"Their insults are just hot air that will make us soar because our easy-going gal group is as light as cotton candy." - Ririko, page 53
Kechonpa by Chiaki Hijiri is about Charisma gal Ririko and her adventures playing amateur detective in Shibuya. The series was published in three volumes between 2009 and 2012.
The title, Kechonpa, comes from the onomatopoeic Japanese word that describes being beaten until you are black and blue. Ririko's friends call her this because of her frequent usage of hair dye.
The Characters
How Gal is It?
Outwardly, it's very gal. Ririko and her friends wear flashy gyaru outfits and hang out at Shibuya 109. It's not explicitly stated in the manga, but Ririko seems to be a hime gal.
The non-Gal characters (including Nii) regard gyaru as depraved and the cause of Japan's demise.
However, gyaru characters like Tamiko and Ririko's friends don't seem to mind. Ririko, on the other hand, is obsessed with Nii and yearns for his acceptance, and she will revert to her pre-Gal form anytime she sees him.
Furthermore, Ririko can be quite conservative and traditional at times, characteristics that are not commonly associated with gyaru. In general, this manga contains many visual aesthetics of gyaru, but being gyaru is not its focus.
My Thoughts
Spoilers ahead ⋆｡°✩
CHAPTER ONE
Ririko and her friends (like any good gal group) are hanging out in Shibuya. She shows them a high-school photograph of a girl, asking if they recognize her.
For whatever reason, she has black-out eyes. It's an unusual artistic choice, especially for the opening panel. I don't like or understand it, but it appears periodically throughout the manga. All it did was make me wish I was reading a story about a gyaru demon.
Ririko reveals that she's been asked to help look for a missing person.
After a bit of back and forth between the gals, Kecha realizes that she knows this girl. Her name is Akemi, and she is someone she used to hang out with in 'Bukuro (Ikebukuro.) At this, Ririko drags Kecha to a meeting with police detective Hoshino Nii. Or, as she puts it, "her fiancé."
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| I love the way Chiaki draws Ririko's friends. They have such fun and expressive faces. |
Ririko flippantly declares that the wedding will most likely take place next year. She then leaves with Kecha.
In a miraculous quick change that would put any musical theater pro to shame, Ririko sheds her gyaru skin and assumes a disguise: her pre-gal identity. At first, I thought she was wearing a wig, but it's implied that she dyes her hair back to black??? It's also implied that this is something she does often???
In which case, I want to know what dye she's using because it develops at the speed of light. I also want to know which deep conditioner she uses to combat all the inevitable damage.
We meet Hoshino Nii. He has a major stick up his ass. Although, he's not that dissimilar from your run-of-the-mill standoffish anime love interest. But he's soooooooooo boring. And he dislikes gyaru, so I dislike him on principle.
Kecha tells him everything she knows about Akemi. While this interaction is occurring, we cut back to Ririko's other two friends, Tsugumi and..... Um. I'm genuinely not sure. (Edit: I think her name is Minami.) Anyway. We cut to them meeting with Tamiko at the salon where she works.
Ririko and Tamiko are related and live together in Tokyo, so the girls have visited her to get more details on the whole fiancé thing. Tamiko explains that Ririko's father is super influential and used this influence to arrange Ririko's engagement with Nii when she was a child (ew.) But she says that it's only Ririko who is keen on getting married.
This is made abundantly clear by how dismissive Nii is of Ririko, who is desperate for his affection to a pathetic degree.
After the meeting with Nii, Ririko tries to get him to stay at a hotel with her and go out to dinner. He sort of... doesn't answer.
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| You said it, Kecha. |
Kecha interrupts Ririko's fawning to ask what's going on with Akemi. Nii tells her that her boyfriend reported her missing about a month ago. He also mentions that she's pregnant. Ririko insists that she can help find Akemi and experiences empathy. (Maybe for the first time, but who can be sure?)
