When most ppl hear "Gyaru", they think of the loud, bold, and flashy girls of the Heisei era (1989-2019). But what are Gyaru like today in the Reiwa Era (2019 onward)?
Is it SUPER drab & toned down now? Or is the bold flashy Heisei Era swag making a comeback?
Read more to find out!
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Egg magazine was the popular Gyaru fashion magazine. Its original run was from 1995-2014,
but in May 2019, we saw its revival which has since been very successful & they’ve been pumping out issues every season!
This caused a renewed interest in Gyaru in Japan. Plus, with the rise of social media, Gyaru style has become very popular, even in different countries all over the world!
At least right now it seems that with many peoples’ nostalgia for Y2k & the Heisei era, we've landed at a nice intersection where the past & future can harmoniously coexist lol
But it wasn’t always this way. (⸝⸝⸝O﹏ O⸝⸝⸝)
I give you…
The 2020 Definitions of Reiwa Gal:
According to Galture, The beginning of the Reiwa Era was about "pure & sweet gals". There was an emphasis on "looking good in a natural way".
When 100 ppl were asked what Reiwa Gals are like, the number one answer is “not too flashy”. It’s consensus that reiwa gals aren't known for wearing tons of makeup like their heisei era counterparts.
Womp womp. (,,>﹏<,,)
Here are some of the common characteristics of Reiwa Gyaru from the early 2020s:
🩵 Shiro Gyaru. Instead of skin tanning which had been synonymous with Gyaru in the Heisei Era, early 2020s Reiwa Gals opted for fair skin, and with some even participating in skin whitening)
🩵 Early 2020s Reiwa Gals bleached their hair to give off a “sophisticated” look, but they put heavy emphasis on taking proper care of their hair while bleaching it. However, there were lots of black-haired gals (& this is still true)
🩵 Color contacts, big eye makeup, & nose bridge makeup are still defining traits, regardless of the substyle.
🩵 A generally “pure and sweet” vibe, as opposed to bodacious and flashy.
🩵 There was big emphasis on "gal mind", but according to Galture, that was more so because Reiwa gal makeup had become so natural-looking that apparently it was hard to tell the difference between a Reiwa Gal & a normal person (like for example, it was hard to tell a Gyaru from someone w blond hair & no makeup, or someone without nose bridge makeup, etc)
So gal mind was originated to be used *in addition* to the appearance to help tell gals apart from the crowd lol
However, According to Sorena, in 2022 it's become popular to be a "Mind Gal", which means to be gal not in appearance, but in mind.
Obviously this is pretty controversial, because that blurs the lines a little too much for what is and isn’t considered “Gal”.
Mmkay, so then what exactly is “Gal Mind”?
Here are a few examples from different sources
🖤There’s a strong emphasis on celebrating uniqueness & individuality. It’s about doing what you like, having your own beliefs, and going your own way at your own pace. (Oggi)
🩵"The gal mindset is about not being influenced by others, and enjoying what you think is cool and passion that you think is good." (Galture)
🩵"The definition of of a Reiwa gal is someone who has the strength of mind to stick to their favorite fashion and style without worrying about what others think" (Galture)
So now we know how we started... So how is it going?
In the early 2020s, "Pure gals" were the trend, but inevitably with the growing nostalgia for the Heisei era, Kurogals & Heisei gals started becoming more popular.
This was noticeable with Egg models & other magazines.
Momoa, Erika, Ran, and Kaecha are major examples of gals who are re-popularizing theHeisei vibe
(Erika, Kaecha, Momoa, & Ran)
A GREAT example of the Kurogal / Heisei Gal revival is LOALO magazine.
LOALO, with its slogan literally being “no tanning, no life” was started in June 2022.
A few members from the massively popular Kurogal unit Black Diamond like Maachirin and Harutam were also LOALO models! (Harutam has graduated to pursue her businesses --hell yeah we love to see a Gyaru businesswoman! – while Maachirin is still active as a LOALO model)
Some of the most popular models from LOALO are Fukitisu, Rebra-chan, and Fychan.
They share a lot of characteristics with Tsuyome Gals of the Heisei Era.
(Fukitisu, Fyy-chan, Rebra-chan)
But there are also other models like Mechoro who mix in their own personal vibes with Gyaru pretty well. For example, Mechoro has more of an alt/anime otaku vibe (while still keeping the overall look of a Kurogal with bold makeup and tanning}.
(Mechoro)
There are also some Gyaru YouTubers like Yuchopa & Dededo who have a very Heisei Tsuyome / OTT Gal vibe:
(Yuchopa & Dededo)
I remember when it used to be SO hard to find Gyaru content online, but now there’s so much and it’s easy to stay updated on the ever-evolving trends. I enjoy staying up to date on Gyaru-related content from gals in Japan! Everyday I watch new YouTube videos, Tiktoks, and other social media posts from personal gal accounts as well as official accounts.
