As I read through the readings and attempted to reflect on any elements of Japanese Cuteness that I had encountered during my childhood, I kept coming back to images of plush, adorable cats and kittens. So I decided to just run with it... Above I've included an image of typical anime-style cats, overtly round in appearance, and all drawn with overly expressive features. Cats are a very common feature in anime and manga works, and as I explored what the internet had to offer on the topic of kawaii I noticed a lot of cat-related trends including fashionable items such as dresses, shirts, hats, shoes, and even bags with cats on them. While I cannot quote any direct connection between kawaii cats and the readings, the themes remain uniform - cuteness and vulnerability is the desired goal.
I also included an image of an anime-style girl wearing a cat-themed onesies, this image was quickly located after a few minutes of google-ing kawaii fashion, and while it is not as lavish, modest, or sweet as some of the other images depicted kawaii style I included it to backup my point about cats and their contribution to the cuteness movement.
If I may add, while reading the articles I was really interested in the comments made concerning Disney's influence on cuteness culture, especially the statement, “Whereas Disney cute was based more on a sentimental journey back into an idealized rural society populated with happy little animals and rural characters taken from folk stories, Japanese cute fashion became more concerned with a sentimental journey back into an idealized childhood.” On some level I believe we can all understand why this movement gained such popularity - everyone wishes they could still be a child, or at least experience life through a child's perspective once more. When we were children everything just seemed so magical and for the most part all of our memories are of positive experiences, in contrast to adulthood wherein all we do is work nine-to-five jobs, pay taxes, and avoid Sallie Mae.
I also included an adorable cat picture I found! (I swear I am not a crazy-cat-lady in the making.)
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