan had started copying those aspects. | ||
| + | .. Amlers are either proto-gyaru or they were the first gyaru. Assuming there weren' | ||
| + | ** **Kogal** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. コギャル(Kogals/ | ||
| + | .. Kogals were highschool girls who (probably) took their Amler fashion instincts with them to school. They were the rebellious ones, tanning their skin (!), shortening their skirts (scandalous!), | ||
| + | .. These types were so influential that the modern pop-culture image of gyaru appears to be frozen here. Well, there' | ||
| + | .. These types also probably invented [[lb: | ||
| + | .. Whether they' | ||
| + | .. Galture also mentions (as a fun-fact) that there were 『マゴギャル』(Magogals). The term referred to gals who were younger than the Kogals (highschoolers)...so middle-school girls who were gyaru. The term ‘magogal’ probably literally means ‘grandchild gal’. | ||
| + | ** **Ganguro** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. Kogals who grew up grew up to become **ガングロ**. They lasted from 1998 to around 2000. | ||
| + | .. The term ‘ganguro’ originates from the shortening of the Japanese “to darken ones face by tanning’. | ||
| + | .. These gyaru are the ones who started dyeing their hair blond, silver. They wore clothing with a lot of bright colors and hibiscus patterns. They also attached rhinestones and tear stickers under their eyes. Hawaiian patterns and neon colors were mainstream. | ||
| + | .. This may also be when purikura started becoming a thing? | ||
| + | .. Basically all kurogyaru that follow descend in some form from the Ganguro. | ||
| + | ** **Gonguro** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. Ganguro who tanned their skin even darker. | ||
| + | ** **Bachiguro** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. Those who tanned their skin //even// darker. | ||
| + | ** **Yamanba** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. Yamanba are described by Galture as the more extreme version of the Ganguro. They had Gonguro skin, <q : | ||
| + | ** **Manba** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. According to Galture, the main difference between them and Yamanba was that they painted the entire area around their eyes white, rather than just the upper parts. | ||
| + | ** **Serenba** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. Part of the Manba counter-attack in 2004. Serenba were ‘Celebrity’ inspired, meaning they wore more high-class items, had a slightly calmer appearance and more ‘adult’ fashion. | ||
| + | ** **Coconba** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. Part of the Manba counter-attack in 2004. Coconba were manba who favored fashion from the brand COCOLULU. | ||
| + | ** **Romanba** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. Part of the Manba counter-attack in 2004. These were ‘lolita’/ | ||
| + | ** **Banba** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. Part of the Manba counter-attack in 2004. ‘Barbie’ manba liked to imitate barbie-esque aesthetics. That's all that Galture says about them, not just me being lazy for the time-being. | ||
| + | ** **Retro Gals** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. From what I can gather, these were ganguro who wore more 60s-inspired fashion and were possibly more influenced by shop clerks than magazines. | ||
| + | .. Galture notes that these were the forerunners of the later onee-style gals. | ||
| + | ** **Ayu-Style Shiro-Gyaru** <span icon> | ||
| + | .. Gyaru who were greatly influenced by the //Second// Charisma Gal: Ayumi Hamasaki, after the year 2000. | ||
| + | .. This is where something of a tectonic shift occurred among gyaru, as the split between Kuro and Shiro was cemented. Not only did this produce two distinct categories of gyaru, but it also allowed girls who...y' | ||
| + | .. Ayu-Style Shiro-Gyaru wore clothing with leopard or camouflage patterns.((: | ||
| + | .. Galture also implies that revealing the belly button (so crop tops; midrif-baring) started with the Ayu-Style gyaru. | ||
| + | .. Apparently the Ganguro were almost wiped out by the wave of shirogyaru. | ||
| + | ** **Agejou** <span icon> | ||
| ===== Societal Observations ===== | ===== Societal Observations ===== | ||
| In this (work-in-progress) section, I'll note a few of my observations about gyaru culture and the way it interacts with greater Japanese society. For now just a few small notes. | In this (work-in-progress) section, I'll note a few of my observations about gyaru culture and the way it interacts with greater Japanese society. For now just a few small notes. | ||
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| <div passage> | <div passage> | ||
| - | The main gyaru types nowadays are: | + | The main gyaru types nowadays are:((: |
| - | ** **Modern Kuro-Gyaru** | + | ** **Modern Kuro-Gyaru**((: |
| .. The modern incarnation of the Kuro-Gyaru. Tan skin yes, slightly bolder style than Shiro-Gyaru, | .. The modern incarnation of the Kuro-Gyaru. Tan skin yes, slightly bolder style than Shiro-Gyaru, | ||
| - | ** **Modern Shiro-Gyaru** | + | ** **Modern Shiro-Gyaru**((: |
| .. The modern Shiro-Gyaru. The dominant type. Onee-Gyaru and ‘Reiwa’ Gyaru are both different flavors of Shiro-Gyaru. They tend to have a more ‘reserved’ and ‘cleaner’ look, meaning white skin, more reserved makeup and fashion and so on. | .. The modern Shiro-Gyaru. The dominant type. Onee-Gyaru and ‘Reiwa’ Gyaru are both different flavors of Shiro-Gyaru. They tend to have a more ‘reserved’ and ‘cleaner’ look, meaning white skin, more reserved makeup and fashion and so on. | ||
| - | ** **‘Reiwa’ Gyaru** | + | ** **‘Reiwa’ Gyaru**((: |
| .. Galture identified this. They are the most modern of the Gyaru and don't have any particular unifying trait. There' | .. Galture identified this. They are the most modern of the Gyaru and don't have any particular unifying trait. There' | ||
| - | ** **Onee-Gyaru** | + | |
| + | | ||
| .. More ‘grown-up’ gyaru. Primarily women in the workforce, in their mid-late twenties or early thirties. | .. More ‘grown-up’ gyaru. Primarily women in the workforce, in their mid-late twenties or early thirties. | ||
| I'm getting these from the Galture website (linked below), which is a website run by a gyaru or former gyaru.((: | I'm getting these from the Galture website (linked below), which is a website run by a gyaru or former gyaru.((: | ||
lb/gyaru.1778304696.txt.gz · Last modified: 2026-05-09 05:31:36 by ninjasr