It’s great to know that while 2017
was the year when GLB and KERA stopped publishing a physical magazine, it was
also the year many new publications have started. While it remains to be seen
if any of them will live past issue one, just before the end of the year I have
received a copy of tulle, another
kawaii fashion magazine from Japan, so let’s have a look!
Again, I have ordered via Amazon
Japan with direct DHL postage to the UK – and once again it arrived within 2
days of the official release. This magazine is a lot cheaper, at ¥680 including
tax (paid £4.37 at the time), although it did not include any free gifts, and
with another £7.52 for postage and handling fees, it was more than reasonable
for a purchase directly from Japan to the UK.
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Like most Japanese fashion
magazines, tulle is printed on lovely
quality paper. It doesn’t look any different from those other magazines, like Miel or Melt. And to be honest, it isn’t.
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What you get in tulle is the standard basic content:
lots of previews from various brands, some makeup tutorials, some snaps and a
bunch of ads, interestingly, also ads for model or idol auditions. There are
two very, very short interviews in there, neither of which takes up even a page,
instead being confined to small side boxes and five questions each, which doesn’t
allow for any depth. So if you’re looking for content, you would be disappointed
with tulle. Both Melt and Miel offered
more, although while tulle is about half the price of either of these, it is still slightly thicker (112
pages total, so about 20 pages more than Melt
and just under 50 pages more than Miel). But don’t be deceived: here more pages simply means more previews than anything else.
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In short, tulle is what a typical fashion magazine in Japan is: focused on
product previews, with a lot to look at and not much to read. It will be great
for J-fashion magazine collectors or those looking to branch out into other
styles and looking for inspiration, since tulle
features all kinds of kawaii fashion from Lolita to Larme and even
something more edgy, but would disappoint those wishing to improve their
Japanese reading skills or those looking for articles.
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Again, because tulle is a lot cheaper than its
counterparts, the lack of content to read isn’t really a complaint – you get
what you pay for in a fashion magazine. What I do hope, however, is that its
lower price will entice more people to buy it, driving some demand for a second
issue and then another, so that eventually the publishers would see the point
and need in adding something extra to it, like an event report, a longer
interview or a lifestyle article. Because it’s been six months now since the
first issue of Melt and there’s still
no sign of the second one. Similarly, although Miel is still fairly fresh, it’s only one issue. So if the next
long-term publication has to start a little bit barer than what I’d like, then
so be it.
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Did you get a copy of tulle? What did you think? Would you
rather have a magazine strictly focused on the fashion or do you prefer
something extra with it? Does the lack of freebies bother you? Let me know in the comments!
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