Overview
An essay and fashion photo book by ALI PROJECT vocalist and lyricist Arika Takarano (
宝野アリカ) published in 2010. Roughly a third to half of the content of this book appeared in various issues of the
Gothic and Lolita Bible and
Kera magazines, but it also includes a lot of her original writing and photos that have not been published elsewhere.
Comments
I have been a fan of ALI PROJECT since maybe 2001 or 2002 and wanted to check out Arika's solo work ever since I learned of her book of poetry called 血と蜜 (
Chi to mitsu, "Blood and Honey") in the mid-2000s. Now that it's much easier and much more affordable these days to get used books from Japan when you don't live there, I grabbed this a couple of years ago. I knew she did modeling for photos in the Gothic and Lolita Bible but I was not aware that she wrote a lot of content for it too! It is great to see her serial installments and other contributions all collected in one place like this.
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| From the Golden Afternoons, Silver Nights photo set, which is accompanied by an exchange of letters between two fictional characters. She’s so OTT she’s wearing two bonnets. It looks kind of like a giant bow. |
Table of contents
I have translated the Japanese titles to English but she also uses titles in French, which is a language I do not know. My possibly inaccurate English renderings of the French titles are in parentheses ().
Prologue
- About “Honey Rose, Thorny Rose” p.2-3
The below prologue photos have poems to go with them.
- Blanc et noir (White and Black) p.4-5
- La roseraie (The Rose Garden) p.6-7
- Le poisson rouge (The Goldfish) p.8-9
- Avec un poignard (With a Sword) p.10-11
The cover photos are from this set.
Chapter I: Gothic and Lolita (Praise)
- Renaissance du Gothic & Lolita ~Girls, Charge Forward with Rose and Sword~ p.14-17
- Gothic and Lolita Primer vol. 1 ~Awaken, My Dolls~ p.18-21
- Gothic and Lolita Primer vol. 2 ~A Budding Beauty~ p.22-23
- Gothic and Lolita Primer vol. 3 ~Love is Magic~ p.24
- Gothic and Lolita Primer vol. 4 ~Moonlight Shines Down~ p.25
- Gothic and Lolita Primer vol. 5 ~Sleeping Fantasy Kingdom~ p.26
- Gothic and Lolita Primer vol. 6 ~At a Church With Rose Windows~ p.27
- Gothic and Lolita Primer vol. 7 ~Angels and Demons~ p.28-31
The Gothic and Lolita Primer series appeared serially in the Gothic and Lolita Bible from 2007-2009.
- Living in Lolita p.32-35
- Living in Gothic p.36-39
- Fleur d’Interdit (Forbidden Flower) p.40-43
- Golden Afternoons, Silver Nights p.44-51
- The Dark Bride’s Secret Scheme p.52-55
- Turn Your Hair Bows Into Wings: Let Reading Carry You Away p.56-59
Chapter II: A Stroll Through Dreams of Europe
- Three Catherines: Catherine de’ Medici p.62-63
- Three Catherines: Saint Catherine of Siena p.64-65
- Three Catherines: Caterina Sforza p.66-67
- The Women of the House of Habsburg, Black and White p.68-71
- Cesky Krumlov and Kutná Hora: At the Baroque Theater. “Marionette in Love” p.72-75
- Cesky Krumlov and Kutná Hora: At Cesky Krumlov Castle. “The Seamstress’ Dream” p.76-79
- Cesky Krumlov and Kutná Hora: About Kostnice Sedlec. "Daydream of the Tower of Skulls" p.80-83
- La clé de Paris (The Key of Paris) p.84-85
Chapter III: Girls’ Aristocracy
- To the Chosen Aristocratic Girls: A First Chapter for Beginners in Gothic & Lolita p.88-91
- Items for Aristocratic Girls p.92-99
“White Angel Puff Sleeve T-Shirt”, “Black Angel Puff Sleeve T-Shirt”, “Arika Teddy T-Shirt“, “Knight Maiden Sword Necklace”, “Winged Princess Amulet Ring”, ”Skeleton Girl’s Frilled Lesson Bag”
- A French Rococo Aristocrat Girl’s Notebook: What It Means to Live in a Corset p.100-105
Chapter IV: Doll (Actress)
Chapter V: Allicaisme
- Untitled photos p.122-125
These photos showcase some personal styles.
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