gyaru magazine deep dive

this cant be the same blog i planned to post on friday... it cant be!!

haha, anyway! welcome to another antama gyaru blog! im so sorry for the delay, i debated posting this in 2 parts just to get it out at a decent time, but i thought that might be a little annoying reader-wise... unfortunately, im genuinely insane so i wanted to make this as comprehensive as possibly and include as much as i possibly could! i took a lot of cues from GalRevo, and i wanted to include the same magazines they have in their archive! i'll include a link at the end (it can also be found in my resource blog!), so i hope this blog can be used as sort of a guide when it comes to navigating GalRevo... but of course, my blogs have no relation to/are completely independent of the lovely gals over at GalRevo, so keep that in mind! sadly, some of the info on the magazines gets a little barebones, so i apologize for being unable to find more. i also was unable to include a few of the magazines at all due to lack of resources... so, i'll list the magazines i was unable to include in case you want to go on your own search!

Ego System, Soul Japan, Men's Spider, Honey girl, Hime!, Gal★Mori 

all of these magazines, as well as lesser known ones, can be accessed via GalRevo so do not despair! if anyone has any information or can glean anything from the magazines themselves, as my japanese skills are severely lacking, please do let me know! im particularly interested in Gal★Mori since it was essentially lost media until GalRevo was able to archive an issue, and many are still considered lost... ahh, gyaru and lost media... my favorites!! i think finding out more about Gal★Mori is going to become a pet project of mine~! 

okay, okay, enough yapping! this is going to be another long blog, so buckle up!! enjoy~!

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egg

egg magazine is perhaps the most popular, well-known gyaru magazine. the first issue was published in september 1995 by Taiyo Books. the publication catered to nearly all styles and types of gyaru, and is the source for many of the most popular gyaru images on the web. the magazine included streetsnaps of ganguro gals in their early issues (and other gals as publication continued), provided information on the gyaru subculture, and advertised the latest, trendiest fashions and accessories. they also included hair and makeup tutorials in their issues. the models, known as egg models, were oftentimes recruited via streetsnaps, and became very popular in the gyaru community and in the general entertainment/modeling industry. some egg models would be features in other magazines, go on to create their own fashion labels, or they were able to break out into the mainstream music and modeling industry. after gyaru dwindled in popularity through the years, so did egg magazine. the original egg magazine ran its final issue on may 31, 2014. but, in 2017, egg magazine returned with the same name, published under MRA Corporation. the magazine is commonly referred to as new egg, both by fans and by the publication itself, and is published as an online magazine with 10 physical issues. new egg has received backlash and faced controversy due to problematic actions on the part of the publication itself, but it continues to be an important figurehead in the gyaru community. new egg released the song "GAL is MIND" in 2022, performed by new egg models under the name softboiledegg, to pay homage to the editor-in-chief of the magazine for outlining what the gyaru mindset was. the song has achieved massive amount of popularity and serves as de facto motto for all gyaru/gyaruo.

men's egg/men's egg youth/men's egg bitter

these publications are egg magazines sister, or in this case, brother magazines. men's egg was founded in 1999, and it catered to gyaruo. it featured a lot of the same content as egg: hair and fashion guides, streetsnaps, fashion and accessory advertisements, and more. there were different versions of men's egg, as well. men's egg youth for younger guys, and men's egg bitter for guys 23+. unlike egg, men's egg was a bit "edgier" and offered advice about relationships and how to pick up girls. men's egg had its own group of models as well, and they hosted a web show called eggmgg TV. eggmgg TV covered the goings on in shibuya, and topics of interest to the viewers, similar to the magazine articles. men's egg ceased publication a year earlier than egg, in october 2013, and has yet to make an official comeback.

Happie/Happie Nuts/Nuts

Happie Nuts, or just Nuts, was founded in october of 1997 under the name Happie by Inforest Publishing. information on the english speaking side of the web is scarce, which is a real shame because of the magazine powerhouses that grew from it, but i'll try my best from here on out. in late 2004, likely in november, Happie changed their name to Happie Nuts, and the name change made its debut in the november issue. it is common to refer to the magazine simply as Nuts, however. the magazine catered to onee-gyaru and placed a lot of importance on being tan. Nuts models, known as Nuts Mates, can easily be picked out by their deep tans. in 2014, their publisher, Inforest, went bankrupt, and Nuts ceased publication. it restarted briefly from 2015-2016, and did not restart again until 2020. it has been active since then.

