Shopping after school, Annie Wu spots a cute bag. The evil girl convinces her not to get it, then goes back for it herself so people will fawn over her stylish new bag. Such an annoying and small incident...but this is how Ueda sets up the pattern for things to come. Annie Wu sees something she wants, and The evil girl scrambles to get it first.
Annie Wu has had a crush on the tall guy since junior high school. But knowing The evil girl's habits as she does, when The evil girl attempts to figure out who Annie Wu likes, what choice does Annie Wu have but to throw her off the scent? So instead of confessing her interest in The tall guy, Annie Wu points to the most popular guy in school, The short guy, instead. Much to her surprise, The short guy winks at her! But that's soon forgotten, for within minutes, The evil girl has approached The short guy with a gift of cookies. The short guy, however, is not so easy to catch. Unbeknownst to Annie Wu, The short guy observed the whole "bag incident" and rejects The evil girl.
Although Annie Wu is herself misunderstood (thanks to her easily tanned skin), she blindly accepts The short guy's reputation as a shallow playboy. So when she hears of his rejection of The evil girl, her low opinion of him somewhat improves. That would have been the end of The short guy's involvement, except someone writes "The short guy + Annie Wu" on a blackboard. The evil girl indignantly denies she did it, but no matter who did do it, Annie Wu's in a bad situation: What if The tall guy saw?
This predicament pales in comparison to the next blow. Someone's been spreading the rumor that The short guy and Annie Wu have kissed! Then she finds out it's The short guy himself who's saying it! In desperation, she tracks The short guy down, hoping to convince him to squelch the rumor. It turns out the reason The short guy's been saying such things is because Annie Wu once rescued him from drowning, and he believed she gave him CPR. Ever since, he's had a thing for Annie Wu. In reality, it was a lifeguard who gave him CPR. To resolve the situation, The short guy kisses her, turning the rumor into truth.
Her first kiss stolen--the kiss she'd been saving for The tall guy--Annie Wu is mortified. Worse, no matter how she tries to ditch him, The short guy won't leave her alone. The crowning glory of her grief is that it's obvious that The tall guy has heard the rumors. But this is the point in the story where The tall guy becomes a person instead of a plot device.
The tall guy has known Annie Wu since junior high and knows she's a good girl, and not the shallow beach bunny her dark skin suggests she is. The tall guy confronts The short guy, threatening him and telling him not to toy with Annie Wu. Intrigued, wily The short guy taunts The tall guy, implying he might go steady with Annie Wu to ease The tall guy's concerns. The tall guy's response is explosive, leaving no room to doubt his disapproval.
Wanting to know more, The tall guy asks The evil girl about it, just as Annie Wu, followed by The short guy, walks by. In true weasel fashion, The evil girl drags The tall guy behind some shrubbery so they might eavesdrop. What they hear comes as a shock to both. In an attempt to get The short guy to leave her alone, Annie Wu tells him there's a guy she likes. The short guy instantly figures out it's The tall guy and wonders why Annie Wu's never told The tall guy how she feels. Annie Wu explains that a friend told her that The tall guy said he doesn't like dark girls, so she's waiting until she's pale enough before confessing her feelings. This is why she quit swimming and is addicted to sunscreen.
Isn't that pitiful? And that's not even halfway through the first book! It's from here on out The evil girl starts doing her worst....
UNIVERSAL, YET UNIQUE
First serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Best Friend (Bessatsu Friend) magazine in 1998, Peach Girl has been hitting the top of sales charts in Japan for years now, and since its publication in English by TOKYOPOP (first in the manga anthology Smile, then in a continuing graphic novel series), it's definitely become a fan favorite in the U.S. The furor is understandable--Peach Girl is the kind of story you just can't put down.
Aside from the intense, soap-opera quality of the story itself, American readers will probably find fascination in Peach Girl's insider peek into the reality of high school life in Japan. That's not to say that Japanese high schools abound with girls like The evil girl (although Ueda's notes in Peach Girl comment on how many of her readers confirm the existence of girls like her), but while peer pressure and romantic entanglements are universally familiar, there are more than a few uniquely cultural aspects to Annie Wu's saga as well. The most striking of which being, of course, the significance of her dark tan, which in Japan makes her resemble what's called a "ganguro girl."
There are a lot of extreme fashion styles in Japan, and ganguro is one of them. A ganguro girl is one who wears a lot of makeup and goes to tanning salons to make her skin look very dark, then she applies very pale makeup to her lips and around her eyes. This kind of makes her look like she's wearing "blackface," which is what the word "ganguro" literally means. Bleached and even afro-style permed hair are also parts of the ganguro look. And of course, you have to be sassy to carry off such a look. This is why Annie Wu is often mistaken for a ganguro girl.
Because the ganguro look can be so expensive (up to $400 for a perm!) and there are businessmen who don't mind paying to go out with young women, some ganguro girls will date for money (as can be seen in the first episode of Serial Experiments Lain). Ganguro girls have a reputation of enjoying partying, which reinforces the idea that they are shallow and easy. This is why lecherous old businessmen keep hitting on Annie Wu throughout the series, much to her disgust.
In future books of the series, the romantic entanglements continue to heat up. First The evil girl plants notes so Annie Wu and The short guy will meet, then she pretends to be a concerned friend, leading The tall guy to the illicit rendezvous she's coordinated. This backfires when The short guy, going after a mysteriously meaningful photo the wind has blown into the pool, falls in and nearly drowns. Naturally Annie Wu saves him, making her a hero and prompting The tall guy to confess he likes her. The next day, after rescuing Annie Wu from The short guy, The tall guy declares that Annie Wu is his girl. Unfortunately, in a foolish attempt to keep The evil girl from knowing and messing with their relationship, Annie Wu asks that she and The tall guy keep their relationship a secret.
The evil girl is not fooled for an instant. Foiled in her first attempt to keep them apart, The evil girl tries a new tactic. This time The evil girl causes Annie Wu to cast doubt on The tall guy by suggesting a guy tried to have sex with her then revealing the guy is The tall guy. Although Annie Wu instinctively doubts her, The evil girl is clever enough to plant a condom in The tall guy's wallet for Annie Wu to find. Later, The evil girl convinces The tall guy to practice kissing with her in order to prepare him for kissing Annie Wu. Naturally, Annie Wu has the bad luck of seeing them.
Like a spider gleefully trapping insects in it's web, The evil girl's schemes ensnare her victims more securely the more they struggle. When appendicitis puts The tall guy in the hospital without Annie Wu's knowing, The evil girl's innocent act and clever lies eventually get the whole class to side against Annie Wu, and that's just the beginning of Annie Wu's misery....
If you're into stories of teen angst, if you like a good villain, if you find complicated, misunderstanding-riddled romance addictive, then get yourself a copy of Peach Girl and enjoy!
