1/28 - Diable Baiser is the only thing keeping me going today

HELLO!!! Today has been a day, like not a lot of good today, so I'm taking the time to now blog about something I'm excited about!!! This image specifically from Yumetenbo, with some hints at new items from Diable Baiser!!

PINK CHECK!!!! AGEJO CUTS OF CLOTHING... BIJOU... WE ARE (SLOWLY) COMING BACK!!!

I am super excited. I have been pretty neutral with hime gyaru coming back simply because I lean more towards the Agejo side, but THIS got me excited. Now it's not fully the Late 2000s Early 2010s Agejo, but baby steps... baaaby steps... 

For me personally, I'm most excited for the setup on the far right, it's not available yet on the website, but I will be keeping my eye out. The skirt on the middle left is available now though! It also is made in plus sizes too which is suuuper exciting!!!! 

Link for the skirt!

Link for the skirt in plus sizes!

I will say I did read the reviews and they are mixed. Now this isn't for the pink skirt, but for other colors, but keep this in mind when deciding to make your purchase!

For the sake of conscious as can be consumerism, I think I am only going to get the pink setup once it becomes available. I am a sucker for setups and one pieces as I love the ease of not having to coordinate them (I am a bit lazy sometimes). I think that if these items get some love, it'll signal to Diable Baiser to bring back some more saturated pink items! Diable Baiser had some CUTE stuff back in the day I'd love to get my hands on (and some I already have!)

I get excited when new Agejo-esque pieces come out because I just love it so much. I definitely am also looking out for the GGXGALZ Agejo setup coming out later in February!! I would love for even just a small Agejo wave to come back hehe...

Ok!! That's all! I am def keeping my eye out and idk if anyone would be interested in a review? Aka a review of like here's what I got here's when I wore it and here's how it washed? Reviews can be hard if it's just a first impression but maybe some gals will be interested in how these upkeep.

 

1/23 - The Final Haul (for now)

Hi everyone! I wanted to share my recent haul, and it's going to be the last major haul I do for awhile. I'm trying to work on my consumption habits, and work on wearing more of the items I  have. I am also trying to see wtf is going on with how tariffs and de minimis will be, so instead of trying to buy as much as I can before it happens, I'm holding off. I of course don't think it'll be 100% easy, my mercari jp addiction is hard to mitigate at times.

For now, I'll detail what I picked up and why. Let me also make this clear to my blog readers who probably know this, I spent hours on hours scouring Mercari JP for some of these items. These are all second hand and won't be easy for my to just share a link to another exact version of. I highly recc you take some time to learn how to search secondhand if you ever want to get into digging for some gems!

Ok, let's start!

1/23 -What is in current day Koakuma Ageha? (No scans)

 Hiii everyone! I wanted to document my first reaction to flipping through a recent version Koakuma Ageha. I'll probably document my total haul post, but I picked this up in my last Mercari JP order early January. 

Just an FYI - I will not be sharing scans of this magazine and this era of Koakuma Ageha is still active. If you read this and want to start collecting, I'd recc grabbing it second hand, or if anyone knows if we can buy it on initial release, I'd love to do that! I def considered it with the Ane Ageha that recently came out, but didn't get it.

Ok, onto some basics.

For some reason I thought this was a 2023 mag, but this is actually Volume 7, Summer 2024. It seems the magazines don't come out in print as often... if anyone reading this knows a bit more, I would definitely love to know. There's obviously a lack of pink, but still a bit of glitz and glam. I would say it's about 2/3 as thick as my older mags.

I'm basically just going to bullet point thoughts now as I flip through this from here on out, and then general thoughts at the end:

• Ok just looking at the front we've got a model graduation. I am not like super familiar with current day models for this mag, but I def will be doing some research. She's extremely pretty. Flipping through her name is Himeka (duh... its on the front...)
• Ok further reading there's another one too! Marin also has seemed to graduated! 
• We had some photo shootsof the top 6 ranked models. I am already a bit biased toward's Nagi because she was wearing pink in her photo op lol
• I think the general fashion styles outside of kyaba-dresses is way more toned down... less girly, more grownup but also simple. There's a LACK of pink halfway through.
• The make is much more simpler these days, the lenses themselves also just seem not as... large? I don't wear circle lenses myself, but I noticed it seems like the circle lenses are not as dolly lenses as older models used to use. 
• Neutral neutral neutral simple simple simple. It's kind of disappointing to see as someone who loves bright colors and OTT looks. Even the Kyaba dresses felt much more simple than what was for sale back 10-15 years ago. 
• They have a few more sections / ads for just lingerie, which kind of makes sense and all of the models are in their 20s, so it's not an issue. Update literally reading March 2012 and its in there too... lol
• I think the missing 1/3 of the magazine is the fact they got rid of most if not all of the weightloss/bodymodification advertisements they slapped at the end of the magazines. I know a lot of gals talk about how old mag days were the good days... but y'all know they had this right? I think a good chunk of time if you're looking at scans those parts aren't actually included in the upload. 
• Oh my god they put a shop list at the back of the magazine, this is really nice for a summary spot of shops mentioned. Was also kind of surprised to see Diable Baiser is still going, but nothing like the pieces I have (of course...) Update literally also had this list in 2012, but the 2012 list is much longer lol.
• I wish you could all see me frown when I saw "SHEIN" LMAOOOO. I'm not a fan of it but I am aware it's popular with gyaru in Japan. The magazine ofc was not ALL Shein, but weird to see it mentioned in a mag. I don't see it mentioned in the shop list in the back.
• No Rin... no Sobre ad... :(
• There's a lot more narrative items vs tutorials. I definitely will be going in with my translator and reading these through.

Overall, it's not bad! It's just a change of style compared so what I am into, but in a way... I'd like to keep up with this magazine and see how it's going. I know there's a Sept 2024 mag... but I have no idea how to access it. I definitely wish the best for the current era of Koakuma Ageha!!

Yap - Noticing Change in Self Image and my fashion identity

Kind of a personal post today, so only really will be seen by the folks who check in once in awhile, but I wanted to write this out.

Since 2024, I've been trying to make a conscious effort to wear more of my gal items out, if it's Wednesday and a karaoke day, it's a day to put together a code, when I'm going out on an excursion, I try to put together a code. This of course doesn't happen all the time, but I've even started just... wearing pink more. And I was already known as a pink thing for a long time!

I have really been enjoying how I present, I've kind of suppressed the want to be an overly feminine girly woman for years, may it be due to comments from others, unwanted comments from men, or just me wondering if it's worth spending the money and if it'd even work. With discovering gyaru, it felt like something awoke in me. 

Now, I started trying to wear pieces out in 2022, but I was suffering a lot with self image still, a lot of mental health issues, and then end of 2023 and start of 2024 was just... really bad. But falling back in love with gyaru and just working on being me and dressing myself up... it felt so nice. I also was surrounding myself with people who cared and working on my mental health, which has helped a LOT with dealing with the idgafism of the gyaru subculture. 

Also because I have no idea when I'll wear this, I want to share a moment of euphoria I felt when I put together this potential outfit for last weekend (I ended up not wearing it lol). I haven't had long hair in half a year!! Putting on this wig with this outfit just like... made me so happy. I will definitely find time to wear this... maybe Katsucon lol. I just really enjoy the pink... the sultry factor... but also the girlyness of it all. It's just so fun!!!! 

I actually did feel kind of an opposite vibe today when trying to put together an outfit... now it is Wednesday but due to the cold weather + bowling I decided to do a more casual look, and my first attempt of just putting on jeans a t-shirt was... not good. I realized I've become SO picky with my silhouette and I can't just throw anything on anymore if I want to go out!! It does sound a bit... hm... self-indulged? I'm worried too much about my image? But I just feel a bit more happy when I've put myself together. I don't really care if someone else thinks I look good, it's about what I think and what I'm happy with.

... I didn't take a picture but I'm actually almost in full "Alba Baka" co*de rn, except no make so it's moreso I look like the Alba Rosa target audience LMAO. I don't own a lot of Alba Rosa clothing, but I figured it would be fun to wear since I've gotta wear my coat out to brave the extremely cold weather. 

That's kind of all I got! Just a small yap. I'm off to go bowl in an hour... and work on a parapara agenda.

1/20 - The Boston Trip!!

 Hi everyone!! Welcome to the grand blog post about my Boston excursion on Friday and Saturday!! This is going to be a long one, with codes, convention thoughts, and some small hauls!! 