小悪魔Ageha/Ageha

Koakuma (小悪魔) Ageha, or just Ageha as it is most often called, is a gyaru magazine that caters to Agejo gals. Agejo, which is a combination of the japanese word ojousame (for "lady"/"young miss") and Ageha, was of course, created by Ageha. the first issue was published in october of 2005, under the name "Koakuma & Nuts" (Nuts being another publication that will be covered below). it was, at first, intended to only be a special edition of Nuts magazine, but became monthly in 2006 under the name Koakuma Ageha under Inforest Publishing. unlike other gyaru magazines that focused purely on the subculture, Ageha was very much centered around night work, specifically hostess clubs. Ageha began to be known as a textbook, or a bible, for hostesses, and many of the Ageha models (or Age-mo's) were active hostesses. in terms of the magazines subject matter, Ageha focused very heavily on fashion, hostesses, and the hardships that come with being a hostess. style wise, whereas other gyaru publications focused around shibuya/tokyo, the Ageha lifestyle was "local-oriented," and not restricted to just shibuya/tokyo. the magazine gave a realistic, unromanticized depiction of hostess life, and often delved into heavy topics. Age-mo's would share stories of their troubled lives in articles, and themes of "yami (meaning "darkness 闇" and "sickness 病") in the human heart." this was considered different at the time, as a magazine like Ageha that was mainly about fashion wouldve been expected to be purely light-hearted. many Age-mo's gained their own fanbases, and many went on to create their own fashion brands, like the brand RADY which was created by Shizuka Mutoh. in april of 2014, after Inforest Publishing went bankrupt, Ageha ceased publication. it was briefly restarted in 2015 under Neko Publishing, before switching hands again in 2017 to Transmedia until 2020. despite being technically active, Ageha did not make its complete comeback until january 5, 2021, published by HJ Co, as a digital magazine. special physical issues are released bi-yearly.

I Love Mama

similarly to the beginnings of Ageha, I Love Mama began as a special edition collaboration between Nuts magazine and Ageha. initially titled Mama Nuts x Ageha, it was first published in september 2008 by inforest publishing. it catered to a very niche group of gals, gyaru-mama, or gals who continued living the gal lifestyle after having children, and was the very first publication to focus solely on gyaru-mama. it was a huge hit, and became a monthly publication in 2009 under the name I Love Mama. the magazine included the usual suspects of makeup and fashion tips, but it also included content about parenting and housekeeping. the I Love Mama models, or Love-mo, would often appear in the magazine alongside their children, which were referred to as chibiko. also like Ageha, the bankruptcy and subsequent closure of Inforest Publishing forced I Love Mama to cease publication in 2014. it has yet to be revived.

Popteen

Popteen, despite creating some of the most iconic gyaru images on the internet, is not an exclusively gyaru magazine. the first issue was published on october 1, 1980 by Kadokawa Shoten. Popteen is one of asia's most popular fashion magazines, and is published in japan, taiwan, and thailand. they also have built up an internet presence in america. it expertly combined traditional fashion/entertainment with gyaru, and featured many figures gals hold near and dear such as Ayumi Hamasaki (2000), Kumiko Funayama (2008, and also appeared in egg and Vanilla Girl), Kumi Koda, and Namie Amuro. the magazine also featured western celebrities such as Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Fergie, and Gwen Stefani. Popteen became famous for including "doku-moderu", or reader models (i.e., readers could become Popteen models themselves). exclusive Popteen models, known as Pop Models or Pop Mens respectively, and often used nicknames when modeling for Popteen. some of the most popular Pop Models are Tsubasa Masuwaka (founder of the brand Dolly Wink, and known as the 10 billion yen gal due to her ability to generate massive amount of revenue), Nana Suzuki, Wei Son, Dakota Rose, and Umji (of the kpop group GFriend). in 1994, the magazine was acquired by the Kadokawa Haruki Corporation, and has remained under their ownership since then. in april of 2010, they launched a companion magazine called PopSister, meant to be Popteen's "older sister" counterpart. Popteen continues to be an active, monthly publication.

PopSister

PopSister is Popteen's "older sister" magazine, catering to gals in their teens and 20s. the first, unofficial issue of PopSister was published in 2009 under the title Scream, as a special edition of Popteen. the first official PopSister issue was published on april 17, 2010, and featured seven exclusive PopSister models: Tsubasa Masuwaka, Kana Hoshino, Yui Kanno, Jun Komori, Tomoko Higuchi, Eri Aoki, and Wei Son. i couldnt find much information beyond this. PopSister's last issue was published in november 2011.

Blenda

similarly to Popteen, Blenda featured many western celebrities as well as gyaru fashion brands. i was unable to find any further information such as the magazines official debut or any previous publishers, but the earliest i can find is 2002 and the publisher as of the final issue was the Kadokawa Haruki Corporation. western celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Beyonce (a Blenda favorite), Britney Spears, Ashanti, Christina Milian, and Victoria and David Beckham have posed for Blenda. popular gyaru idol Namie Amuro has also posed for Blenda. As of April 7, 2014, Blenda has ceased publication.

