Kawaii is Justice
2021
Ink, paint, artificial skin and pigment exported digitally
Duration: 1 min 23 sec
At the age of 14, they were sexually assaulted in Akihabara, a town in Tokyo specialising in anime and manga - which used to be one of their favourite places. It only happened for a second though they remember the scene vividly, with a man dressed like a typical otaku, wearing some kawaii anime merchandise running away. This traumatic experience made them realise that the anime and manga that they had been enjoying as "kawaii" were actually filled with sexually objectifying representations of women. They were frustrated by the possibility that these expressions in the fantasy world of manga and anime could be directly linked to real-life sexual abuse.
Ideal girls are created by men on the basis of their everyday experiences, subconscious and common senses. The image of kawaii female characters created by these men could also become the representation of women in reality. Although the position of female characters in animated films has changed over time, due to the needs of the production and the market, the majority of anime portrays the ideal female image with fantasising settings and situations. The phrase "kawaii is justice" went viral in Japan a while ago, yet despite the positive-sounding phrase, they suspect that "kawaii" is being consumed sexually by masculinity.
