Kowloon Generic Romance

"Flickering lights, moldy back alleys, noisy neighbors... don't all those things feel inexplicably, irresistibly nostalgic? I think nostalgia is the same as love. The people who live here are the same— they're all in love with Kowloon. With this nostalgic Kowloon. So Kowloon will never change. It shouldn't change. 'Cos it doesn't need anything new." — Hajime Kudou

Welcome to Kowloon Walled City— the most densely populated place on Earth, with about 33,000 people living in 6.5 acres in interconnected high-rise towers. Within these walls is Wong Lo Realty Company, and within this small firm a love story between two office workers is blooming. Mellow, 32-year old Reiko Kujirai has a prickly relationship with the easy-going and often brash 30-year old Hajime Kudou, but they're close enough to get lunch together almost every day. The two bond over their feelings for Kowloon, and they become closer... but there's something strange between the two of them.

Nostalgia (Love)

Reiko and Kudou’s love story is haunted by Nostaliga. At the start of the manga, the closer Reiko looks to Kajirai-B, the more Kudou shows his love and affection to her. When Reiko finds out she no longer requires glasses, Kudou is the one to mention how he prefers her with them on (making her look more like Kajirai-B). However, during any romantically charged scenes, Kudou always ends it with a joke before it can begin. He is hesitant to engage with Reiko in an affectionate manner, but seems he cannot help himself but to do so. He is struck with Nostalgia when he sees Reiko, who is almost a carbon copy of his late finance, but knows that she is a completely separate being from Kajirai-B.

As the story evolves, any resemblance to Kujirai-B is met with disdain from Kudou. He is seeing Reiko as her own person, he cannot be blinded by Nostalgia anymore. Even with something small, like Reiko wearing clip on earrings to look closer to Kajirai-B, Kudou reacts by telling her to ‘stop all this foolishness’.

Yet the closer they get, Kudou cannot seem to let go of his Nostaliga. His affection for Reiko grows as she becomes her own person, but every moment of affection has the ghost of Kujirai-B literally there in the next panel. He wants to separate the two Kujirai’s.

Kudou’s Nostalgia is a constant setback for Reiko. She cannot help but love him, but every time she does, she loses parts of herself to Kujirai-B. The first page of Chapter 59 states: “He thinks. Therefore I am” reflecting how she gives up her sense of self over and over again for Kudou and Kujirai-B. If Kudou and Reiko cannot let go of Nostaliga, Reiko’s identity of self will continue to suffer.

The Old vs The New

The struggle between The Old vs The New is one of the more consistent and overarching themes in Kowloon Generic Romance. Kowloon itself represents the desire to keep The Old, as it is a ghost town of a twice demolished city. Even residents in Kowloon 'prefer nostalgic Kowloon'. They prefer buzzing street signs and moldy back alleys, any change is met with distain from the older residents. New shops don’t seem to last long in the city, but the older ones are treasured and favorites amongst the citizens.

In chapter 14, Reiko is out shopping with Youmei in the newer side of Kowloon. She finds earrings that look exactly like Kujirai-B's, but they're clip ons. Reiko buys them and wears them infront of Kudou, trying to appeal to Kudou’s sense of Nostalgia. This is met with destain, as mentioned before. The begining of the next chapter shows Kujirai-B living her life next to a curled up Reiko. The words 'My room is filled with traces of "me". Traces of the "me" I can't remember'. Any time Reiko appeals to the Old, she is hurt, her sense of self tarnished. She cannot stay stuck in the Old as she is an entirely New being.

Instead of wallowing in the lack of ability to stay with the Old, she is shown packing away all of Kujirai-B's things. Her glasses, earrings, and shirt that Kujirai-B is always shown in are now hidden in a cabinet, away from Reiko. This is the turning point for Reiko and her battle to become her New self. Even Kudou, who never wants to go to the new places that Reiko wants to try, lets go momentarily and allows himself to try the lemon chicken Reiko loves. From here on, Reiko's personality shifts into her own. While Kujirai-B was always shown as this enigmatic figure, eccentric and bold, Reiko is sweet, kind natured, and open.

Though one thing continues to stay static, Kujirai-B's apartment. From the furniture to where she puts her toothbrush, everything is the same as it was when Kujirai-B was there. Imagery of Kujirai-B’s ghost in the apartment is almost constant. Even when Kudou is visiting in chapter 19, Kujirai-B is 'there' with him smoking on the porch. He feels her there. He wants her there. The only thing that has really changed in the apartment is the new misprinted Terra-chan plush, representing Reiko as a Generic being. Later on, she discusses moving out of the apartment, but keeping it almost as a 'shrine' to Kujirai-B. However, this decision is forgotten in chapter 57, as Kudou shows up at her door at midnight of his and Kujirai-B’s anniversary. Seeing Kudou’s saddened face, Reiko reasures him: “I am not going anywhere.”

