EYEPOPPER WHO WEARS FLAGSHIP

Truly trashy Japanese men’s fashion magazines….by their fruits shall ye know them: Men’s Knuckle, men’s egg, men’s Digger, and Men’s Roses. For years, these titles have been the cornerstones of a pitched battle to monopolize the nation’s conbini racks and become the sole news outlet for coverage of must-have brand items, street snaps, “how to ero” guides, hair styling tips, and ludicrous ding-dong extension ads. Now, just when it seems like we’ve all gotten the joke and it’s just not funny anymore, another challenger dares to enter the ring and ignite it anew with roaring fire. Behold: Men’s SPIDER! (not to be confused with Spider-Man©)

Published by Leedsha of Koenji, SPIDER is being positioned as the all-male version of their gyaru magazine proper ES POSHH! And if you think I’m the only guy dumb enough to mix up otaku junk and Shibuya small change, now hear this: Leedsha is owned and operated by Saito Pro., which means that Men’s SPIDER comes from the very same house that Golgo 13 built!

Flip a few pages and it’s pretty clear that Men’s SPIDER is shorn of the “American casual” clothes and bright colors found in egg and co. What they really want to do is eat Men’s Knuckle’s lunch to the tune of nearly identical fonts, layouts, paper stock, free anime sampler DVD (kidding). They’ve even managed to up the confusion by getting top Knuckle model Ryoma on board (above, hawking the glory of this season's offerings of shiny outerwear).

 And like, Men’s Knuckle, SPIDER really wants you to stop whatever else you might be doing and give it all up to work in a host club. Like, NOW. You’ll make lots of money, which is all that really matters, so what are you waiting for? For more information, see the half a dozen pages of recruitment ads in the back and envy inspiring photo features like “Look How Big My Car Is” and “Look How Much Manga I’m Able to Actually Own Instead of Just Reading It at the Manga Kissa.”

With so much of this admittedly fascinating scene already covered by other well established and respected periodicals, what can Men’s SPIDER ever possibly hope to offer a nation full of aspiring “King of Dandy”? How about an entirely new and terrifying fashion style? The cover story for issue 1 reveals the results of their infernal experiments: V-HOST KEI; a diabolical perversion of both Visual-kei and host club chic proper worthy of the devil himself!

I’ll admit the mash-up doesn’t sit well with me, for reasons too numerous to mention, but as Izumi Nishimura-Evers once said, “That’s really the strength of Japanese culture: you can combine whatever you want, even two things that are extremely different. And the more different the extremes are; the more interesting the resulting mash up culture is.”

Yeah, try saying that to a guy in eyeliner, a leather vest, and a leopard print shirt, wearing fingerless skull gloves. Still, someone wearing a florecent track suit in darkest Psytama is bound to think “Hey, as long as the ladies like it..."

And they do! Dress the part and try some basic Nampa 101 (AKA "Onesan, doko kara kimashita?") on Aoi, this month's hardworking kyabakura SPIDER-woman. She likes guys who wear suits. Presumably even gay-looking ones with big furry collars. She also likes Louis Vuitton and...

Just like the on-going saga of Golgo 13, there’s really never going to be any closure here, because the globe is ever full of potential flashpoints; and each one a potential story, another magazine on the rack. Will V-Host Kei stick? Should it stick? Will the merging of Visual-kei and host style save the world of trashy Japanese fashion mags…or destroy it? (Stan Lee voice) Find out, in the next amazing issue of MEN’S SPIDER!!!

Comments

[Marxy]

This proves that magazines in Japan do not operate on the idea of targeting consumers as much as targeting advertisers. As long as host clubs are flush with money and want to sponsor some subtle recruiting magazines, there will be all five titles. No way the market actually needs that many.

And think of it this way: the bad economy is vastly increasing the number of girls who have to take up kyabakura work (or worse). That then creates a bigger need for the host parasite. This makes host clubs rich and need recruitment. A call to the offices of Men's Spider...

[Patrick Macias]

Million Shuppan seems to be the biggest offender in the magazine-as-host-recruitment sweepstakes with Men's Knuckle, Host Knuckle, and the really fucked up Boy's Knuckle all coming out of their sausage factory. To be fair, men's egg is more like a "how to be mote" manual that makes no mention of mizushobai.

Another thing here is that the publishing industry is so on the ropes in Japan, that maybe they can't afford to say no to the guy in the white suit with the wad of lootcakes either...

[Gilles Poitras]

The fellow with an arm load of manga is holding Worst! Someone please get DMP to restart translating the series. I understand their reasons for shifting staff to the profitable BL stuff but I really want more Worst in English.

[Minami no Teiou]

I used to laugh at those J-guys in the gay-looking suits with furry collars.

Then, when I saw the girls they got, I cried.

[ThizeRedsRini]

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[Patrick Macias]

That's not fascinating.

[hillsy]

I know I'm late to the party (and I'm sure you've already seen this, Patrick), but I just caught "The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief" recently. Wow...what a depressing movie. The parasitical nature of the host club is disturbing.

[Patrick Macias]

I really wanted to like Happiness Space, but it just never seemed to go anywhere. I kept thinking they were going to develop some narrative line (like with the new guy who starts working at the club), or you know DOCUMENT some of the nuts and bolts process of the work, but it was just one jaded soundbite about love/sex/job after another. But yeah, they got Ryoma in there, so that was cool.