Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Leggo That Neko!

Just when you thought Kawaii couldn't get any weirder, here I am to bring you more proof of what's wrong with it. Here are some more terms you need to know about anime:

Neko - Not a candy

Cat ears. We've all laughed at rpg characters with them but what is the story? Why are there so many cat boys and cat girls sneaking into every aspect of rpg culture? The term for this is 'neko' which means 'cat' in Japanese. I suppose there could be many really good reasons why neko isn't creepy but I'm not buying any of them.

Supposedly it has nothing to do with being a furry. I haven't found anything that solidly defines the distinction between having cat ears not being a furry. It seems, just having cat ears, purring and licking oneself is not at all like a furry even though furries have been known to have cat's ears, purr and lick themselves. Not at all similar though. Stop being confused!

There is a feeling that having cat ears shows one's virginity and innocence. Usually characters with cat ears are very childish or cute. Kawaii is all about being cute and child-like but that doesn't at all explain the sexpot neko characters with giant breasts, guns on each hip and sultry, sleek cat ears. These characters with feline traits are mysterious and slinky. Perhaps they are the natural evolution of little kitten-human babies all grown up and ready for some pouncing.

Cat eared people, being like cats, may have attributes such as being seductive, patient, graceful, sly, agile, stealthy and dangerous when the claws come out. Since many cultures revere cats, these wanna-bes often have supernatural powers such as superhuman strength, psychic abilities and many lives to fall back on. What more could a Mary Sue want?

Chibi!

Do not confuse chibi with neko even though the two can occur at the same time. 'Chibi' means "small child" or "short person." This is a supercute form of a grown character. This would be the child version of an adult that appears for no obvious reason other than to wring out the cuteness until there is no more. An rpg with a chibi theme might have one or all of the normal grown characters (sometimes canons) appearing as babies.

How cute would it be to fully analyze a diaper fetish? Wheeee! Harry Potter may have a diaper rash and Little Hermione might have to pull off his diaper and rub ointment all over his wittle, baby bottom. Seriously, children are not off limits sexually when it comes to chibi. All you need to do is slap some fake cat ears on that baby and start masturbating.

SD Does Not Mean "Scary, Deeply" But Should

Super Deformed, or SD, refers to the way a character is changed to make them look younger or cuter. This would be the giant soccer ball eyes and the huge, lolling head that couldn't possibly be supported by the neck it's attached to. This type of thing makes banner and avatar artists go all squee when they get to make deformed, anime babies for themselves and other players.

Explanations

I don't have any. I haven't seen the decent side to any of this. In every circumstance where I've come aross neko, chibi or Super Deformation, it's all about children and sex. There is nothing cute about any of this. I'll read any opposing arguments that anybody has but it will take a lot for me to not be completely yucked out by it all.

1 comment:

PM said...

I honestly think that people who try to defend these concepts either 1) haven't thought through the logical consequences of them, 2) are such Japanophiles that they either don't want to think about the logical consequences of these ideas or are willing to excuse them as "just being a part of Japanese culture, and Japanese culture is SO KEWL!", or 3) are really disgusting furry pedo-pervs and just don't see anything wrong with them. That's my take on it, anyway. In any case, they're all icky concepts in my book.