It’s easy to tell in that moment that it is not Reiko he is seeing, its Kujirai-B. This is even more obvious in chapter 62. After Reiko discovers that she cannot leave Kowloon or she may disappear forever, she finds comfort in Kudou: “I don’t know where I should go. But… If I can stay by your side, that is enough for me.” Kudou hugs Reiko and reasures her, “It’s alright. I’ll always be here.” But his ‘promise’ is looming over the ghost of Kujirai-B. It is not meant for her.

Reiko will always be haunted by The Old as long as Kudou is near her. She wants to love him, she wants to appeal to him, but all he sees is Kujirai-B. The more they involve themselves with eachother, the more Reiko will dissolve back into who she was at the beginning of the story. A husk of a being. A copy of Kujirai-B. A Zirconian, instead of a Generic being.

Genetic/Absolute Self

At first the term "Generic" in the title may seem as a cheeky joke about its own romance being played by the books, as in a romance that is cliched. Instead, later revelations indicates that "generic" actually refers to the meaning of "brandless", "replaceable", or better yet, "non-specific" (like generic drugs, furthered by a pharmaceutical company being a seemingly antagonistic force in the story); this refering to the fact that the romance between Reiko and Kudou is replacing the previous romance between Kudou and Kujirai-B, as well as Reiko herself being something of a ‘clone’ of Kujirai-B.

In Chapter 26, Reiko passes by a shrine with people using Jiaobei Moon Blocks for fortune telling. There is 3 results you can get when making a wish, Sheng-Bei (divine answer), Xiao-Bei (laughing answer), Nu-Bei (angry answer). Reiko tosses the Jiaobei and wishes to become Kudou's lover 'just like she (Kujirai-B) was'. She recives Nu-Bei. Over and over again, she wishes to become something for Kudou, to get closer to being Kujirai-B, and over and over again she recieves Nu-Bei. Finally, she changes her wish. "I want to become the one, true, *Absolute* version of me." She recieves Sheng-Bei.

'Generic' or the Absolute Self is the idea that you can become the best version of yourself through your identity. Our protaginist, Reiko (or Kujirai-A) is a Generic being. While she is her own person, Reiko is a double of Kujirai-B created from an experiment that has yet to be revealed. This is a completely separate thing from Zirconians, who are essentially ghost clones of the old Kowloon residents (and a majority of the current residents). While we know very little about the difference between Zirconians and Generic beings, being a Generic being means that you are not a clone. You are your own unique person, despite looking exactly like someone else. As Reiko discovers this herself, she dives more and more into becoming her Absolute self, even telling Miyuki “I have decided to become the real me”. To her, there is no one else.

Before the manga begins, it's implied that there is no seperation between Reiko and Kujirai-B's life. Reiko was living as Kujirai-B for an unspecified amount of time. Yet as the story progresses, more and more of a barrier is formed between who Kujirai-B was and who Reiko is becoming. Kudou is the first to notice when Reiko wants to try new things, like getting involved in trends, eating at new restaraunts, and behaving differently from the Kujirai he knew. Kudou goes back and forth between wanting this seperation between the two Kujirai's and loathing Reiko for being her own person. But as this seperation forms between the two Kujirai's, Reiko becomes more and more content with her life. She (very slowly) begins to stop clinging to Kujirai-B. Reiko is becoming her own person, creating her own identity, even as a Generic being. And the more she becomes Reiko, the closer to her Absolute self she is.

Zirocnia and Youmei

Zirconia is classified as a diamond simulant - a stone that looks similar to natural diamonds, but is made of different material and has little to no resale value. This also happens to be Youmei’s favorite stone.

Youmei is the child of a famous actress, and before she got plastic surgery, looked exactly like her. As we learn of Youmei’s past, we discover that her mother did not want her daughter to have her own identity. When Youmei wants to wear seashell earrings to a photoshoot, her mother ‘suggests’ ones that she herself would wear instead. Youmei does not wear the earrings she liked. During the photoshoot, she thinks to herself ‘but I liked the seashell ones better…’ When it comes to her mother, Youmei cannot vocalize her opinions. She becomes the same diamond that her mother is, a mini-me. While her mother thinks this is what is best for her, as Youmei can profit off of this and become famous as well, all she really wanted was some freedom, the ability to make her own decisions and wear what she wants.

So when she finally is free, she completely changes herself. Plastic surgery, perms, hair dye, she is unrecognizable. She even changes her personality, becoming much more open and bubbly. While others may see this as a bad thing, intentionally ‘lying’ about who you are down to your core aspects, Youmei sees it as becoming her Absolute self, just as Reiko must do. And while neither of them are Zirconians, they are both people without a past living in Kowloon.

Zirconia, for Youmei, represents her Absolute self. She can pick the earrings she likes. She can be as fake as she wants, and she is more herself than she was before.

"That something artificial could shine so beautifully gives me hope. Hey, Reiko-pon, never forget there are also people like us who know that fakes can genuinely sparkle." -Youmei