Here are just a few of the YouTube channels I follow:
Official Channels:
-Loalo Channel
-Egg Channel
-nuts (i need to watch more of them, but they seem to have a darker more mature vibe)
Personal Channels:
-Mochizuki Miki
-YuChopa
-harutam TV
-usatani paisen
-Rumiringo
Variety Show Channels:
-Gyaru Mon no Susume (ft Egg models) / ギャル問のすゝめ
-Gyaru no Majisawagi (ft LOALO models) / ギャルのまぢ騒ぎ
-Gyarugo de Bakugatari TV / ギャル語で爆語りTV
Here are some of the Tiktoks I follow:
-Rebra (@rebra.__.chan)
-Fukitanaka (@1225fuki)
-Momoa Seto (@momoa_1130)
-Erika (@luvluvry)
-Mechoro (@metiyoro93)
-Chopa (@96chopasama)
-Dededo (@gyaru_wa_art)
Here are a few things I’ve noticed while keeping up with Gyaru content of today:
🩷 There's a split between Reiwa & Heisei Gyaru, Kuro & Shirogyaru
🩷 Among Egg, Nuts, etc Reiwa shirogal started out more popular, but lately more Kurogals (Momoa) & Heisei gals (Ran, Kaecha) have been making it more popular in recent years 2022-2025
🩷Loalo is ALL Kurogals & many of them are Tsuyome gals (rebra, fuki, fyy, ema)
🩷 Long deco nails are very popular regardless of Heisei/Reiwa. The LOALO gals are known for their super long blinged out nails. Egg models also have deco nails, but not as long.
🩷 Tail accessory/keychains are pretty popular
🩷 There isn't much of an emphasis on substyles. Or specific brands. A lot of Gyaru models get their clothes from places like SheIn, AliExpress, GYDA, EGOIST, EMODA, SPIRALGIRL, Avail, GRL, etc
Egg recently uploaded an OOTD video of their models in "Coords w/o Shein". Which is very interesting, considering a lot of Egg channel's OOTD videos primarily feature items from Shein. Lol
But on the other side of the coin they also really like luxury brands like Chanel, YSL, Louis Vuitton, & Dior (this is probably because a lot of today's gals are either models or influencers, so they can afford it or are getting gifted these items)
Reiwa Gyaru Music
There's also a heavy emphasis on Gyaru music! Egg, nuts, and LOALO all regularly release new music for gals.
Egg releases their music under a subunit called 半熟卵っち or "softboiledegg". Their sound has been more centered around hip hop and R&B. Their recent song "SHIBUYA!" is a wonderful fusion of hip hop and Eurobeat.
The LOALO models have released music as "LOALO Models" (a select group of exclusive models who rank high enough in popularity, based on fan voting.) and they've done collabs with Hayama Junna as well as notable artists in the Eurobeat space like Dave Rodgers and Domino. Their style is a mix of R&B and Eurobeat / trance, but there's more of an emphasis on eurobeat / trance for anyone who's nostalgic for that classic sound that makes you wanna break out into parapara! My fave from them is Go Go Race Dream ft. Domino!
LOALO also releases music under a smaller subunit called "Loaloco". The member lineup changes, but the current members are Fukitisu, Fy-chan, Rebra-chan, Emu, and Serina. Their latest single is called GAL STAR.
So, what now? lol
Overall it's hard to really define what a Reiwa Gal is.
In the very beginning of the era it seemed like Reiwa Gal was just going to be an era of extremely toned down gals. It felt pretty bittersweet.
But as things naturally grow & change, along with the nostalgia for the Heisei era, we've landed at a nice intersection where the past & future can harmoniously coexist lol
I'm really happy that with Reiwa Gal it acted as a revival of Gyaru as a whole & it's more popular than it has been in years. I get super excited when I see more Gyaru & parapara related references in Japanese tv & commercials.
And of course with the recent Kogyaru movement, though controversial, that’s also creating a pretty massive new generation of ppl who look up to gyaru style & will become gals later on. There's no threat of the style dying out again any time soon.
I'm really excited to see how the style continues to evolve!
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I hope y’all enjoyed this post! If you found it helpful, please be sure to also watch my YouTube video on this topic.
I also made a Cobundle database on the topic of Reiwa Gals!
Cobundle is a site where you can make databases on any topic you’d like! And it also functions like a ChatGPT, so you can ask it questions about your specific topic.
The best part is that it only pulls answers from the sources that were curated and & provided by human researchers (like myself), so you know the info you get will be accurate and from trusted sources!
So if you have any questions about Reiwa Gal, go ahead and try to ask my Cobundle!
There’s also a function for editing, in case you’d like to add any helpful resources too!
I plan to make a YouTube video on this topic, but for now go ahead and check out my Daily Gyaru Makeup as inspired by Reiwa Gals!
Thanks for reading & I'll see u guys next time! ✨
Such a good read! You're right a lot has changed with the definition / look of reiwa gyaru. It has gotten fun and interesting now! Also thank you for listing accounts of gals! Maybe this will get me back active on youtube lol
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