So Pretty / Very Rotten

A short story and essay collection exploring the Japanese fashion subculture, Lolita, by two cartoonists who go beyond the clothes.

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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.