J-Rock Groupies (A J!-ENT Book Review)

“For those who are fans of J-Rock music and have wanted a resource to see the various outfits worn by fans in Japan, DHP Publishing/Cocoro Books ‘J-Rock Groupies’ provides an excellent visual resource with over 190-pages of high quality photos. From Goth to Rococo Era, there are so many different fashion styles that related to J-Rock featured, that for it’s page count, its price and full body photos, definitely a book worth recommending to the curious J-Rock fan!”

BOOK: J-Rock Groupies

AUTHOR: Cocoro Books

COMPANY: Cocoro Books (DH Publishing, Inc.)

PAGE COUNT: 196 pages

RELEASED ON: April 15, 2007

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Cosplay for J-Rock groupies. Japanese rock bands are hot! And Japan leads the world in rock band fashion. Girl fans dress up in unique and wild styles and concept clothing and display their creations, en masse, at rock concerts. Here, hot and absurd groupie fashion girls tell readers in their own words why they do it. This collection of 200 photos and interviews delves into this unique world, bringing readers the unique fashions and musical passions from the streets and live rock houses of Tokyo.

My first encounter with J-Rock fans was back in 1999 in Harajuku and I have to admit, seeing these young women and men in cool outfits either inspired from a rock band or something they came up with for their own style, is pretty cool.

And in the past few years, I have seen various J-Rock panels at anime conventions and a lot of them pointing towards various magazines to use as a resource for where to buy the outfits, how the Japanese wear those outfits or for those who are crafty, using these magazines as a resource to design and create the outfit.

One of the coolest offerings from DHP Publishing/Cocoro Books is the release of “J-Rock Groupies”. A 190+ page book featuring photography of various J-Rock fans around Japan and what I like about this book is that it doesn’t just feature people wearing similar outfits, Cocoro Books really does a great job in selecting outfits that are not similar.

And also, an interesting look at the various Indie Visual Kei bands in Japan to the mom and their toddler dressed in matching J-Rock outfits.

Of course, there are photography of people sporting interesting outfits such as the girl in Pokemon Pikachu outfit but her face features the long bangs in dark black and blonde and piercings on her lips.

Some fans featured are those who sport the black leather, some that sport a Burberry style of fashion, some that sport really dark outfits to some who are very colorful in their clothing presentation. And of course, several who are obsessed with the Rococo era and sport that Lolita look.

This book has a little bit of everything and for those wanting large photography, this book features full page, full body photograph. Only the few Indie visual-kei band photos will you find half-page photography or quarter-page photography.

Also, the photography of the people featured are all female with the exception of the Indie visual-kei bands. The photos feature their names and ages.

So, for those wanting a resource from the hair, the makeup, the clothing and accessories and the shoes, this book does a good job of that.

By saying that, this is pretty much what the book is for. A visual resource.

This book does not go into the various J-Rock fan’s names or where they purchased their outfits. No interviews.

This book can be found for a great price and knowing many Americans and International fans who follow Japanese rock music and are passionate about the clothing worn by these band members to those in Japan who don’t do this for cosplay, but dress in this type of fashion is part of their lifestyle.

Also, another positive about this book is that for the price of importing a J-Rock magazine, you could get a pretty thick book featuring nearly 200 people in their various outfits. So, far this has to be the thickest DHP Publishing/Cocoro released book so far.

Again, the majority of the photos featured are young women, with the men featured are the Indie Visual Kei bands live in concert.

It would have been nice to see guys featured, since I’m always interested in J-Rock fashion from the belts, rings, boots and overall clothing presentation but maybe this could be considered for the next version (which I hope there is one).

So, all in all, as a visual resource, J-Rock fans can’t go wrong with this book. It’s not a book for information on where to buy, how much or how to create the outfit. It’s a straightforward visual resource for fans who are interested in various J-Rock inspired outfits and a book for pop culture fans can look and see the cool unique fashion that some people are sporting in Japan right now.

Check it out!