hana presents alice with her first magazine cover - alice looks closer at the “dot” on her nose…

melmo is a ficticious magazine created for the film, and is also a replica of olive!

even the cover tag line is taken from an old issue, replacing ‘olive girls’ with ‘melmo girls’…

olive is now defunct, ceasing publication after the aug 2003 issue, but the film hana and alice was released in 2004 so somewhere during filming their paths crossed. it’s a pity the reference came out too late to keep it alive.

i’ve kept all my old issues, a couple of years’ worth. what i liked most about the magazine was the concordance of culture. if you possess a certain aesthetic, their style of dressing will appeal to you, and the music and films suggested will already strike a chord.

rip slyme, okuda tamio, and ego wrappin’ are some of the musicians covered in issues. of course there was some creep in by hello project’s matsuura aya and johnny’s talent, but they were mostly for cuteness factor. photographer ninagawa mika used to have a monthly page, collaborating with writer sakurai ami. mangaka minami q-ta had a monthly comic, and naomi lemon (nao of seagull screaming kiss her kiss her) also had her own page of drawings.

so if it follows the rule, then hana and alice, and by extension, shunji iwai’s films, all belong in that world of olive girls culture.