Japan, the country responsible for Hello Kitty and (“loose character”) most often represent cities and regions, and at their best can help bolster an area’s tourism and overall economy. The most famous yuru-kyary is Kumamon, a rotund black bear representing Kumamoto Prefecture. Items featuring him have racked up millions of dollars, and have helped draw visitors to his homeland. Success stories like Kumamon’s inspired nearly every town in the country to create multiple characters of their own.

This mascot surplus means it’s harder than ever to get attention with a cute character—so several local governments instead decided to get weird. Creations like the armless Nishiko-kun and the unsettling Okazaemon became much-discussed topics in the media and online because of their strangeness. The creepiness craze has even helped rejuvenate once unpopular characters like Sento-kun, the city of Nara’s official mascot. Many commentators deemed the deer-horned Buddha guy too ugly when he was introduced in 2008, but today he’s newly beloved, with more than 67,000 Twitter followers.

Already far from kawaii, Funassyi manages to further subvert yuru-kyary. He was created by citizen who hoped the pear creature could be adopted as Funabashi city’s official mascot in 2011, but despite it spawning a popular YouTube channel, the municipality rejected the idea. So Funasyyi went rogue. Operating as an unofficial mascot, he landed spots in commercials and TV shows, raising his profile up to the point where he could win Japan’s annual regional-mascot contest. Since then, he’s released his own novelty single, performed on stage with American dance-music outfit Krewella, and raised a lot of money … none of which goes to the Funabashi government.

Kimo-kawaii is at its mainstream peak right now, coming close to matching the oversaturation of kawaii. One of Japan’s most inescapable pop stars at the moment is Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, whose much-buzzed-about music videos combine the colorfulness of Harajuku fashion with creepy images, ranging from eyeballs to monsters. Sanrio has gotten in on the disturbing/cute game too, with new characters like Kirimi-chan (an anthropomorphic piece of fish) and Gudetama (an egg who lacks motivation) catching attention on the Internet. A prolonged ‘90s revival has also helped bring some older kimo-kawaii characters, like Coji Coji, back into the spotlight. How long will the phenomenon last? It’s impossible to say, of course, but it seems likely that even the strangest character can star in so many cellphone ads before their gross-out gimmick just isn’t cute anymore.

Via: The Atlantic