Abstract
Starting from the year of 2024, the Japanese manga Chiikawa has gained significant popularity among Chinese youth. By employing content analysis to examine the world and characters of Chiikawa and explores fan creations and posts on RED (Xiaohongshu), one of China’s most popular social media platforms, this paper argues that Chiikawa operates as a transitional space where individuals navigate emotions and mediate between their inner and outer worlds. The characters traverse the boundaries of anime and fans’ inner selves, simultaneously functioning as projections of their emotions and as “objects of love” (Allison 44). To elaborate on this thesis, the paper first examines the construction of Chiikawa’s world and characters, demonstrating how the interplay between the two and the healing power of kawaii create meaningful resonance for Chinese audiences. The paper then examines fan-created content and posts on RED, arguing that Chiikawa functions as a “generative platform” that extends beyond its narrative plotline (Coundry, 58). While preserving the original character designs, fan creations reinterpret Chiikawa characters through personal lenses, blending them with elements of both local and global popular culture. This process showcases a form of trans-cultural creativity. Building on the ideas of Nicolle Lamerichs, Bruno Latour, Lukas Wilde, and Ien Ang regarding the realism of characters, this research further contends that the bond between fans and Chiikawa characters fosters a form of fictive kinship—an imagined parenthood that intertwines emotion and identity within the commodified aesthetic of kawaii (Allison, 47), where characters are experienced as “fabricated, consistent, and real” (Latour, 238).
Presenters
Yirun ChenMaster's Student, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Anime East Asian Studies popular culture media participatory culture
