Gyaru are not Normies

[Update August 8th 2025: I really regret much of this post, the title and thus the main point is still correct, more so even, but there is a lot I clearly didn't get about Gyaru culture and it's history, and still don't.]

I see people like Anime Vlogger OtakuSpirit in his Alya speaking Russian videos make the mistake of calling a Gyaru character a Normie a lot so I felt like talking about it.

American watchers of Anime confuse Gyaru for Normies sometimes because what Gyaru are doing is influenced by is what is or at least once was Mainstream Normie White Girl culture in the United States.  But in Japan that’s not normal, they are a subculture under constant pressure from mainstream Japanese culture to conform just like typical Otaku and Fujoshi.

Sometimes I think viewers fail to notice a character being a Gyaru when they are the main character, like in Citrus.  In what got animated the term is never actually used, at least not that I can recall, so it’s easy for someone not fully paying attention to think Yuzu is Blond for the same reason Sailor Moon is.  Citrus also catches a lot of western viewers off guard because Anime usually doesn’t fully acknowledge how strict the Japanese Public School system actually is, Yuzu getting crap from the authorities for not looking like everyone else actually makes the show more realistic than most Anime, but some casual critics of the show don’t want to think about that so pretend it’s just being cartoonishly dystopic.  Yuzu being a Gyaru is what makes her a rebel against Normie society.

I could also mention the studio Nur Hentai called Soshite Watashi wa Sensei ni…  The main character has recently become a Gyaru but her “best friend” and Teacher don’t like that so they are trying to make her stop being a Gyaru by…. Raping her repeatedly.... because Hentai logic.  4 episodes in and they haven’t succeeded yet, but Nur/PoRo isn’t known for having happy endings. 

So as I alluded to before Gyaru fashion is in part inspired by parts of American culture, so you could say they are a specific type of Ameriboo, that they are Otaku of sorts but instead of Anime it’s based on movies and shows like Clueless and Mean Girls and Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars.  PLL is still my favorite American TV show in spite of my issues with the last 3 seasons, so seeing an Anime where a character is explicitly a PLL fan would really make me Geek out, someone please make it happen. 

And all that is why Otaku Media depicting Gyaru do often express solidarity with them.  We saw this in the brief Gyaru appearance in the Nokotan Anime last year.  I’m currently watching the Dub for Loner Life In Another World as it comes out on HIDIVE, it’s depiction of its Gyaru clique seemed unflattering at first but they quickly seem to be getting better.

A good number of Hentai Doujins are about a male Otaku and a Gyaru having sex.  And yeah you could dismiss that as a pretty typical and generic self serving fantasy, but those Doujins are among the most Wholesome.  If you want Doujins where Girls can be consensually and enthusiastically sexually active without at all being shamed for it, your best bet are Gyaru Doujins. 

Update June 3rd 2025: I'm starting to think I maybe should have watched Super Gals before trying to write a thesis statement about the role of Gyaru in Anime.

It vindicates the main thesis of this post, they are a subculture outside the mainstream as much as Otaku are. 

My speculation about what kinds of American Media they are into possibly still holds up, but a lot of that Vibe could simply come from how the Dub chose to translate things. 

The main thing is the Tanned Gyaru are very rare in Anime from the last Decade, but they have a notable presence here.  And I'm still unsure whether or not they are a distinct thing from the Gongoro Girls. The Trio of Tanned Gyaru in Super Gals remind me of the similar trio in Durarara!!.  Super Gals came first, it's Anime ended two years before the first Durarara!! LN came out.

I'm told the female lead in Dandadan is also a Gyaru of sorts, but I wasn't able to get into that show.