‘Kamikaze Girls’: When a Lolita Meets a Yanki

This guest post by Jasmine Sanchez appears as part of our theme week on Female Friendship.

There is a common belief that two types of girls exist: tomboys and girly-girls. This is often perpetuated by media. Look at any cartoon since the 1980s and onward. Another belief often perpetuated by the media is that women who fit one of these types aren’t likely to get along with the other. I’m not sure where this idea originated and I’m even less sure how it became so accepted. Either way, it’s just another fallacy that prevents women from being friends with women who don’t fit into their own idea of how women should act. However, one film proves how a friendship can form between two unlikely women.

Kamikaze Girls (originally Shimotsuma Monogatari in Japan) is a story of two teenage girls who each belong to a different Japanese subculture and end up becoming best friends. Momoko Ryugasaki is a Lolita living in a rural part of Japan called Shimotsuma. Despite what one might expect a girl who dresses like a cupcake to act, she is cold, manipulative and completely content with living in own fantasy world.  She spends her days bored out of her mind living in her peaceful town, but occasionally makes trips to Tokyo in order to shop for clothing from her favorite brand, Baby The Stars Shine Bright. However, Momoko’s pretty dresses don’t come cheap, so in order to fuel her passion for Lolita fashion, she puts up an ad online selling her father’s old bootleg Versace clothing. This causes her to meet a yanki (Japanese delinquent), Ichigo Shirayuri, or “Ichiko” as she prefers to be called, who is interested in purchasing some knock-off clothing.  Once she sells her the fake Versace, Momoko expects their interactions to end there; however, Ichiko decides to befriend her and rope her into her own little adventure.

While their connection doesn’t form immediately, especially in Momoko’s case, the two eventually are able to form a close bond. When they first meet they are both taken aback by one another’s exterior–Momoko is horrified to be dealing with a yanki and Ichiko thinks that Momoko is a little girl. Once she finds out they are the same age Ichiko admits to her folly, “I shouldn’t judge by appearances,” which Momoko counters with, “But appearances says everything.” This sets up their dynamic for the rest of the film as Ichiko is willing to look beyond, while Momoko prefers the superficial. After business is done, Momoko wants absolutely nothing to do with Ichiko as she doesn’t see friendship or any form of human connections of something of value. Not to mention her disgust with Ichiko’s clothing, short temper, and habit of spiting on the floor. This still doesn’t prevent Ichiko from coming over to Momoko’s house uninvited, or joining her for tea at her favorite café.  Despite being a tough biker gal, it’s clear that Ichiko has a sense of loyalty and wants to befriend Momoko, because she feels indebted to her after getting great deal on the clothing sold to her.  However, a flashback of Ichiko’s past before she was a yanki shows that she was bullied and had no one as a friend. This changed when she met her mentor and gang leader Akemi. Ichiko most likely sees Momoko in a similar predicament and wants to help her out by befriending her. Unfortunately, Momoko is not as receptive to Ichiko’s offers of friendship and inclusion of her biker gang.

*Spoiler Warning*

Although Momoko resists Ichiko’s attempt to convince her to join her on her search for a legendary embroider named Emma, she is literally dragged along anyway. Their “quest” pretty much consists of them walking aimlessly around the city and hijinks ensuing. When they are unable to find Emma, Momoko offers to embroider Ichiko’s coat, which she stays up all night to do. Despite being exhausted, Momoko admits to being filled with happiness when seeing Ichiko’s delight in her stitching, an emotion that surprises her as well.

Their bond with each other is deepened when they start to rely on each other for their emotional struggles. When Ichiko finds out the guy she liked is involved with someone else, more specifically her former gang leader, Akemi, she is understandably brokenhearted by this revelation and calls Momoko and asks her to meet her on a hill. When Ichiko repeats the words of advice Akemi had given her, “Women shouldn’t cry in public,” Momoko turns around and reminds her that they are alone. This allows her to break down and cry. This is Momoko’s way of comforting her, while allowing her to keep her pride. When Momoko is asked by her favorite brand to embroider a dress with her own design, she is intimidated by the prospect and at a loss at what to do. Momoko asks Ichiko to meet with her to talk about it, and although Ichiko is surprised by Momoko needing her, she states she will go anywhere for her. Her words of advice for Momoko are harsh but encouraging as she reminds her of the embroidery she did on her jacket and how it made her feel. Ichiko sees the talent that Momoko possess and wants to help her flourish. Although she is somewhat unsure of herself, after her talk with Ichiko, Momoko is able to find the inspiration to embroider the dress.

Toward the end of the film, Momoko’s friendship is in full force when she drives by motorbike in order to help Ichiko when she finds out she will be beaten by gang members. Everything she does from this point goes against Momoko’s mindset as a Lolita, however she realizes that Ichiko means more to her than being delicate. When Momoko reaches Ichiko and the gang members, she has already been beaten quite a bit. The sight of Ichiko’s blood causes Momoko to unleash her rage and she grabs a bat and starts swinging against as many yankis as she can. After she freaks them out with her sudden attack, she lies and claims to be the daughter of a legendary yanki. This convinces them to let them both go as they ride off on Ichiko’s bike together as they laugh about Momoko’s bluff.

The film relies on an odd-couple dynamic between the two leads, not just in appearance, but also in personality. Both characters are interesting in their own right. Momoko is a misanthropic dreamer, while Ichiko is delinquent with vulnerable side. Through their interactions with one another they are able to uproot a part of each other that they couldn’t see before. However they don’t completely change at the end of the film; Momoko still prefers her life of indulgence as a Lolita and although Ichiko has a brief stint modeling Lolita clothing, she’s still tough as nails and prefers to ride her bike through the countryside. Their choices are treated as positive ones by the film, since they’re both still young and as long as they have each other they will be okay.

Jasmine Sanchez is a university student working on a major in English Literature. She loves comic books, British television, anime/manga, and cult classic films. She one day hopes to travel to Japan. You can find her on Twitter at @takship.