17 Nov, 2006
The Anime Blog Poll: Is The Japanese Culture of Cute Good or Bad?
Posted by: Rachel In: Polls
Cute. It’s a matter of opinion. Many Americans, though, seem to share a general consensus on what’s “cuteâ€. For example: “Hey! that vomit covered, virus producing, screaming man larvae is soooo cute!†See, I would disagree. Kittens are cute, puppies are cute. Small, warm, CLEAN, fuzzy things are cute.
That’s just my opinion. I don’t think however, that here in America we’re over run with cute things. Over in Japan, well, that’s another story. It seems everything is cute there. The advertising and packaging, no matter what for, is cute. The hairstyles are cute. The dresses, cell phone charms, shoes, girls, guys, the way inanimate objects are depicted, all liberally doused with cute. It’s almost as if the Japanese have giant buckets of “adorable” and “fuzzy” that they dip uncute things in to make them more acceptable.
I’m an adult American woman and I’m OK with cute. I’m actually beyond OK with cute; cute and I have a definite relationship beyond “just friendsâ€. I think that the Japanese culture had a lot to do with how I fell in love with cute. I think chibis are adorable, I think kitties are sweet as pie, and I think girls who dress like cute punk rockers are cheek-pinching good. The Japanese definitely have the market cornered when it comes down to kawaii and I’m luv’n it.
But do Americans understand and even like this mass use of cute? When you watch certain anime or see chibis, cat ears, and lolitas, what do you think? Is Japanese cute good or is it too much of a bad thing? What do you think about the Japanese use of cute, aka, kawaii?
It depends what kind of thing it is, some “cute” things are cute and some… not. It’s not really the secret ingredient that make everything great or anything like that.
M’yep. Certain things that get depicted as “cute” over in Japan can be down right creepy to me -Anga. I know there’s advertising for certain things (more mature things) that creep me right the f’ out. Why is that condom packaging all sweet and cuddly? Why is there a Hello Kitty “personal massager”!? Why!!!?? So, yeah, not all things that are considered cute in Japan are palatable over here,
It is true that some cute things are used in ways that cannot be condoned in Japan. Still what is cute tends to be well accepted by broad spectrum of people. As long as it isn’t overused or used for some perverted purpose, I’m fine with it.
I enjoy cute! I do not however like when cute is mixed with sexuality, like mentioned above.