History UsefulNotes / Kawaisa

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* RidiculouslyCuteCritter

* ''Manga/MyBrideIsAMermaid'' as a whole generally parodies this mindset, as the more obviously cute something is the more chance there is of it resulting in something utterly insane (e.g. Maki is an eight-inch tall girl who acts [[ShrinkingViolet extremely shy]] and has an extremely high-pitched and cutesy voice. She's actually [[spoiler: a yakuza enforcer who puts on the cute act as a front]]). The crowing point has to be episode 20, which takes stereotypical {{Moe}} elements (CatGirl, SailorFuku, etc.) and applies them to [[RatedMForManly extremely masculine]] characters. [[FanDisservice Naturally, it turns out a bit disturbing.]]

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'': Mikuru's defining characteristic is that Kyon thinks she is cute. Really, really cute. He goes on and on about it. After that there's something about being a time-traveler but [[spoiler:Nagato and her (Mikuru's) adult form]] are usually the ones to take care of that. Oh, and there was one more thing but [[CatchPhrase it's classified]].

* ''Manga/{{Unico}}'' debuted in 1976, when cuteness was starting to become huge in Japan. [[Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic Unico franchise contained [[SurprisinglyCreepyMoment some dark and terrifying imagery]], that didn't stop him from appearing in tons of cute merchandise. Fans of Creator/OsamuTezuka speculate that Unico was created by him to appeal to the Kawaii Culture.

* ''Manga/{{Unico}}'' debuted in 1976, when cuteness was starting to become huge in Japan. [[Anime/TheFantasticAdventuresOfUnico While the]] [[Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic Unico franchise]] contained [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath some]] [[DownerEnding dark]] [[SurpriseCreepy and terrifying imagery]], that didn't stop him from appearing in tons of cute merchandise. Fans of Creator/OsamuTezuka speculate that Unico was created by him to appeal to the Kawaii Culture.

* The ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' series has the [[http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/279/7/e/97__blue_badger_by_dr_jerk-d4c0uve.png Blue Badger]], RidiculouslyCuteCritter mascot of the game's police department's criminal affairs division. Just another {{Widget}} poking holes in the localization's "canon" that the game takes place in America.
** Ironically, nobody ''outside'' the police department likes it - Phoenix's response to seeing it amounts to "What the?!?", while Edgeworth's reaction is famously, "What the hell is that wriggling piece of plywood?!?"

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': Pikachu adorns the side of three All Nippon Airways passenger jets.

[[caption-width-right:330: Japanese construction barriers. So cute!]]

Since the 1970s, an all-pervasive form of cultural cuteness called ''kawaisa'' (可愛さ) has crept up to become a prominent aspect of Japanese (and to a lesser extent general East and Southeast Asian) popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, iconography and mannerisms. ''Kawaisa'' is deeply embedded in contemporary Japanese culture (so much so it even has a nickname, "The Cult of Cute") and is used in a vast array of situations and demographics. Even in cases where, in other cultures, it would be considered incongruously juvenile or frivolous (public service warnings, office environments, commercial airlines, government publications -- even military advertisements). Many companies use cute mascots to present their wares and services to the public from big business to corner markets and national government, ward and town offices. Foreign observers can find this cuteness odd because of their own cultural aversions to it and a somewhat outdated perception of the Japanese as stoic and no-nonsense people. Tomoyuki Sugiyama, author of "''Cool Japan''", believes that "cuteness" is rooted in Japan's harmony-loving culture, and Nobuyoshi Kurita, a sociology professor at Musashi University in Tokyo, has stated that "cute" is a "magic term" that encompasses everything that's acceptable and desirable in Japan.

* In a non-Japanese example, US Air Force pilots of the F-4 Phantom fighter had a cartoon ghost mascot called "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-4_Phantom_II#The_Spook the Spook]]."

[[AC:[[Wiki/ThisVeryWiki Meta]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has also been rather well received in Japan, likely due to this phenomenon. Strangely, some have theorized that its [[PeripheryDemographic unexpected popularity among young men]] in other nations might be due to similar reasons. Specifically, the show gained so many fans because its cute (but not [[TastesLikeDiabetes overbearing]]) and sincerely optimistic setting were highly appealing due to the fact that much of other mainstream animation is more subversive or DarkerAndEdgier.

