From
the outside, Japan seems to have a big cuteness subculture, with
catgirls, maids and Hello Kitty along the cultural leaders. But one of
the leaders of the world of cute notes that there's more than one type
of cuteness. Koge-Donbo, creator of characters for the Pita-Ten anime
and the Di Gi Charat series, says there's a"kawaii" for otaku and a
"kawaii" for little girls. "The otakus - middle aged men in their 20's
- they refer the `moe' kind of cuteness," she said at an interview
session. "It's more of how they think of something like a small pet -
`how cute, how cute.' For girls, it's more of what they admire or want
to be - they call `kawaii.' They say `your clothes are cute' or `your
hair is cute,' they say it like `I want to do the same thing.' The
secret to cuteness? "I make the characters look young with big eyes,
and make them short."
The
Digiko character is supposed to be ten years old, and the bratty space
alien wil have her tenth anniversary in 2007. "I've been with Digiko
for a long time," she said."Her existence is just normal to me. I draw
Digiko every day and I'll forever be drawing Digiko." With her bad
attitude and habit of blasting people she doesn't like with her eye
beam, Digiko might not seem to be a role model for females who are
presumed by other cultures to be demure, but Koge-Donbo says the
opposite is true. "It's more about how Digiko has the upper hand.
Japanese girls like strong role models, and that's why Digiko is
popular among the girls in japan - that's why Di Gi Charat is so
popular." Previously on this site, we wrote about how manga artist
Ippongi Bang had studied to become a veterinarian in college but
instead turned to art. Koge-Donbo has a similar story. She studied
zoology in college and her parents didn't want her to become an artist,
but she kept drawing doujinshi and and admitted she wasn't a "hard
studier."
From
the outside, Japan seems to have a big cuteness subculture, with
catgirls, maids and Hello Kitty along the cultural leaders. But one of
the leaders of the world of cute notes that there's more than one type
of cuteness. Koge-Donbo, creator of characters for the Pita-Ten anime
and the Di Gi Charat series, says there's a"kawaii" for otaku and a
"kawaii" for little girls. "The otakus - middle aged men in their 20's
- they refer the `moe' kind of cuteness," she said at an interview
session. "It's more of how they think of something like a small pet -
`how cute, how cute.' For girls, it's more of what they admire or want
to be - they call `kawaii.' They say `your clothes are cute' or `your
hair is cute,' they say it like `I want to do the same thing.' The
secret to cuteness? "I make the characters look young with big eyes,
and make them short."