Ririko and Kecha head back to Dogenzaka. Ririko reaches out to all her contacts to get info on Akemi's whereabouts. This proves successful, and they are able to track down Akemi to an apartment. It's revealed that Akemi has been hiding out because her boyfriend insists that she has to get an abortion or he'll break up with her. She wants to keep the baby. Ririko tells her to raise the baby without shame and that, should the boyfriend present any trouble, she'll refer her to a good lawyer.
And that's that.
Kecha expresses gratitude to Ririko for helping Akemi, and we learn how Ririko got into the amateur detective business.
Ririko explains that when she was younger, she became extremely ill, so ill that her parents didn't think she was going to live. She mentions that, at the time, Nii was the only person who could bring a smile to her face. She's idolized him ever since. She even credits her survival to him, which I think is excessive. She began assisting the police in an effort to win him over. That's a pretty lame motive to do anything (let alone free police work), but I can't deny that Ririko has the makings of a genuinely good detective. She's definitely more effective than the actual police force.
The magical mystery hair dye she used earlier in the chapter has suddenly ceased to exist, and, in a pinch, she uses black ink.
She catches Nii just as he's about to board the Shinkansen. He then very chastely kisses the top of her head and...
That's the end of chapter one. It's weak as far as opening chapters go. The art is super hit or miss. Sometimes, it would be charming and detailed; other times, it was hard to tell the characters apart. I didn't feel particularly attached or intrigued by any of the characters. If I hadn't been doing this review, I don't think I would've continued reading.
The story with Akemi was introduced and concluded so quickly that it felt like a waste of time. I wondered if Akemi would come up again later in the volume, but that never happened, so I think it was just a one-off case to introduce us to Ririko's detective hobby. Regardless, I wish it had more meaning.
CHAPTER TWO
Chapter two opens with a highly detailed and well-shaded panel. I'm going to sound like an asshole here, but it almost feels like Chiaki put all their effort into this one panel and kind of just... gave up on the rest.
Ririko and her friends catch a guy who has been taking up-skirt photographs of them. They rightfully drag his sorry ass to the police. I loved this scene. The girls really let him have it. Tsugumi, in particular, gets on the police for not doing their jobs properly, and she's right.
I also adore how they wonder if he'll get the death penalty for taking panty shots. Incredible.
Yet again, the girls get blamed for Japan "going to the dogs," which is the second time someone has said that. I wonder if it's due to the translation or if it's the same in the original Japanese. In response to the mean remarks from the old women, Ririko has this to say in narration:
This is cute. "Their insults are just hot hair that will make us soar." Without a doubt, this is the best quote in the entire volume.
Tsugumi splits up with the gal group to meet a high school friend who has asked her for advice on what to do about a stalker.
Okay, brief tangent.
I have a nitpick with how the next page is formatted. The first time I read this part, I assumed Nii was the stalker because his portrait is, like... lingering menacingly on the side next to the main panels.
It wasn't until my third review of the chapter that I understood it was merely a stylistic choice, and he wasn't in the scene. Maybe I'm just stupid, but I found the layout confusing. Let's move on.
Tsugumi's high school friend, Maria, arrives and confesses that she thinks her stalker might be following her right now. Tsugumi suggests they both go back to her place to hide, which is nearby. As they flee, Maria suggestively says, "I wonder if you caught his eye," which had me like:
It cuts to the next day, where we see Tsugumi working as a nail artist. One of her coworkers informs her that a man came by asking for her. It creeps her out, and she worries she is being followed as she returns home that evening.
Initially, she starts to think she's overreacting, but as she approaches her apartment complex, she observes a shadowy figure of a man lurking by her door. The shadowy guy disappears, and Tsugumi, in a state of panic, contacts Ririko to inform her that she is being "stalked by the pervert from hell."
Tsugumi updates her friends on her bizarre situation. Someone keeps leaving hot bento outside her door. This continues to happen, which really troubles Tsugumi, and she starts hiding in her apartment and skipping work.
