What do we get when we add Fashion, unrealistic airbrushed bodies, and capitalism? We get Liliko and her story in Helter Skelter. This manga is a repulsive commentary of how people go to such lengths to fit themselves into a box that is expected from the unattainable beauty standards imposed by the media. From make-up, clothes, behaviours, life-style; young women were pressured to conform into this idealised, youthful beauty.

Liliko is Japan’s most loved model. She appears in billboards and magazine covers and tv ads and has her own make up line. She has the smallest waist line, smoothest skin, perfect breast size, striking yet gorgeous face and a wonderful career life ahead of her. Are we really sure that this image of hers are in fact a reality? This manga unfolds as we are told behind this impossibly perfect woman lies an assortments of devious acts committed in order to preserve this less arbitrary and materialistic definition of beauty.

Quoted from the manga, ‘youth is beautiful, but beauty is not youth’, was a wise word by a police who was investigating cases of deaths and violence among celebrities. Liliko became incredibly obsessed with this idea of beauty to the point of risking her life and harming others. Young and upcoming models were her biggest threat, she had to get rid of them before they get rid of her. This manga does not only portray Liliko as the bad one, since we see other models and celebrities stomp each other off to gain popularity.

In short, Helter Skelter is a culmination of the vile business that goes behind every magazine shots, beauty product ads, and the extremely attractive individuals shown in media. A vicious cycle that ruins models and consumers too.