There's no denying this book's quite expensive for what it is, and as someone who's not used to forking out for books with virtually no words (call me a peasant - English Literature Student habits are hard to kick!), it was a bit of a strange experience to find myself lusting so much after it.
Essentially, it's just a bunch of photos of random Japanese kids - so why is it so special and worth spending 19.00 a throw on?
And my answer? Because I guarantee you'll NEVER have seen anything like what these kids are wearing! It's like Vivienne Westwood meets The Muppets on an acid trip. The sheer detail, colour, creativity of the outfits and the don't-give-a-f**k COOLNESS with which they're worn will inspire you. And the tiny blurbs at the bottom where each fashionista says a bit about themselves and their style are frankly hilarious (Answers to 'What's your current obsession?' range from 'happiness' to 'the line on my head' and 'MMMM' (???) )
Recommended for those of a Punk, Emo, possibly Goth, Electroclash or Hippy persuasion. Mainstream Marks-and-Spencer conservatives won't touch this with a bargepole, whilst Aristo-Goths and Lolitas should probably wait for the up-and-coming sister book, 'Gothic and Lolita', and get that instead.
Overall, I think you've got to be quite into creative fashion to justify buying this book - virtually anyone would find it mildly entertaining to flick through in a bookshop, but you'd probably need to be quite into colourful/DIY fashion yourself if you're going to permanently keep it around your house for reference and inspiration.
In years to come, I hope I'll still appreciate this book - it says a lot about being a teenager.