After not hearing from her in a while, Ririko and the other gals visit her apartment to check on her. That's when they see a mysterious figure putting a bento at her door. Kecha does not hesitate and charges forward in a dead sprint, preparing to body-slam him. Unfortunately, he escapes, and she only retrieves one of his shoes. Ririko goes full detective mode and analyzes the receipt attached to the bento box, acquiring the shop's name.
Tsugumi sleeps over at Tamiko's place. This isn't important to the plot, but I wanted to mention it because I love Tamiko.
Ririko declares that come hell or high water, she is going to catch Tsugumi's stalker.
CHAPTER THREE
The gals stake out the bento shop. When a guy with a similar build to the Shadowy Man enters the store, they confront him. The man reveals that he was ordered to purchase a bento and leave it at Tsugumi's door.
This yields nothing.
Ririko calls Nii for advice, and the girls question why she doesn't simply email him. It is disclosed that he has never given her his email address, which is depicted as a red flag. I don't understand it. Maybe this was more relevant back in 2010, but I was there, and I don't remember email being this important to courtship. Perhaps it's a Japan thing.
Anyway. Nii is useless (per usual) and tells Ririko she can handle it. Yes, king, give us nothing.
Ririko then has a brain blast about the photo on the website, noting that Tsugumi is make-up-free, which implies that whoever made the website clearly knows Tsugumi, but not well.
In a cafe, the gals devise a trap. Tsugumi sits alone at a table, waiting for Maria to arrive. When she does, Tsugumi confronts her with a printout of the website.
This confused me since, at this point, I assumed Maria was fabricating her own stalking as a ruse to meet up with Tsugumi and exact "revenge" on her. And then I wondered whether she was talking about something that happened in high school, albeit she doesn't get into specifics. She describes spending "god knows how many days in this living hell," and I'm not sure what she could be referring to if it's not the stalking.
Maria goes on to say this:
Doesn't this imply that she is referring to her own stalking? In which case, I'm not sure when Maria got the impression that Tsugumi and the girls had laughed at her. Unless it happened off-page, I don't recall Maria ever being in the same room as any of the other girls, with the exception of Tsugumi. Well, until now.
As Maria makes to leave, Ririko calls to her from another table, "What's wrong with laughing?"
This stops Maria in her tracks. Ririko gives her a dressing down.
Fake stalker story??? I'm perplexed, I tell ya!! Perplexed!!
This prompted me to return to the chapter's opening, where Tsugumi informs the gals that she'll be meeting up with Maria. I couldn't find any scenes of the girls laughing at her or her stalker situation. In response to Tsugumi telling them that Maria had a stalker, one of the girls (it doesn't show who) says, "Ew! That really sucks!"
This seems like a pretty crazy oversight.
Nonetheless, Ririko tells her that if Maria overheard them "back then," why didn't she say something? She calls her a cockroach. Ouch. Maria then breaks down sobbing, which results in other patrons of the cafe calling the police, claiming that the gals were harassing her.
After dealing with the police, Ririko starts monologuing about how she's never going to give up, and she's going to make it in this city, god dammit. You know how it goes. She also calls Nii to thank him for his help???? Girl, he did nothing!!!!!
Despite Maria's terrible motive, I liked these two chapters. I definitely enjoyed them more than the first. It was fun and allowed us to get to know the girls better. I even liked Ririko. She is at her best when on a crusade for her friends. Her detective work was good, and her strong sense of justice was commendable, as it was clearly rooted in love.
CHAPTER FOUR
It's shortly after the new year, and Tamiko is woken up by an early-morning phone call. It's Tamiko's aunt from Nonami telling her that her daughter, Etsumi, is visiting Tokyo that day and asking if she can show her around when she comes.
Later that morning, Tamiko tells Ririko about the "mega annoying" call.
