Rock: [A Club Kids Story]

by Kyōko Okazaki, 岡崎京子

Genres: Manga

179 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Kyōko Okazaki (岡崎京子) is a Japanese cartoonist. In a relatively short career, spanning from 1983 to 1996, Okazaki established herself as a leading figure in josei manga, i.e. comics primarily targeting women. In particular, she was a major contributor to gyaru manga, a trend reclaiming 'girliness' into adult graphic novels.
Okazaki is known for her unorthodox visual style and her bluntness in tackling topics such as sex, prostitution, bourgeois decadence and body dismorphia, against the backdrop of the opulent life in 80s and 90s Tokyo. Her most famous works are Pink (1989), River's Edge (1993-1994) and Helter Skelter (1995-1996), the latter also adapted into a live-action film.
In 1996 Okazaki was hit by a car. The accident, from which she is still re-habilitating, put an end to her comic book career.

Reviews

[RaveAnt]

Yeahh I was teetering on whether parts of this were too toxic for the way it was chosen to be represented or if I was just being too sensitive and idk after the final chapter and reading the afterword that Okazaki wrote im like idk i embrace this for all the toxicity and the messiness

Fun fact Rock here is based on the Rock from Tezuka's metropolis and also partly Sapphire from the Princess Knight which makes sensee this sorta andro boy looking character who's cishet but also kinda queer

Nyway Okazaki writes that this is a story about irresponsible people who kinda do whatever in life but they are still somewhat bound together by the "rhythm of love" and yeah the final timeskip chapter with all the characters coming together for this [queer] family photo idkk that def came across the rhythm of love

nyhow the messinesss - I think manga/media from this era that is about the underground and has v visible queerness - I don't REALLY mind when the transfem characters are still masculinized or jokingly called homo or fag because ultimately it is an endearing v REAL portrayal - and Kenichiko was v much like thatt - like Rock is kinda transphobic ig?? But she also funded Kenichiko's breasts and idk they have a really wholesome dynamic

That saidd the part I was feeling snowflakey about is the way lesbian characters were portrayedd -- likee this v much IS camp and you could compare Spica and her evil lesbians to the way lesbians in Gregg Araki movies are represented BUT there is also a realness to their toxicity? Spica is like an exploitative manager who gives Rock body image issues and her obsession with turning Rock into a supermodel is v much intertwined w her humorously portrayed desire to have sex w Rock -- and idk it DOES kinda play into like predatory lesbian as a trope which even smth like Penguindrum has -- and ig i can't wholeheartedly say that it didn't come in the way it did make me feel uncomfortable w her portrayal but idkk again the sorta endearingness of queerness in like this 1989 mangaaa and esp. the enddd idk idt im LETTING IT PASS but ig i did enjoy and have fun w it nevertheless

ALSO this preceded helter skelter and has like an interesting mini-exploration of the modeling industry in a way that isn't as horror-y/conspiracy/BIG but still idk i really appreciate the way Rock's relationship w modeling is portrayed - esp. her relationship w like FOOD and how modeling changes that and her relationship w her own commodification - idk it's really intense stuff but the tone of this manga is v fast and loose and real but also exaggerated and idk i think the way it works this stuff into that tone super good -- Rock herself just a v like cool character -- someone who's v like assertive and just lives life on her own terms but is still bogged down by het desire for an idiot "Metrosexual" (term not used in the manga but i feel like astro would call himself metrosexual) guy and yea her sense of emptiness, but also sometimes comfort in simplicity and emptiness but also seeking comfort in a heterosexual relationship that is INHERENTLY fragile

This IS a v het manga but one that v much reckons with the like toxicity and unsustainability of het structures of family and in a way it becomes kinda queer because of it

The other aspect that icked me was Astro - he's kinda a paavam fuckboy but also genuinely a douche - the way he first has sex w Rock is ick cuz it feels like he kinda forced her but it worked out cuz ig she didn't feel bad after and fell in love w him?? but maybe im misreading the consent in that sex scene idkk -- BUT also he's just kinda waste and cheats all the time WHICH IS FINE but also as a 17 year old he made a 14 year old pregnant and then ditched her and the kid after insisting that she not abort.. :| AND SO ig unlike w Spica's problematic lesbianness - he was the one i found it hardest to get past - like in a vacuum i appreciate the vibes of someone who hates any responsibilty trapped in a marriage -- cuz he v much had power over HECATE but it's framed v much as hecate controlling him in this het domestic householder marriage - because she's super wealthy and other plot reasons but idkk couldn't get behind their stufff the biggest flaw id say in this

but idk again despite the messiness and toxicity that is let fly idk i like this - problematic faves o wellll