* ''Manga/{{Unico}}'' debuted in 1976, when cuteness was starting to become huge in Japan. [[Anime/TheFantasticAdventuresOfUnico While the]] [[Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic Unico franchise]] contained [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath some]] [[DownerEnding dark]] [[SurpriseCreepy and terrifying imagery]], that didn't him from appearing in tons of cute merchandise. Fans of Creator/OsamuTezuka speculate that Unico was created by him to appeal to the Kawaii Culture.

Not all embrace the cute so readily, though; those skeptical of this "cuteness" consider it a sign of an infantile mentality. Hiroto Murasawa, professor of beauty and culture at Osaka Shoin Women's University, calls cuteness "a mentality that breeds non-assertion ... Individuals who choose to stand out get beaten down." Controversially, some have suggested that Japan's brutal defeat in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII bred this mentality, viewing it as the only way to explain how the warrior culture of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan did a complete one–eighty in just a couple of generations.

* This is, supposedly, the reason why babies are so adorable; teddy bears show a marked trend towards cuteness, and research has proved that this is to get the adults to buy them as a gift (the kids themselves didn't seem to care as long as they got a fun toy).

* The ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series plays with this interestingly. While most of its inhabitants carefree and Dreamland is pretty much an idyllic paradise, it is always constantly being invaded by [[VileVillainSaccharineShow dark forces]] and [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]], some of which even possess said cute inhabitants. Things tend to get dramatically serious when [[SugarApocalypse the lives of the Dreamlanders are at stake]], and Kirby himself changes gears from being just a cute moeblob to the assertive badass.

The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superflat Superflat]] art movement was begun by Japanese artists who began using GrotesqueCute and its related {{trope}}s as a satirical comment on the culture's obsession with cuteness. Their philosophy relates it to the inevitable conflict between Eastern and Western ethical and artistic traditions -- a conflict in which all of Japan has been living for well over a century. Cute merchandise and products are not specifically a Japanese thing, as they are also especially popular in other parts of East and Southeast Asia, such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore. In America and elsewhere in the western world however, [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore the opposite applies]] in general.

Since the 1970s, an all-pervasive form of cultural cuteness called ''kawaisa'' (可愛さ) has crept up to become a prominent aspect of Japanese (and to a lesser extent general East and Southeast Asia) popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, iconography and mannerisms. ''Kawaisa'' is deeply embedded in contemporary Japanese culture (so much so it even has a nickname, "The Cult of Cute") and is used in a vast array of situations and demographics. Even in cases where, in other cultures, it would be considered incongruously juvenile or frivolous (public service warnings, office environments, commercial airlines, government publications -- even military advertisements). Many companies use cute mascots to present their wares and services to the public from big business to corner markets and national government, ward and town offices. Foreign observers can find this cuteness odd because of their own cultural aversions to it and a somewhat outdated perception of the Japanese as stoic and no-nonsense people. Tomoyuki Sugiyama, author of "''Cool Japan''", believes that "cuteness" is rooted in Japan's harmony-loving culture, and Nobuyoshi Kurita, a sociology professor at Musashi University in Tokyo, has stated that "cute" is a "magic term" that encompasses everything that's acceptable and desirable in Japan.

Since the 1970s, an all-pervasive form of cultural cuteness called ''kawaisa'' (可愛さ) has crept up to become a prominent aspect of Japanese (and to a lesser extent general East and Southeast Asian) popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, iconography and mannerisms. ''Kawaisa'' is deeply embedded in contemporary Japanese culture (so much so it even has a nickname, "The Cult of Cute") and is used in a vast array of situations and demographics. Even in cases where, in other cultures, it would be considered incongruously juvenile or frivolous (public service warnings, office environments, commercial airlines, government publications -- even military advertisements). Many companies use cute mascots to present their wares and services to the public from big business to corner markets and national government, ward and town offices. Foreign observers can find this cuteness odd because of their own cultural aversions to it and a somewhat outdated perception of the Japanese as stoic and no-nonsense people. Tomoyuki Sugiyama, author of "''Cool Japan''", believes that "cuteness" is rooted in Japan's harmony-loving culture, and Nobuyoshi Kurita, a sociology professor at Musashi University in Tokyo, has stated that "cute" is a "magic term" that encompasses everything that's acceptable and desirable in Japan.

