Kamikaze Girls

下妻物語

Shimotsuma Monogatari

1 volumes

2002

Momoko is a "Lolita" who dresses in extravagant Victorian-style frills and lace. Born from a fleeting drunken encounter between a timid yakuza father and a tipsy bar-hostess mother, Momoko’s mom soon disappeared. After a string of failed schemes involving counterfeit brand-name goods, her dad moves them to the remote countryside of Ibaraki prefecture. To escape her boring daily life, Momoko obsesses over French rococo, dreams of living at the Palace of Versailles, and purchases all her heavily lacy outfits from an expensive boutique in Tokyo. Ichiko is a rough-talking biker girl (on a souped-up moped) who leads an all-female motorcycle gang called the Ponytails. Together, this highly improbable pair set out on a mission to find a legendary embroiderer, encountering conniving pachinko parlor managers, famous street punks, and anemic costume-makers along the way. Who knows, they might just make it big… if only Ichiko would stop headbutting Momoko in the forehead. Novala Takemoto’s breakthrough novel *Kamikaze Girls*—already a cult classic in Japan—is more than a wry coming-of-age picaresque; it’s a whole new way of life.

Slice of Life

Comedy

Romance

Shoujo