It is revealed that Cousin Etsumi was a high school delinquent, or Yankii, as the Japanese call them. She hung out with some shady characters, was in a bike gang, and bleached her hair. She was a grade above Ririko at school.
Tamiko persuades Ririko to go to the station and meet Etsumi. Their cousin never shows up, leaving Ririko waiting for six hours.
Etsumi's mother reports her daughter missing to the Aichi prefectural police. However, given her troubled past, the police hesitate to investigate. After all, Etsumi had run away before. They expect her to return on her own.
A beautiful young woman in the police force informs Nii that one of his relatives has disappeared.
This was one of those moments where I realized how many of the primary characters are related. Well, only Ririko, Tamiko, and Nii. But nonetheless. That's a lot! It also adds to the bizarre nature of Ririko and Nii's relationship. I don't think they're blood relatives, but they're close enough that this whole situation feels a little... incestuous. Even if it is not actual incest, there are definitely incestuous vibes.
Another nitpick: Nii is the chief inspector, although he looks no older than 25. The manga doesn't mention his age, and based on his youthful appearance, my guess is that he's in his early to mid-twenties. This doesn't make sense to me. That wouldn't give him enough time to gain the experience required to become a chief inspector. I'm sure the in-story reason is that he's some Wonder Boy genius, yet another tired, overused trope common to the genre.
If he only appears young but is actually much older, his engagement to Ririko becomes even more uncomfortable. In the story's defense, it does not present this as something positive. Ririko's fascination with him is frequently depicted as one-sided and quite pitiful. Maybe I just really dislike Nii and don't want him to have nice things. Yeah, that's it.
Regardless of my feelings, Nii is calling the shots. And yet, he doesn't really do much. It's the beautiful woman who takes the initiative to go to Tokyo and interview some witnesses. She ends up at Tamiko's door, where we learn her name is Takamura. She says she's here about Etsumi's disappearance. Tamiko worries that if Ririko sees her and discovers she works with Nii, she'll get upset.
And speak of the devil... No, literally. We get another appearance of Demon Ririko.
Overhearing Tamiko and Takamura talking about how Etsumi hasn't returned home, Ririko chimes in that her cousin wouldn't miss out on the upcoming Coming of Age ceremony, and as such, something must've happened to her.
Tamiko (bless her heart) does her best to protect Ririko from the truth of Takamura's identity.
But, naturally, Ririko starts to put together the pieces.
The next scene shows Etsumi's mother on the phone with Tamiko. She is crouching worriedly on the tatami. When they hang up, some men question Etsumi's mother about who was on the phone. We don't know who they are yet, but we can presume they must be related.
Then we see Etsumi, who is tied up and being kept somewhere. That is how the chapter concludes... on a cliffhanger.
Dun dun dun.
CHAPTER FIVE
A flashback sets chapter five in motion. We are shown how Ririko came to live with Tamiko in Tokyo.
We are treated to Tamiko's narration (a true delight), and she explains that she was under a lot of familial pressure to look after Ririko since she is a member of the head family of "their clan."
Nii expresses concern for Ririko's well-being by calling Tamiko to check on her.
To be honest, I really liked early Ririko. She's a freak. And I mean that in the best way. She obsessively cleans the flat to show her appreciation to Tamiko for allowing her to live there. She's neurotic and a perfectionist. One of my favorite scenes is when she explains her various medications to Tamiko.
Younger Ririko was experiencing a lot of depression, especially in relation to her hometown and upbringing. In an attempt to cheer her up and help her regain some confidence, Tamiko bleaches her hair.
And thus, gyaru Ririko is born.
Tamiko concludes the flashback on a pleasant note, saying how much she likes this new version of Ririko because she can finally express herself and open up about her emotions. It is a very sweet sentiment.
Her friends are justifiably surprised, but it immediately becomes clear that her casual demeanor is a front for her scheming. She declares that she's going to make Takamura's life "hell."
