https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55oQv-lFQxI

In all between the years 2000 and 2002, there was a huge-ass gap left for Avex and the fashion scene in general. This didn’t mean that Namie wasn’t on Popteen covers or getting commercial deals, it just meant that the hype around her comparably wasn’t as large as it was in the nineties. People were out looking for new things as inspiration just as much as Namie was trying to find herself again. The new millennium was an experimental time for both music and fashion, and because of this, this is where Gyaru fashion starts to get crazy: It’s where there is an apparent separation between the values of Gyaru; This was occurring as Ayumi Hamasaki was being signed on to Avex to fill the very large shoes of Amuro.

Strangely enough, the new millennium had left a crossroad for Gyaru fashion: It had toned down and yet also gone extreme all in the same era; This is where the label “Gyaru” could mean and look like multiple things. Gyaru was branching out into multiple sub-styles during this time rather than being a singular style to abide by––You can even see a stark contrast in the music promoted in both Egg and Popteen around this time. For Egg, it would be Euro and Trance-based albums or upcoming J-groups with a stronger approach such as Exile. In regards to Popteen’s music selection that was promoted, it was the up-and-coming Avex acts that were hopeful to be the next big thing. Stylistically, it was also quite similar despite some occasional overlap between the magazines.

On one end, there was the infamous Egg Gyaru who wanted to maintain the traditional look that had been a staple for several years thanks to the OG Gyaru and the Namie Amuro boom that created the feel of an endless vacation. These were the girls who didn’t want the sense of fun-filled times to cease existing. Many of these gals were making do with whatever else they could get their hands on for entertainment and style inspiration. During the early 2000s, gals adorned themselves with brightly colored clothes full of fruit and tropical printed motifs; They staggered around Shibuya wearing wooden platform shoes on their feet and fried hair with bleach as blonde as it could go as. They would highlight their look with a metallic lip and frosted eye makeup and did this all with dark contrasting tans. Most of the time, these Gyaru wandered the streets of Shibuya in small groups; They’d have decorated keitai cellphones in their hands to communicate via Yahoo! mail as they entered the cylinder-shaped 109 department store for the latest trends. As evening hit, older girls would haunt their favorite club to dance all night while the Kogyaru crowd would stay out past curfew and hit up Pasela Resorts to buy out a karaoke room to sing popular Avex songs or use the private room as a hookup space with their boyfriends. This was the peak Ganguro era that most people associate with Gyaru fashion: It was wild and fun and a stark separation to the late mid and late 90s Gyaru who abided by an Amura dress code.

There is also a theory that there were Gyaru who were never too-keen on Namie making Gyaru popularized due to the unwanted sexualization and the harassment that was beginning to occur to the gaggles of girls just out for a good time. Due to Gyaru becoming mainstream and gaining a very loose reputation among the media, the environment was becoming rather difficult for participants in the fashion. Thanks to magazines that catered to a male demographic, there were stories published that would publish crazy sexcapades involving Gyaru. Ones often involving minors. These stories fueled businessmen who were becoming bolder through means of liquid courage all while concerning parents of young girls who enjoyed the fun-loving vibe of Gyaru fashion.

This new realm of Gyaru was far beyond parents’ trendy teenage daughters just looking up to Namie Amuro and having a high school boyfriend. Some of what was going on given rumors of enjou kosai could have genuinely been seen as predatory. While some Gyaru may have genuinely ate up any attention that they could, other Gyaru shared the same sentiments of parents and outsiders: Shit was becoming predatory. Because of all of this, it wouldn’t be too far off of an assumption to suggest that some Gyaru during this timeframe could have felt invaded upon:

• They had been enjoying the idea that magazines were not the trendsetters but had been documentarians scrambling to keep up with showcasing the fast-paced trends of gals through word-of-mouth.
• They wanted to remain the dictation of what was cute rather than have the media tell them who and what was.
• They also desired to keep out the outsiders that keep peering in and haggling at them as if they were a zoo animal.

Unfortunately, this created an opposite effect given that manba and yamanba Gyaru were indeed, truly treated like zoo animals by the media and gained an even worse reputation. The crazy style did not scare off outside onlookers as it may have intended to.

Originally, the Gyaru decided to go for this wild and crazy look due to being called ‘mountain hags’ over having a basic tan with fried stick-straight bleached hair (some which at times was melted together). They embraced the title and decided to roll with it, thus creating a new trend that was intended to be deemed as cute among fellow open-minded Gyaru all the while keeping creepy old men away from their circles because they were going to look scary and undesirable enough. In response to this, many rumors sprung about manba and yamanba gals being unhygienic, obnoxious, unemployable, and the wildest of party girls.

However, to dispel some of these myths here is what most likely happened: Most yamanba and manba were high school and college-aged kids who either focused on schooling or their career; Some worked in an industry that allowed them to stand out and would even cater to Gyaru such as tanning salons or industries with very little engagement towards customers. Keeping this in mind, most college students are on a budget and an assumption could be that most yamanba and manba aimed for discount makeup or sale items because it’s what they could afford on their limited allowances. Especially if they prioritized event days at clubs. Socialization and experiences were deemed much more valuable than flaunting luxury items or going out for expensive meals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5jDLs8pn60

Most Gyaru would be seen as unhygienic if they all-nighted it in Shibuya, sweaty from the club but unable to go home due to missing the last train. Thus, their post-club ventures began until they could take the next train home. People act as if stranded sweaty salarymen weren’t as bad as the new gaggles of Gyaru roaming around. It was typical young kid shit that manba and yamanba just so happened to be targeted for just because they stood out from the rest of society; They were merely trying to exist in their own circles away from people looking in with the intention of judging them.