Music / Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ), born 1993/01/29, real name Kiriko Takemura (竹村桐子), is a Japanese pop singer from Tokyo produced by Yasutaka Nakata – the same guy who writes all of Perfume's songs – and originally signed to Warner Music Japan. She started out as a fashion blogger, model, and designer of false eyelashes before Nakata discovered her in 2011 and convinced her to try singing. The resulting single, "PONPONPON", and especially its music video, went viral within seconds and catapulted her into the upper echelons of J-Pop stardom.

She is strongly associated with the Harajuku kawaisa fashion culture (and was known as the "Queen of Harajuku" even before she hit it big). She's also known for her music videos, which tend to be flat-out trippy and often psychedelic to the point that some have called her "more gaga than Gaga". It's rare that a music video from her isn't some degree of batshit insane. Unlike many ladies in her sector of the business, Kyary is known to have a lot of creative control with the production of her videos.

Kyary has toured Japan several times, performing at the hallowed Nippon Budokan twice (in 2012 and 2016). She's also performed smaller shows abroad, including a couple in California. She was invited to perform at the ultra-high-profile Coachella festival in 2020 – which her idols Perfume had done the year before – but the show was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic which hit the USA especially hard; Kyary eventually made her Coachella debut in 2022.

She's a huge fan of Crayon Shin-chan and has contributed at least two theme songs for the anime, along with a couple of vocal cameos.

Discography

Studio albums

• Kyarypamyupamyu no Ghibli Set (2011, covers of various Studio Ghibli songs)
• Pamyu Pamyu Revolution (2012)
• Nanda Collection (2013)
• Pika Pika Fantajin (2014)
• Japamyu (2018)
• Candy Racer (2021)

Extended-Plays

• Moshi Moshi Harajuku (2011)

Collections

• KPP Best (2016)

Singles

• "Loveberry/Miracle Orange"^note  Pre-fame singles released by Universoul (2010)
• "PONPONPON" (2011)
• "Jelly" (2011)
• "Tsukema Tsukeru" (2012)
• "CANDY CANDY" (2012)
• "Fashion Monster" (2012)
• "Kimi ni 100 Percent/Furisodeshon" (2013)
• "Ninja Re Bang Bang" (2013)
• "Invader Invader" (2013)
• "Mottai Night Land" (2013)
• "Yume no Hajima-Ring Ring" (2014)
• "Family Party" (2014)
• "Kira Kira Killer" (2014)
• "Mondai Girl" (2015)
• "Crazy Party Night ~Pumpkin no Gyakushū~" (2015)
• "Sai & Co" (最＆高)" (2016)
• "Harajuku Iyahoi" (2017)
• "Easta" (2017)
• "Kimi no Mikata" (2018)
• "Kimi ga Ii ne Kuretara" (2019)
• "Kamaitachi" (2020)
• "Gum Gum Girl" (2021)
• "Gentenkaihi" (2021)
• "Maybe Baby" (2022)

---

Tropes that apply to Kyary Pamyu Pamyu:

• Anime Theme Song:
  • "Family Party" is the themesong for Crayon Shin-chan: Serious Battle! Robot Dad Strikes Back.
  • "Kimi ni 100 Percent" was also used for the series.
  • "Maybe Baby" is this for the Ninjala Animated Adaptation, being used as the opening theme of the series.
• Art Shift: In "CANDY CANDY", Kyary and an onion become MANRY when she takes down her doppleganger.
  • In "Mottai Night Land", Kyary briefly becomes a cutesy anime character and when she goes back to her "normal" self she's dressed as a dog.
• Berserk Button: Kyary, like another group Nakata writes/produces for, dislikes being called an Idol Singer and would prefer to be known as an "artist" – in Japanese culture, one gets a lot more respect. However, most of her fans and critics alike agree that she's not quite up to the level of being known as an artist, but rather a novelty singer.
• Big Anime Eyes: Kyary usually gets inspiration from anime and kawaii, in which various of her costumes uses big anime eyes via makeup and masks. Also used by her Western counterpart, Lady Gaga, when she went to Japan.
• Bittersweet Ending: "Yume no Hajima Ring Ring" ends with Kyary parting with her friend teddy bear, who sheds a tear.
• Call-Back: The video for "Yume no Hajima Ring Ring" contained several references to some of the older music videos. See Coming-of-Age Song below.
• Celebrity Endorsement: Appeared in an ad promoting Nintendo 3DS faceplates, which, despite being a Japanese commercial, quickly became popular in America as well. It might have something to do with the fact that she gave Mario, Toon Link, Pikachu, and Isabelle all adorably classy makeovers.
• Coming-of-Age Song:
  • "Furisodeshon", which was written to commemorate her 20th birthday (20 being the age of adulthood in Japan). The video for said song shows her drinking like crazy.
  • The music video for "Yume no Hajima-Ring Ring" sums up her entire life/career up to that point. There's her beginnings as a blogger/model, she revisits her outfits from "PONPONPON" and "Fashion Monster" (the initial singles found on her first 2 LPs) and figures representing her other videos flash by on a card held by a backup dancer. ^note  In order: an eye from "Tsukema Tsukeru", the onion from "Candy Candy", A "20" representing "Furisodeshon", a dancing robot from "Ninja Re Bang Bang", a "Da" kana from "Invader Invader", and a ghost head from "Mottai Night Land".
• Cover Version: She's covered songs by CAPSULE four times (her producer Yasutaka Nakata's main gig): "jelly", "Super Scooter Happy" (from Nanda Collection), "do do pi do" (from Pikapika Fantajin), and "Koi no Hana" (from Japamyu).
• Cute Monster Girl / Unusual Ears / Little Bit Beastly / Ears as Hair:
  • Kyary wears her hair styled into bat ears/a bat in her music video for "Fashion Monster". Also, the white rabbit guy in the same video.
  • Also Kyary's monster-slippers in "CANDY CANDY".
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: Kyary in her music video for "Fashion Monster".
• Flipping the Bird: She flips off the camera in "Fashion Monster" in a bout of Refuge in Audacity.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: Two for "Mondai Girl": Kyary manages to type "FUCK" on her phone before it explodes in flames; and when she holds up a squid, the phrase "STAFF GA OISHIKU ITADAKIMASHITA" fills the screen briefly. That translates to "This food was enjoyed by the staff afterwards."
• Genre Mashup: Several of Kyary's song liberally borrow from other genres for an indescribable genre mash. See "Invader Invader", a surf rock song with dubstep breaks, chiptune effects and a piano played with classical training. Her most diverse single is "Fashion Monster", which grafts together J-pop, hi-NRG and grunge with EDM-style "tape stops", more chiptune synths and a snare drum played somewhere between "marching band" and "free jazz freakout".
• Girlish Pigtails: So many outfits it comes up quite a bit. The main ones are in "CANDY CANDY" and most notably "PONPONPON". Since turning 20 it's appearing less frequently, in favor of the Bob Haircut.
• Gratuitous Ninja: In "Ninja Re Bang Bang".
• Haunted House: The setting for the music video for "Fashion Monster", complete with furniture flying around on its own.
• Iconic Outfit: Her main "PONPONPON" getup is the one that comes to mind when someone brings up Kyary. Case in point: it's the one at the top of this page.
• Kaleidoscope Hair: Through the miracle of wigs, Kyary has a different hair color AND length almost every time we see her.
• Looped Lyrics: The lyrics in "Mi" (4 minutes of Mi all over again) and "Into Darkness" (she only says "Watashi wo mite, koko ni iru kara"^note  "Look at me, I'm right here" a few times)
• Merchandise-Driven: Like many Japanese artists, Kyary's music is used in, and commissioned for, film and television. At least seven songs from each album are used in various promotional campaigns, several of which feature Kyary in their commercials.
• Mind Screw:
  • Kyary's notoriety in the Western world came from the "PONPONPON" video, which managed to cram a microphone attached to a croquet mallet emerging from Kyary's ear, CGI eyeballs and skulls, a Lisa Frank bag, and a giant Kraft Macaroni & Cheese box (amongst other things) into the first minute. According to this blogger, there's a method to her madness. Kyary managed to make a woman in a bikini the most frightening and surreal thing in the video for "Mottai Night Land".
  • "Mondai Girl" completely eradicates Kyary's music M.O. of a simple and fun storyline and overdoses on this trope.
• Once an Episode: Apart from her debut album, each release features a cover of a song by capsule, her producer Yasutaka Nakata's techno-pop band.
• Painting the Medium: During the "Furisodeshon" video, the visuals get more and more wobbly as Kyary gets drunker and drunker.
• Picky Eater / Stock "Yuck!": Kyary is known for her dislike of vegetables. The old guy/bodhisattva in her music video for "Fashion Monster" slices a stalk printed with the Japanese word for them on it.
• Rockers Smash Guitars: Smashes a Steampunk guitar in her music video for "Fashion Monster".
• Sampling — The verse(s) of "PONPONPON" were sped up and chopped in GEazy's "Lost in Translation". The effect is odd, to say the least.
• Scenery Censor: The weird dancing moon-monster-guy near the end of "Fashion Monster". It doesn't help that it's after he puked pink slime over the all-too-enthusiastic Kyary.
• Shout-Out:
  • The music video for "PON PON PON" opens with Kyary pulling a bottomless microphone stand out of her ear and wielding it in the vein of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. Jun Tamukai, who directed the music video, confirmed in an interview that the similarities were intentional.
  • The video for "Mondai Girl" features the characters for "mondai" ("問題") in the formation of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. She's then seen in her own version of the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" sequence.
• Signature Style: Excessively sweet J-pop overloaded with Sensory Abuse.
• Slouch of Villainy: In the "Tsukema Tsukeru" video. Minus the 'villain' part.
• Steampunk: Her music video for "Fashion Monster".
• Subliminal Advertising: Shots of Kraft mac'n'cheese boxes can be seen in the music video for "PONPONPON".
• Sugar Bowl:
  • Every song and video so far is really cheery, riddled with pink, and sugary sweet. Taken up to eleven in "Candy Candy"
  • Except Fashion Monster, which is less "sweet" and more "spooky".
• Surreal Music Video: All of them
• Take That!:
  • The old guy/bodhisattva in her music video for Fashion Monster slices stalks, captioned with the following acceptable targets to mock: コンサバ/conservatives, チャラ男/douchebags (specifically, the "guy with a fake tan picking up girls" kind), 野菜/vegetables, 徹夜/[studious] all-nighters and something that's censored (possibly beer.)
  • Also the clumsy dancing anime-gao in "CANDY CANDY."
• Toast of Tardiness: The traditional toast version is done in "CANDY CANDY".
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Strangely, sometimes plays this with herself! Compare her eye-catching, oh-so-kawaii stage outfits with some of her more casual everydayfashion.
• Vomit Discretion Shot: The Stinger of the "Furisodeshon" video.
• Word Salad Lyrics:
  • "Tsukema Tsukeru" discusses fake eyelashes, sad children, and transformation belts, among other subjects.
  • "Pin Pon Ga Nai" is mostly a song about a girl whose boyfriend never visits her, but it's also about soup.

---