Shortly after, Ririko chews out a waiter at a cafe for placing his thumb on the rim of her coffee cup. Her friends comment that this has become "yet another cafe they can't visit," implying this is something Ririko does a lot. Look, Riri, I'm glad you can speak your mind, but abusing service personnel is not it.
We cut to Etsumi during her imprisonment, and it's implied that she is playing some role in it or is aware of why she is being held. Her captors tell her that she's going to need to hide for a bit longer.
The girls and Tamiko go out to karaoke. They get to talking about Etsumi and how, many years ago, she and her boyfriend got into a terrible car crash that almost saw Etsumi serving jail time. It was Nii who proved that Etsumi's boyfriend convinced her to take the blame for the crash when he'd been the one driving. Mind you, Ririko tells this entire story through the karaoke mic, which includes excessive fawning over Nii and his nobility.
Tamiko then tells the group that she intends to go visit Etsumi's family. Before Tamiko leaves, Ririko tells her about Etsumi's grandfather's will and that the terms of it are "quite unusual."
Though it's been heavily implied, we finally discover that it is indeed Etsumi's family who have been holding her captive.
I think you can see where this is going.
Through an interrogation of Etsumi's uncle, we learn that they had kept her captive for two months. The police all yell at each other over the fact that they didn't do shit, which is true. Only Takamura did anything, and it was stated multiple times that she had been "off duty."
Tamiko was, by in large, my favorite character in the manga. She wasn't particularly developed either, but I loved what I saw of her. Her warm presence and maturity balanced out the youthful vapidity of Ririko and her friends. She embodied everything good about an older sister gal. I wish the manga had been about her.
CHAPTER SIX
We witness Etsumi's uncle tie her up, cover her mouth with duct tape, and throw her in the back of a car.
Meanwhile, Takamura catches up with Tamiko at a public park.
Takamura examines the will and discovers that Etsumi's grandfather left her everything. Takamura and Tamiko (Team T) set out to speak with Etsumi's mother, and while on the way there, Tamiko questions why she is so interested in the case. Takamura confesses that it is because of Nii's relationship with the victims. She then drops this bomb:
Uh oh.
This panel reaffirmed a lot of things for me in regard to the whole fiancé thing. One: Ririko's father, indeed, wanted them to get together. Assumedly, because Ririko comes from such a prestigious family and Nii is an elite police inspector, it would be an advantageous union for the clan. Two: Nii has no romantic feelings for Ririko. As Takamura stated, "He often says that she's more like a kid sister to him." I really like this addition. It doubles down on Ririko being blinded by her one-sided obsession.
Finally, Team T reach the mother's home. Etsumi's mother is acting very suspiciously, not wanting them to come inside. At this point, Takamura and Tamiko suspect that Etsumi's disappearance has to do with her grandfather's money. They eventually out-right accuse the mother of wanting to steal Etsumi's inheritance. She breaks down and confesses that it was her brother's idea.
The following section is a little confusing. We watch Etsumi being lifted out of the automobile by her uncle. Just then, another car crashes into theirs. The next thing we see is a deco-manicured hand holding a cell phone.
I assumed Ririko was the one who crashed the car and called the cops, but I'm not sure that's what actually happened. It was all pretty vague. Regardless, Etsumi has been rescued.
Tamiko visits Etsumi and her mother in the hospital. She struts in with an attitude.
When the mother leaves, Tamiko immediately grills Etsumi, accusing her of being in on the plot. "Your abduction was faked, wasn't it?" Tamiko asks. She tells her she suspected it was faked when she saw her mother put on makeup before seeing her daughter. She says it's strange that a woman who had thought her daughter was missing for two months would take the time to put her face on.
However, it's implied that Etsumi went along with it in order to help her mother. Tamiko encourages Etsumi to step out of her mother's shadow.
Ririko is waiting in the hospital lobby. She then says something very true and based.
