Being Judged by Appearances: A Lolita Fashion and Visual Kei Comic by Aito

Though we, the English-speaking lolita community, may not always verbally connect with the Japanese-speaking lolitas, there is a universal problem most lolitas have to face: creepy old men who just don’t get it.

This is a funny 4-koma comic that Aito, the designer and owner of Royal Princess Alice and Bio Politics, two Japanese alternative fashion brands, posted back in February 2020. The comic features Aito and two of her friends who have to deal with drunk old men in the streets of Japan while wearing lolita and visual kei styles. Aito primarily wears visual kei while her two friends wear sweet lolita and gothic lolita. Depending on the fashion style being worn, the old man will react differently. Many who dress in J-fashion, especially those who live in cities with public transportation systems, can probably relate with this story. With permission from Aito, we’ve translated the manga from Japanese to English for the international community to enjoy! The comic is meant to be read in the right to left direction.

Aren’t you judging people just by appearance?
Lolita-chan’s and visual kei-chan’s common situation by Aito

Lolita-chan's Common Situation by Aito
Aren’t you judging people just by appearance? Lolita-chan’s and visual kei-chan’s common situation (English version) by Aito (original Japanese version here)

This comic is a collaboration of several individuals. The story is based on Aito’s personal experiences living in Kansai. Aito notes that she used to be in a visual kei comedy band and during that time, she was often scared of the oji-san at night. The artwork is drawn by Akiharu Nobita who is a published boys love manga artist. Their works are available to read in English through Renta!, an online manga reading service (warning: some works may be NSFW). The designs of the sweet lolita character was based off a Kansai lolita named Ririka (@ririka_lolita_). The design of the gothic lolita character was based off Tuyahime Neko (@tuyahime_neko), a former shop staff of TyCHE/KERA Shop Sendai who is also the drummer in a visual kei band.

Wasn’t that funny? Could you relate to it? I’ve definitely had my fair share of “NOOOOO”s while wearing lolita fashion out and about. I find that is true that darker styles such as gothic lolita and visual kei will get much milder reactions from the public since normies probably think you’re just a goth weirdo. There’s just something with sweet lolitas that draws the public eye which leads to some pretty strange encounters.

You can see the original Japanese version on Aito’s Twitter. If you enjoyed the story, make sure to give her some retweets and likes!

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Credits

Original work by Aito (@KERA_Aito)
Artwork by Akharu Nobita
Translation by going_grimy
Typesetting by buttcape

Want to see more of Aito’s works? Check out some of her designs for Royal Princess Alice and Bio Politics in some of my previous posts!

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