I had three goals for this trip: Go to Anthro New England with friends, Go to Newbury Street (specifically Reiwatakiya and MoreFun), and dye my hair!! I had about 48 hours to get this all done! 

So, let's start with the detailing of my codes!

1/16 - Mercari JP Tips

Hiiii! Wanted to blog some Mercari JP shopping tips for the gals who are dipping their toes into it. I think this year there's been a huge wave of people trying to navigate the platform and I myself have made shopping mistakes. 

For some history, I've been using Mercari JP since 2019. It's a great website for secondhand goods, but there's a lot of I've learned to navigate the website.

Which comes to my first tip: Search on Mercari JP directly and don't rely on shopping proxy's search mechanisms. For some reason, some things just don't show up in, and from me briefly checking out Buyee and Zenmarket, they're missing some key items you want to look at when you find a listing you are interested in. Once you find the item you like, copy and paste the link and your proxy should be able to buy it.

You can also translate Mercari JP to English!!! I rely on these for the sort and search functions.

*In previous experiences with Buyee, there was a 'foreign buyers not allowed' request that buyee  abided by. I'm unsure how common this is today as I no longer use Buyee. No idea if Zenmarket also abides by this, other users may be able to provide this insight.

Now, to get into some details on how to search:

1/14 - Casual Co*de and Thrifting Wins!

Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday! This week has had many non-gyaru related curveballs thrown at me and it is only Tuesday. My god. 😔 My friend and I are hunting for an apartment and one we had our eyes on isn't going to be available like we thought. But! We have another lead thanks to Monday night Bingo!! 

I wanted to blog about Sunday and share what I got at the thrift store!! My karaoke friends and I decided to head over to the Savers in East Providence to see if there was anything good. I initially was going to go all out, but it's been so cold in Rhode Island that I am suffering and most of my Agejo clothes are not meant for the winter. So I went with some inspiration from back when I did my Rin scans on Saturday!!

Yap - How to save some sanity in ur gal identity (and also in general)

Yeah I'm yapping about the events on the reddit/twt, I won't go into detail because I think that threads done enough, and instead of doing a personal attack I just wanna note some things I thought.

There are going to be times some gals do something that just doesn't fit the substyle and its going to look off. I think there's a difference between someone who just actively is like "I don't like doing (insert part of being gyaru here) because I don't like it/it's not for me)" and like if it's a ah yeah my feet hurt for a bit/I put on my driving shoes and forgot to change before the photo. I have no idea what photo was being referenced so like. I have no context on that part.

I think for the sanity part, sometimes I'll see something and be like "hm, that looks a bit off to me" and mention it to a close friend but then it's like... ok yep that's all. Sometimes I just keep it to myself as a lot of times I'll see a gal style themselves and be like "I wouldn't do that but alas not all gyaru look the same and if they like it why am I going to get up in arms."

I think I take the mindset of being rude and gatekeepy is exhausting from my personal lore of 2023/2024 and also 2016-2019. I'm 26, I only have so much time in the day, why am I going to spend it being so rude or frustrated at how others are styling themselves? 

I mean also at the same time I think many gals agree it's frustrating when folks who use the gal fashion to get clout but don't really understand the subculture. There's also the valid point of giving concrit when someone asks for it. But if a gal is living their life not to one's standards of gal-ness but they aren't harming anyone, I think it's better to just keep scrolling and move on.

I can't read minds on why all gals get frustrated, but I know some gals are always worried about sullying the gyaru subculture and other gals will make it so they don't get recognized as a gyaru. I really think this is a non-issue. If you're basing yourself worth and your gyaruness if other random people don't call you a gyaru I think you should look at yourself and see why. It's just who you are. Most people outside of Japan don't even know what gyaru is anyways. So... why get up in arms?

TLDR: We all just gotta stop giving a fuck about what other gals are doing and we should be focusing on ourselves and developing as gals.

1/11 - Let's talk about this diva: Rin

 WOW!!! Two posts in one day. I decided to finally give in and blab about my favorite Koakuma Ageha Model: Rin. 

When I was flipping through my magazines and getting familiar with the models, I kept seeing her and was like, "Who is this diva?" There is some sort of like beauty-aura she exudes, and I just kept looking at her in my mags and I was like, ok, she's the it girl in my books.