Nii arrives to thank Tamiko for assisting Takamura. He then asks her to continue caring for Ririko, though it becomes apparent through his outdated description that he knows nothing about her.
And then, in what is a genuinely beautiful sequence of panels, we see Ririko listening, hiding behind the couch's back.
Ririko and Tamiko head back to Tokyo on the Shinkansen, enjoying Takomeshi. Ririko begins sobbing, claiming that she's emotional over how good the bento is, but it's pretty obvious she's upset about Nii. I really started to feel for her.
And then it's ruined by the last few pages, where Ririko explains what happened to Etsumi to her gals. She takes a very unnuanced stance on the whole thing. She then distracts herself with their upcoming Coming of Age ceremony, asking her friends what they think about a kimono in a magazine.
Her friends admit that none are too keen on attending the Coming of Age ceremony. They talk about how the ceremony is stuffy and uncool. Ririko has a freak-out.
Tamiko, realizing how fragile Ririko is, scolds the girls for making fun of the ceremony. She comforts the delusional Ririko, ensuring her that Nii will totally love seeing pictures of her in her kimono. (Wink, wink, wink, wink.)
And that's how volume one ends.
In Conclusion
♥︎♥︎♡♡♡
2/5
Unfortunately, this manga is... not very good.
The writing is weak, and the artwork varies drastically in quality from page to page. Some of the art is great, with detailed linework and individualized characters, but Chiaki often drops the ball. However, knowing what I know about the manga industry, my guess is that this was due to a time or budget crunch (probably both), but it's disappointing regardless. The color portraits before and after each chapter are lovely. The girls look, as Ririko would say, "shiny and fab."
The story reads like a poor man's Nancy Drew. Ririko's innate investigative abilities shone through at times, but for the most part, she wasn't given much to do. It appears that Chiaki enjoyed the idea of having a plucky gyaru detective but was uninterested in or unfamiliar with the mystery genre itself. All of Ririko's "cases" are predictable. Ririko's gyaru-ness only helped her in one case: her extensive social network aided her in locating Akemi. I thought that was fantastic. It was a melding of two seemingly unconnected things: gyaru and detective work. But it's the only time we get stuff like that.
This manga is like biting into a pastry that's hollow in the middle. There's not much happening below the surface. There was minimal police work, and aside from Ririko's delusional preoccupation with police inspector Hoshino Nii, virtually no romance. I actually don't mind Ririko's obsession. It's childish, but she's nineteen. I hope that in future volumes, it's used as a point of character growth. However, I hated Nii. He was a cardboard cutout of a man, not a helpful police officer or a compelling romantic interest. I wanted less of him in every scene.
It seems ever-apparent that gyaru is used as a visual indicator of Ririko's transformation. When Tamiko bleaches her hair, it unlocks the "real" Ririko, giving her the confidence she needs to speak her mind. This is another aspect of the manga I liked, as this is true for myself and many other gyaru I know. However, this powerful statement is hindered by the fact that Ririko and her gal friends are two-dimensional. While Ririko frequently waxes poetic about her challenging upbringing and engagement to Nii, the other girls are left to fend for scraps. As a result, we don't truly know who they are or why they're friends.
I'll be the first to admit that I chose this manga based on its cover art. It evoked Paradise Kiss and the hand-drawn, grainy charm of 1990s anime, but I was disappointed. I should mention that the cover image shows Ririko holding what appears to be a staff or pool cue. I assumed this meant she'd hit someone with it, but she doesn't. Not even once. For that alone, I believe I am entitled to some form of recompense.
I love the insight on a manga I didn't even know existed! There's so few gal manga as it is, you know? I hope you do more of these, it was a fun read!
ReplyDeleteAhhhhh, I'm so happy you enjoyed it!!! And I know exactly what you mean. That's why I wanted to do this series of gal-related media reviews. I will definitely be doing more!! Thank you so much (❁ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)
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