Thoughts on Yami Kawaii
TW: suicide, abuse, mental illness.
Yami Kawaii is a “sick-cute” aesthetic that has been bubbling out of Tokyo's streets and manifests through accessories such as fake guns, syringes, gas masks, pills, bandages and plasters.
It's basically a trend/aesthetic that puts cute/kawaii sweet stuff over things like mental illness and self harm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wsk3Oa_3F8I have seen that this trend/aesthetic has become a really big thing in Tokyo, Japan, knowing Japan is very taboo on the topics of mental illness, depression, self harm,etc. and when it does talk about it its mostly through upbeat, cute things.
I have noticed this trend/aesthetic through the songs and artist i listen too. Like Moe Shop, Melanie Martinez (which she is more of traumacore than yami kawaii), etc.
Example: Moe shop's song, Notice (w/ TORIENA). Which is this upbeat cute song you would dance to. But when you look up the lyrics its about a girl who is thinking about killing herself because her senpai is dating someone else.
Example 2: Melanie Martinez's song, Mad Hatter. When you listen to the song you don't really think anything of it. But then you watch the music video or look up the meaning of the lyrics. But honestly i pretty sure its more traumacore than yami kawaii
The difference between the two is traumacore focuses more on mental, physical, sexual, emotional, and spiritual abuse and it often draws heavily on childlike and angelic themes, done so as a means to try and reclaim innocence. While Yami Kawaii revolves around not only medical but also dark themes related to mental health.
https://artdesignasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/menhera-chan.full_-1008x1024.pnghttps://miro.medium.com/max/1838/1*ycVHlFc3WpkgWZ8nIdJQGQ.pnghttps://i.pinimg.com/474x/11/36/96/1136960ca4b0c0786dfcc5846504796d.jpg
