So I was doing some productive research online, surfing the articles on Cracked.com, when I came across one that had a little spot about "gyaru" subculture (is that the right word for it? I've seen "kogal" and "ganguro" used but I don't know if they're the right names or not) when I realized that I really wanted to see some more of this fascinating ideal. Sure, some people think it's weird, but I think it looks cool, in a campy sort of way.

Oh, yeah, on to manga. Since I can't go out and interview a kogal myself, I was wondering if anyone could point me to some manga with a feature on the gyaru subculture itself. Not one or two characters of the daythat never show up again after their respective chapter but a manga that, if it doesn't focus on the culture, at least includes a gyaru gal as one of the recurring side characters.

Is that a hard request? I researched for another gyaru thread around here and found one which directed me to GALS!, Peach Girl, and Short Cuts, which I will get to one day, but it was mostly full of general romantic comedy recommendations, which I'm not very interested in.

So, is there any hidden gem you want to point me to? Is this a repetitive topic and there's some super secret tag I was too lazy too look for? I'd love to read more about this fascinating subculture but I haven't really found anything.

Thank you in advance! Sorry for the dumb thread.

(Slightly off the topic of manga, but any general references about kogals and such would be super special awesome too.)

I don't think it's a weird/dumb request. Everyone has his or her own preferences, after all.

I don't really know any manga which has such a protagonist (yeah, talk about a useless post!) but I thought I ought to tell you that Short Cuts is more of a deconstructive parody of the kogal subculture than anything. It's a fairly witty commentary on Japan's fast degrading society, but I wouldn't read it for the kogals. It's a hidden gem of a completely different variety -- if you like unique humour, that's the manga to read.

There is a supporting character who is a ganguro in Bremen - http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=1756 - I haven't read it in a long time though so I don't remember if it matches your criteria.

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