SO PRETTY / VERY ROTTEN: Comics and Essays on Lolita Fashion and Cute Culture - Tapa blanda

"So Pretty / Very Rotten is an intriguing peek behind the frilly, sugar-coated, and surprisingly subversive, femme-centric Lolita culture. Mai and Nguyen reveal the hows and whys of a fashion tribe that is pretty on the outside and so much more on the inside." - Deb Aoki, contributing writer at Anime News Network and Publishers Weekly "A marvellously affective journey into the hearts, souls and minds of Lolita fashionistas. The remarkable depth of the essays and artwork in this slim volume speaks to us all." - Joshua Paul Dale, co-editor of The Aesthetics and Affects of Cuteness "Expertly mixing comics and essays, An Nguyen and Jane Mai take us on an excursion into the fascinating culture of Lolita fashion. These beautifully realized stories, which range from humorous to haunting, involve young people looking for context and place, searching for a balance between materialism and identity within their chosen social reality. Nguyen's and Mai's work blends together seamlessly, each approaching the theme with their own unique vision and aesthetic. So Pretty / Very Rotten reveals universal experiences within a distinct and subversive style of self-expression." - Jesse Jacobs, author of Safari Honeymoon and By This Shall You Know Him

The Lolita subculture is a global phenomenon with rabid fans that also happen to be, more often than not, interested in manga and comics. The blending of essays about the subculture and the cartoonists experiences with it, mixed with fictional short comics make this the perfect introduction to Lolita and also a must have for those already in the know. Features an essay and interview with preeminent Lolita icon Novala Takemoto. Known as the "Lolita's Bard," his 2002 novel Kamikaze Girls is seen as a quintessential document of Lolita culture. Having Takemoto involved makes So Pretty / Very Rotten even more of vital document of the subculture, especially for the English-speaking world. It would be akin to having Curt Cobain interviewed and writing in a book on grunge music. Jane Mai and An Nguyen are both rising cartooning stars in their own rights, and the contrast between Nguyen's scholarly research-based writing and layered thoughtful comics, against Mai's brazen, colloquial and idiosyncratic personal essays and dark, paranoid, horror-inspired comics, offers wonderful contrast and a well-rounded look at the plusses and pitfalls of subculture participation.