I'll be sharing some photos I took from Koakuma Ageha 2011 Mags! These are from November, March, and May. I'll also be sharing some other stuff I've learned in my research at the end!! Also this isn't like a proper here's all you should know about Rin, this is just me blabbing.

Yap - Gal brands and if they were to ever to revive. (Lots of Alba Rosa Yap)

 Woooow it's been a whole week!! It's been very un-eventful due to illness and just... snow. So much snow. I wanted to just blog about like the accessibility/idea return of the heisei gal brands returning and my thoughts, a lot of concerns I guess. I don't have a structure to this so i'm just gonna go crazy with my fingers on the keyboard.

1/6 - Florals in winter?!

Hi everyone!! Happy Monday!! I am supposed to be going to bingo right now, but I actually caught something at the sunday bingo event so I am sick again... 😓I've been getting sick a lot this winter, and it's not fun. I definitely have not been dressing the best for winter this year, so that's probably why I keep getting sick!!

Which is kind of funny about today's post!! I definitely did not dress for winter for Sunday Bingo! To my defense, we weren't outside for very long (just walking to and from the car). This is going to be a bit more of a detailed thought process into this co*de from start to finish, but first, I'll share pictures of the outfit!!

1/4 - The bonus Yap Session Blog: Frustration of Trends

Welcome to the first official I lose my mind yap session blog, as today has just been frustrating, so I am going to just ramble about fashion trends as a gyaru who does not really follow the mainstream ones and is not really into the current relevant trends either.

I'm based out of the United States, and it's just been so when it comes to trends I see NEUTRALS EVERYWHERE.... BASIC OUTFITS... EVERYWHERE... "Clean Girl"?! "Quiet Luxury?!" it just feels wrong to me! 

I've always been a person that's not followed current fashion trends, when I was younger it was just due to financial constraints, but now it's just... I like BRIGHT! SATURATED! pink, frilly girly things. This is why I really like 2010s koakuma ageha... it itches that scratch I didn't know I needed.

The problem is in Japan a lot of the brands I really looked up to either disintegrated into abyss, or moved onto the jirai/ryousangata fashion, which is where the pinks are not bright, or saturated. I am SICK of dusty pink. SICK of it!!!! 

There is a win/loss when you find a fashion trend that's outdated that you like because of two things

• The win: You have to secondhand all your clothing because nothing sold in stores is to your taste! Good for the environment!
• The loss: You have to fight with everyone else who wants that fashion too.

I've actually tried restricting my wardrobe more to prevent myself from just buying things left and right, but god, being a koakuma ageha girlie is hard. The cute brands they share are either a PAIN to search for or it's MA*RS being sold for like... 2-3x the market price these days. Or you find a cute piece and turns out you've gone so far in you can't even view the sellers profile because it's that old... UGH!

I feel like it might be good for the first quarter to just... stop looking with the idea of making a purchase and just see how the market changes in like... March. Who knows, maybe MA*RS is prepping a sugargloss re-release... (please... I'm begging).

And then with trends... I can't just manifest it I have to somehow convince others its a good idea isn't it? But I'm not an influencer... I'm just a gyaru who is trying her best to be as cute and pink as possible. I think it's easier to make a trend work by just doing it and not saying it, if that makes sense? 

I think of like Emma Chamberlain and Alix Earle who share their lives and they could be doing something for themselves and like people who follow them just do it. I mean, I also do that with koakuma ageha models, they aren't saying "I've created this and we're making it trend now everyone wear it!" They just wear it, and people who follow them might take inspiration.

...This means maybe I need to be wearing more bright pink, huh!

Ok, time for bed, night everyone!! 

1/4 - The struggles of putting together a co*de + Friday Yummies

Hi everyone! I hope you are doing well!! I wanted to document yesterday's co*de as well as just yap about the struggle of putting it together, and also wanted to share the food I ate yesterday because I had so much good food!!!

First, lets get into yapping about this code, shall we?

1/1 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hi everyone!!! Happy 2025!!! I hope this year is great for you all. The start of last year was really hard on me, so I'm hoping the first half of this year is a lot better. 

I wanted to share my co*de from last night's ordeal! My parents got invited to the big neighborhood event and I came as a plus one, and I figured for a big party, that required big hair!