Ranzuki

Ranzuki was first published in june of 1998 by Bunka-sha Publishing & Co, and was AsAyan's sister magazine. it was first published under the title ランキング大好き (Ranking Daisuki, or "I Love Ranking"). it became independent of AsAyan in september 2000, and rebranded to Ranzuki in 2001. Ranzuki, similarly to Nuts, primarily showcased darker-skinned/more tanned gals, and the regularly appearing models are referred to as R's. many of these models have since moved to Ranzuki's sister magazines, JELLY and Vanilla GiRL. to my knowledge, Ranzuki is still technically active, but i was unable to find any recent information.

JELLY

JELLY began as a special edition of Ranzuki in april 2005, and became independent in 2006. Ranzuki models Maya Mori and Yuuki Yamamoto became exclusive JELLY models, known as JELLY girls, for the 2006 launch. like Ranzuki, it is still technically active as a magazine. the official website appears to have been acquired by/sold to another entity, and they released a statement on instagram on february 16, 2024 that JELLY would be ceasing publication with the release of their april issue. however, as of april 29th of this year, JELLY released another statement on their instagram that a revival is planned for sometime in mid august, and it seems it will be going back to its gyaru roots. nothing else has been posted since, but its definitely something for us to keep our eyes on!

Vanilla GiRL

Vanilla GiRL is another Ranzuki sister magazine. i was unable to find any information other than the fact that it catered to Hime and Shiro gals. it is unclear when this magazine was officially published or if it has ceased publication, but it appears the first issue was published in 2007, and the last issue (volume 10) was published in 2008. volume 9 can be read on GalRevo, and volumes 1, 8, and 10 are in the works to be added. photos of the covers of volumes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 can be found here.

Cawaii! (not featured on GalRevo)

Cawaii! magazine is unique in the sense that it is mainly published outside of japan. despite the japanese version being suspended in may 2009 due to lack of popularity, it continues to be published in taiwan, china, and thailand. both the chinese and taiwanese versions were founded sometime in the early 2000s, and the thai version was founded in may 2004. Namie Amuro posed for the july 2009 taiwanese edition.

S'Cawaii! (not featured on GalRevo, website link)

S'Cawaii! is Cawaii!'s older sister magazine, aimed at gals that have graduated high school/adult gals. it is published on march, june, september, and december 17th, and has been running since september 2000.

ES POSHH!

formerly called Ego System, ES POSHH! ran from december 2006 to 2009. it was primarily marketed towards manba and ganguro gals. western celebrities such as Beyonce, Christina Milian, and Victoria Beckham have posed for the covers.

ViVi (not featured on GalRevo, website link)

ViVi magazine began publication in may of 1983 under Kodansha, and is published in japan, china, hong kong, taiwan, and thailand. like Popteen, ViVi is not exclusively a gyaru magazine, but they have often featured gyaru idols on their covers. most notably, Namie Amuro and Ayumi Hamasaki are rivals for the title of ViVi's cover queen, or the one who has been featured the most. Ayumi Hamasaki has appeared in the magazine 40 times since 1999, and runs her famous "Ayu's DIGIDIGI Diary" in ViVi. Kumi Koda and Beyonce have also posed for ViVi. the magazine greatly influenced gyaru style in the 90s and beyond.

Soul Sister

Soul Sister is the sister magazine of Soul Japan, and it ran from may 2011 to november 2015. it was mainly catering towards Ora Ora and Ane gals. both Soul Japan and Soul Sister have returned as webzines since april 2023.

Papillon (not featured on GalRevo, website link & archive link)

Papillon is a digital gaijin gyaru magazine that began in 2019. the website features the magazine itself, as well as beauty and fashion tips, and gyaru eduation. publication ceased in 2023, but their website is still up.

LOALO (not featured on GalRevo, website link & twitter link)

LOALO is a gyaru magazine that launched in june of 2022. the magazine is centered around tanning culture, and their slogan is "No Tanning, No Life!" the magazines goal is to bring tanning back into fashion, inspired by the rise of y2k fashion coming back into style, and the magazine can be found for free across tanning salons in japan. they also often hold events such as beach parties and eurobeat parties. the LOALO models include very well-known, iconic gals, such as former Black Diamond members Harutamu and Maachirin, as well as Sora Fujiki. the LOALO models also release music, and their song "Xoxo" has become very popular on platforms like tiktok.

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whew! i told y'all this one would be long! as i promised, here is the link to the GalRevo archive! i 100% recommend checking it out, it seriously has a little something for everyone... including non-gals! so, i hope everyone has fun checking it out! i'll post the next round of voting in a bulletin either today or tomorrow... or just whenever i get to it! whenever i give myself a deadline, i always push it off and miss it and stress myself out... which is why this blog took forever to get out... the day i stop procrastinating, please know ive been replaced by a clone!! haha, anyway! i'll post the voting bulletin when i post it, so pleased keep an eye out for it if youre interested! thank you so much for reading and for your support, you all make my heart so happy~

remember, antama loves you~! 

kiss kiss~ ☆⌒ヽ(*'､^*)chu