I read kind of a good amount of comics??? I wouldn’t call myself an otaku or anything but I try to keep up with a variety of comics from manga, to indie, to things my art friends make. When I think about Hard Decora though most of my inspirations come from comics I read in high school or college. I take in inspiration constantly but for the concept of Hard Decora the comic, I’d say the following 4 comics influenced me heavily.
GALS
GALS (or Super GALS if you watched the anime) was a series about gyaru school girl Ran and her friends making their way through school and family life with style and rebelliousness. Ran was a troublemaker growing up in a police family but she also wasn’t the coolest girl in school even with her style and ability to go against the grain. She had a pair of tan gyaru bullies that claimed they were superior because Ran couldn’t tan in the sun lol Then society wouldn’t take Ran and her friends seriously because of their gyaru aesthetic and lifestyle. There was also a lot of comedic violence as Ran was an aggressively cute girl haha
In Hard Decora there’s similar obstacles for the HD crew as they have to deal with stylish gatekeepers and the issues of going against societal norms. I can’t be as silly artistically as GALS was but I think exaggerating the woes of fashion is where we connect comedically.
The Work of Sophie Campbell: Wet Moon, Shadow Eyes, Jem and the Holograms
Sophie Campbell is straight up goals as far as my art style goes. She’s just so good at incorporating fashion into her character designs and she was always diverse in her depictions of women. When I came across Wet Moon tucked away in a comic shop I was obsessed.
Wet Moon, which she wrote and illustrated, followed college girls in a small town full of mystery and college drama. Most of the characters wore alt fashion and were gay. Some characters had disabilities, chronic illnesses, or mental health issues. Shadow Eyes (writer/illustrator) was a strong metaphor for the trans journey and maybe elements of Sophie’s personal journey. Jem and the holograms comic reboot (illustrated) featured two battling girl bands that had new outfits throughout each adventure reflecting their personalities.
For Hard Decora, my line work and coloring style I think are similar to Sophie’s except she’s way better ofc. Also the high school to young adult drama is going to be so there with HD. Love triangles, friendship breakups, and identity crises galore! I want to focus on diversity as well as I can. I know I have a ways to go on that in different areas but a lot of characters to be introduced that I can make up for it on!
Boys Over Flowers
This manga and the Korean drama had me in a chokehold throughout high school! So it’s about this working class girl who transfers to a super upper class school that has a huge bullying problem. The main character stands up to all her bullies while maintaining her values and attracting the two richest boys from the Flower 4!
Seeing the main character’s persistence got me through hard times in my own life. When I hear “Almost Par-ra-diiiise!” I could shed a freaking tear. It’s definitely a “how is she gonna make it out of this one?!” type of story.
Moxie is like obviously based off of the main character and her struggles in a rich school with exaggerated bullying. I really said Boys Over Flowers but make it J-Fashion XD!
That’s my list! I hope you thought these books were interesting or even found something new to look into. Have you read these books before? Do you have any recommendations for me based on this list? Leave them down in the comments!
I want to make another post with other media that inspires Hard Decora too. However, the next post will be a review of all the new western kawaii fashion zines/magazines I’ve gotten my hands on! I wanna collect them all >:D
If you enjoyed this and are looking for a way to support my work you can – check out my shop – donate to my goal on kofi- subscribe to my newsletter – or share this post !
