Sukeban

Sukeban (スケバン/女番/スケ番) means delinquent girl or boss girl in Japanese, equivalent to the male banchō. A dictionary of Japanese slang says that sukeban only refers to the leader of a girl gang, not any member of the girl gang.

Characteristics
The common signifiers of sukeban (described by the Japanese police in 1980s pamphlets as "omens of downfall") include brightly-dyed or permed hair, and modifications of the school uniform such as wearing coloured socks, rolling up the sleeves and lengthening the skirt. Sukeban may engage in activities such as glue sniffing, stimulant use, shoplifting, theft, prostitution and violence, but if arrested, they can be charged with the lesser offence of "pre-delinquency". The word sukeban was originally used by delinquents, but has been used by the general population since 1972.

Sukeban in fiction
In the 1970s and 1980s, sukeban became popular characters in seinen manga. Sukeban characters could also be seen in shōjo manga publications; Sukeban Deka, YajiKita Gakuen Dōchūki and Hana no Asuka-gumi were three popular shōjo series that had a mostly sukeban cast.

Single sukeban characters interacting with a more "normal" cast could also be seen—early on in her character design, Makoto Kino of Sailor Moon was intended to lead a sukeban gang, and in the anime and manga she has curly hair, a lengthened school uniform skirt and a reputation as a fighter. However, the lengthened skirt did not appear in her costume in the 2003–2004 Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.

In Onidere, the series focuses on sukeban Saya who is in a secret romantic relationship with a boy while trying to keep an appearance as being the biggest man-hater in front of her gang.

In Kimagure Orange Road, lead female Madoka Ayukawa was a former sukeban, utterly feared in school except for the male lead Kyosuke Kasuga, the other female lead Hikaru Hiyama, Kyousuke's sisters Manami and Kurumi and a boy named Yusaku Hino.

The game Rival Schools has a sukeban named Aoi "Zaki" Himezaki as a playable character.

Sukeban in film
Pink film director Norifumi Suzuki made the first films in the seven-film Girl Boss (Sukeban) series. He also started the four-film Terrifying Girls' High School series (1971–1972) featuring sukeban characters. Both series featured prominent Pinky violent actresses Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto.

On December 6, 2005, Panik House company released a four-disc region-1 DVD collection surveying Sukeban films entitled The Pinky Violence Collection.

Some notable sukeban films include:
 * Girl Boss Guerilla (1972, dir.: Norifumi Suzuki; cast: Miki Sugimoto, Reiko Ike)
 * Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom (1973, dir.: Norifumi Suzuki; cast: Miki Sugimoto, Reiko Ike)

General references

 * Weisser, Yuko Mihara. (2001). "Japanese Fighting Divas 101". Asian Cult Cinema #31, 2nd Quarter 2001.
 * Ashcraft, Brian with Ueda Shoko. (2010). "Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential: How teenage girls made a nation cool". Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-7700-3115-0

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