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Friday 22 July 2011

Games, movies and anime for Lolita

Yet again, I feel like giving my best tips to other Lolitas out there. :) Today, the subject is media - that is games, movies (/books) and anime that I personally feel is Lolita, and would be enjoyed by most who are as in love with the style as I am.

Games

Let us start with games. While there are certain to be a few games directed at an audience of children that may be loved by Lolita (such as the many Hello Kitty games, Dream Carnival being a personal favourite), there are also other games out there with a more grownup air.

For Playstation 2 I absolutely adore Odin's Sphere. The game was created to be beautiful, and while it is in fact a serious action RPG in 2D with 6 characters stories dovetailing each other, the details make all the difference to me. You see, everything in this game has an adorable design, and when you see the Pooka village - you'll know exactly what I mean! <3 You gather ingredients for food and cakes, which raise your stats when eaten. Everything looks delicious!
For PC I have two games to recommend; "Rare Treasures - Dinnerware Trading Company" and "Hodgepodge Hollow". The first is an either very cheap or free game (Depending on your luck. I found it for free, but both games have free trial-versions.) in which you gather blueprints for china, and produce adorable tea sets, start up productions all over the world and enter contests in which you display your china. I loved it. <3 Also, the music is great!
Hodgepodge Hollow is almost as cute as Odin's Sphere, and a small PC-game in which you help gnomes get rid of some dragons by gathering recipes and materials for potions. It is, by large, a hidden object game, but unlike most hogs the scenes aren't cluttered by debris or junk. You'll see. <3
I also recommend a paper and pen RPG called "Changeling the Dreaming". You play a child that was kidnapped by fairies, and lived in there warped world (much similar to Wonderland in the book about Alice), where time flows differently than in the real world, and your child changes from being in that world. (For example; if your child was kept as a pet in a bird cage, it may have sprouted wings and stopped being able to talk.) In the real world, a clone was placed in your place and lived your life.
As you get free from the fairies world, and try to reclaim your place in the real world, the clone will try to stop you - granted you're even the same age anymore. You are forced to live in the shadows with others who have 'the sight' and can see the fairies magic.
It's a very exciting game (depending on the Game Master of course), which so many possibilities! <3 Wonderland can be just as strange, scary and warped as you want, and the only thing that hinders your character creation is imagination.



Movies/Books

I'm sure all (or nearly all) Lolita already know about Shimotsuma Story (also known as Kamikaze Girls, which for obvious reasons isn't what I prefer to use), since it is a story about Lolita and friendship. For you who are unfamiliar with it, the 'kamikaze' in this case does not mean the story is about suicide, but (I think) refers to a kind of coat worn my bikers.
It's a very interesting story about a Lolita that meets a biker girl. What's my favourite thing about it is how it was shot. It reminds me a lot of the style used by the people who shot "Hot Fuzz" and "Scott Pilgrim vs the World" (both excellent movies, but perhaps not in a very Lolita-ish genre...)
For those in love with the Victorian style, I recommend all Jane Austen-movies. This includes  "Emma", "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility". All very romantic, with gorgeous houses and costumes. A must for lovers of the Empire-style! <3 Also, please read the books!
Among more recent movies, I warmly recommend "Coraline", both book and movie. the music is also fantastic. <3 The movie was made using stop-motion technique with dolls, which makes it definitely Lolita. It is about a girl that discovers a wonderful mirror-world, where she can get anything she wants - at a terrible price.
Among fairytale-movies, "Pan's Labyrinth" - a Mexican movie with strong Russian influences - and, of course, almost all of Tim Burton's movies. If you have not already, I recommend watching at least "Nightmare before Christmas", "Alice in Wonderland" and "Corpse Bride".

And on a last note, I must mention "The Little White Horse" again, just because it is such a lovely story. I do not recommend the "movie adaption" named Moonacre Manor, because they trampled all over the sweet book and changed just about everything in it, except perhaphs a few names. Needless to say, it is an awful, awful movie.


Anime

As Lolita springs from Japan, there are a lot of series which has it, but few that have the right...atmosphere I'm after. Therefore, I will only mention two anime that I truly think has captured Lolita.
First of all, there is "Le Portrait de Petite Cosette". Telling to much about it will ruin this short 3-episode anime, but it is essentially about a man that becomes obsessed with a girl that seems to be a ghost locked into a Venetian glass that arrives to his Antique shop. It is a frightening, bloody and quite psychedelic story, gorgeously drawn with amazing scenery. Not for the faint of heart, but I loved it. <3
Then there is "Gosick", a manga that was turned into an anime. The anime is still running and so far I don't know how many episodes are planned. It seems to be set in early 20th century, and the story is centered around Victoriqua, a mysterious Lolita-character who seems to have some kind of divination ability that allows her to see the 'Truth' behind things.
She is the typical 'Maiden locked in a tower', and her Knight is the Japanese boy Kazuya Kujo. I especially love these two, because while Victoriqua is impatient and sometimes rude to cover up her embarrassment, Kujo is such a patient, overprotective gentleman. It's a very romantic story.

I'm always looking for new series, movies, books and whatnot that I find to my tastes, so if you have suggestions on series I haven't mentioned here, feel free to share! :)
All these are, of course, my personal choices and you are quite entitled to have your own, personal taste.


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