SHIBUYA! by softboiledegg

softboiledegg of the legendary egg gyaru magazine just dropped a new catchy song four days ago after sharing some behind the scenes clips on their Tiktok. I was curious how it will turn out as there were clips of gals doing parapara to a nonstandard beat in the background while two of them had close ups of them rapping/singing. Its also a bit refreshing to see a more recognizable gal makeup being worn by the main artists of the song. The song is also complete with some wild lyrics, but what could be wilder than opening your song with how fresh and clean.... you are from their song Gal is Mind?

Check it out here:

The Fine Line Between Normal and Special

Having been heavily in the gyaru scene since 2010 after being on a gaming platform around 2007-2009, I experienced moments of pseudo "celebrity". Though small in comparison to some of the well known names out there, and there were others who were cooler or more kawaii, at the time it was a big deal in this little bubble. It was thrilling at times, but the amount of progress I felt was needed, becoming a sell out, and what content should I publish to entertain hundreds of people is something I had to think about constantly.

Friend/Partner Poaching

Recently on social media, my former feed of pictures of food and statements of "its better being solo than surrounded by people that don't like you" is now filled with random stories about friendship or partner/boyfriend poaching and situations of overly humbling (or outright disrespecting (Black) women (ie. Rihanna x Chris Brown, Beyonce and Jayz, Ciara and that one guy before her current husband Russel) who are successful and the critiques on such circumstances.

This kind of poaching is regarding someone taking your friend and excluding you out of the relationship. Essentially, "stealing" your friend from you. This can also happen when you are dating or in a romantic relationship, and your friend wants to "steal" your partner from you, causing your boyfriend to cheat on you if he has no empathy or respect for you.

Apparently, women who go for married men, or unavailable men feel as if they need to "win" and be better by showing their worth by being able to seduce someone away. They get the feelings of feeling better than you, hotter than you, sexier than you, and this boosts their ego and makes them feel powerful if something is triggering them to feel less than. It is also a breach of trust if this person was considered a friend or claimed to be, and simply is a form of disrespect for boundaries, and a "power move" to become dominant and cause pain to the other party.

As for friendships, I haven't seen a lot on the topic outside of the "stolen" friend having more clout or popularity which makes them seem cool or pretty to be around them, or that the new friend has resources, money, a car, or connections to be used for their own benefit. You are left behind because they didn't want you, but what the people around you can do for them and their social status even if they cannot reciprocate.