* Main/AmericanKirbyIsHardcore
* Main/AnimeChineseGirl
* Main/{{Bishoujo}}
* Main/BridgeBunnies
* Main/CatGirl
* Main/CuteEmUp
* Main/CuteMonsterGirl
* Main/CuteWitch
* Main/{{Dojikko}}
* Main/ElegantGothicLolita
* Main/FrillsOfJustice
* Main/FunSize
* Main/GenkiGirl
* Main/GenericCuteness
* Main/IdolSinger
* Main/{{Keet}}
* Main/{{Kawaiiko}}
* Main/{{Joshikousei}}
* Main/LittleBitBeastly
* Main/LittleMissSnarker
* Main/MagicalGirl
* Main/ManekiNeko
* Main/{{Moe}}
* Main/MoeAnthropomorphism

* Main/PuniPlush
* Main/StrawberryShorthand
* Main/SuperDeformed versions of {{anime}} characters.
* Main/TokenMiniMoe
* Main/RidiculouslyCuteCritter
* Main/WaddlingHead

* ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'': Pikachu adorns the side of three All Nippon Airways passenger jets.

** The central thesis of the series is essentially that ''Kawaisa'' and the Japanese suicide epidemic are two different manifestations of the same [[{{Escapism}} Escapist]] impulse.

* [[Manga/{{Unico}} Unico]] debuted in 1976, when cuteness was starting to become huge in Japan. [[Anime/TheFantasticAdventuresOfUnico While the]] [[Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic Unico franchise]] contained [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath some]] [[DownerEnding dark]] [[SurpriseCreepy and terrifying imagery]], that didn't him from appearing in tons of cute merchandise. Fans of Creator/OsamuTezuka speculate that Unico was created by him to appeal to the Kawaii Culture.

* The sentry turrets from VideoGame/{{Portal}} are the cutest sentry turrets ever. They will kill you with cute. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjglnSTrgmI And then bullets.]]

* ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has also been rather well received in Japan, likely due to this phenomenon. Strangely, some have theorized that its [[PeripheryDemographic unexpected popularity among young men]] in other nations might be due to similar reasons. Specifically, the show gained so many fans because its cute (but not [[TastesLikeDiabetes overbearing]]) and sincerely optimistic setting were highly appealing due to the fact that much of other mainstream animation is more subversive or DarkerAndEdgier.

* ''[[AvertedTrope Nothing at all]]'' in ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'', despite Enoby's (and Tara's) [[YouKeepUsingThatWord fondness for the term.]]

Since the 1970s, an all-pervasive form of cultural cuteness entitled ''kawaisa'' (可愛さ) has crept up to become a prominent aspect of Japanese (and to a lesser extent general East and Southeast Asian) popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, iconography and mannerisms. ''Kawaisa'' is deeply embedded in contemporary Japanese culture (so much so it even has a nickname, "The Cult of Cute") and is used in a vast array of situations and demographics. Even in cases where, in other cultures, it would be considered incongruously juvenile or frivolous (public service warnings, office environments, commercial airlines, government publications -- even military advertisements). Many companies use cute mascots to present their wares and services to the public from big business to corner markets and national government, ward and town offices. Foreign observers can find this cuteness odd because of their own cultural aversions to it and a somewhat outdated perception of the Japanese as stoic and no-nonsense people. Tomoyuki Sugiyama, author of "''Cool Japan''", believes that "cuteness" is rooted in Japan's harmony-loving culture, and Nobuyoshi Kurita, a sociology professor at Musashi University in Tokyo, has stated that "cute" is a "magic term" that encompasses everything that's acceptable and desirable in Japan.

* Small shops sometimes have chalk boards with current sales in their windows. It isn't rare that a employee draws a cute critter on it as well. This can range from something genuily cute as Pikachu to questionable creatures such as [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Kyubey]].