Looky-loo: it’s La Carmina and Sebastiano Serafini!

These cute manga/anime-style drawings are by Alice and the Cat, a talented designer and illustrator — born in Milan and living in Tokyo. Her kawaii illustrations have been exhibited at Tokyo Design Festa, the huge art event I reported on in 2008 and in 2010. (Do check out these posts if you missed them; Yukiro is shirtless in this one.)

Seba and I are quite the team, ne? We’re working hard, and soon we’ll share our wild collaborations with you! And you can look forward to our Hollywood invasion (Dec 28 to Jan 10). (There’s a new Seba in America category for this special series.)

Before we jet to not-so-sunny LA, let’s finish up our dark fashion tour of Osaka, Japan. Shopping for Goth/alt clothing is more difficult in Shinsaibashi than in Harajuku, since the stores are spread out (rather than concentrated in Laforet and Takeshita-doori). In the 2F basement of OPA, there’s a boutique for Yosuke shoes. I love this brand. Inexpensive, stylish, and never falls apart.

Next door: Black Peace Now. One of my favorite brands for men’s Elegant Gothic Aristocrat fashion.

Peace Now is brighter and cuter, while still retaining some dark elements.

The eye-patch wearing teddy bears and bunnies remind me of the Pirate Basil logo that Naomi made for our coolhunting and TV hosting company.

You can locate these shops and more on my Osaka shopping map. I’ll compile my Shinsaibashi Gothic Lolita Punk store reports soon.

What do you think of Alice and the Cat’s illustrations? Don’t they look like me and Seba? Do you have any favorite kawaii manga / anime artists? (My blog’s banner is by reader Angela Che.)

Japanese Word of the Day: Keisei = Formation
Song of the Day: Gamma Ray – It’s a Sin (Heavy metal cover of the Pet Shop Boys tune. SHRED!)