Chiikawa craze among young people: from emojis to "plastic surgery"

Chiikawa, with its cute image and unique worldview, has inspired a fanatical pursuit among young people. From the widespread spread of Chiikawa emoticons, which show the mental state and emotional resonance of young people, to the "plastic surgery" performed by fans on the surrounding dolls, it reflects personalized customization and deep emotional investment. This cultural phenomenon is not only a pursuit of rarity and novelty, but also a vote for the spiritual world, expressing modern people's desire for intimacy, personalized interaction and emotional satisfaction.

Some people see it as a joint business

With sales of 8 million in three days, the overwhelming popularity of the collaboration between miniso and chiikawa has made many IPs jealous and also surprised outsiders.

In fact, Chiikawa is not only popular in China, but also in Japan. The official Twitter of the original author and Chiikawa has millions of views, and the peripherals are quickly sold out once they are put on sale. The limited edition is shipped back to China by the purchasing agent and sold at a higher price.

Apart from the overwhelming wealth, the enthusiasm of young people is even more surprising.

Some people go out with an itabag full of Usagi accessories, which makes others envious. If there are popular and rare models, such as the pumpkin Usagi that can only be obtained by auction for nearly four figures, it is even more blatant to show off wealth.

Some people use a stitch remover to perform craniotomy on dolls, manually fill cotton and adjust the doll's face shape and even the distance between the eyes. After the launch of the miniso plush pen, a group of young people became "proctocolectomy doctors" to perform "anal suture surgery" on dolls.

Young people are willing to spend huge amounts of money on peripherals, and are also willing to transform themselves into surgeons and become dexterous. Naturally, they are not just pursuing rarity and novelty, but more importantly, voting for the spiritual world they yearn for.

1. Chiikawa emoticons, showing the mental state of young people

From the decent but timid Maluo, to the female star Loopy who smiles with her teeth showing but has a weird look, everyone's mental state is always hidden in the WeChat emoticons.

The Japanese animation Chiikawa, which has attracted many netizens since the end of last year, became popular outside the circle in the form of emoticons.

The yellow rabbit Usachi, the blue and white cat Hachi, and the white hamster Ji are the protagonists of the work chiikawa and are also frequent users of emoticons.

The image is of a cute and soft Q-version animal, and the accompanying text is about going crazy in a calm tone. The huge contrast makes it hard not to smile, and the emotions conveyed can resonate widely.

This type of emoticon package decorated with text has a strong meaning and conforms to a basic formula: specific IP image (usually a cute cartoon style) + landscape material + WPS luminous edge art fonts.

The two-dimensional image and the real scenery have an incompatible temperament. Coupled with the sarcastic text, there is a sense of smiling and saying what one dares not say.

Chiikawa's image is so soft and cute that it touches the heart. His whispered protests are accompanied by a feeling of self-pity.

In fact, the core of this type of emoticon package is similar. Many new things that can subvert the mainstream symbol-meaning system will be welcomed. Replace Usachi with Kuromi and Jiyi with Malo, and the matching words and pictures remain unchanged, and there is no violation.

After buying the dolls, young people who are into it will also produce UGC in a similar style.

From "Mom, life is a wilderness" to "Mom, people are wild", this sentence derived from crazy literature is often accompanied by a photo of a Chiikawa doll.

Ji Yi sitting under the kapok flowers with the caption "Mom's life is like skipping classes", or Usagi squatting in the snow with the caption "Mom's life is like a frozen butt". These dolls placed in natural scenes, with their cute big eyes and soft texture, often form a sharp contrast with the plain background. How can they not fit Heidegger's philosophy that "man is thrown into this world"?

The second half of "Life is a wilderness" - "not a track" - was originally meant to encourage listeners to bravely explore more possibilities in life. It is a sentence that actively embraces the beauty of life. However, after the derivative changes, the word order has gone crazy. The emotion of longing for freedom and imagining a broader world is still there, but there is also some helplessness and hesitation.

Emojis without text have a wider range of applications and better highlight their own characteristics in animation and comics.

Usagi is relaxed and cheerful, sometimes a little abstract, while Hachi's dotted eyebrows make him seem heroic and resolute, and Ji, who is prone to tears, looks pitiful but serious.

The little cuties nodding, shaking their heads, and eating are all very adorable. They are a universal symbol in emojis, and seeing their cute images every day will make you happy.

2. What do young people do for "plastic surgery"?

This secondary creation extends from online to offline. Some fans will DIY the dolls and adjust them to become what they expect, or to put it more directly, it is called "plastic surgery."

Due to the nature of the cotton filling of plush dolls and quality control issues, some chiikawa fans will either take the initiative to fill the doll's body themselves or ask others to help DIY after purchasing the peripherals to make it fuller and cuter.

The procedures for this type of plastic surgery are: using a suture remover to "open the skull" and remove the sutures on the back of the head; suturing the inner corners of the eyes to "narrow the distance between the eyes"; manually filling with cotton and adjusting the doll-shaped face, and "adding ten pounds" after filling with pearl cotton; and finally suturing the head using the hidden needle method.

Mothers are keen on sharing comparison pictures before and after the surgery. Just like before and after real plastic surgery, the dolls often look very different, with straighter backs, smoother breathing, and more energetic eyes.

There are also people who send their children to the anorectal department for surgery and become anorectal doctors themselves.

In fact, the doll connected to the plush pen is disassembled, and then the "anus" is sewed back together, and an independent and complete small doll is obtained, which is suitable for being used as a school bag pendant or just put in a pain bag.

If you search "chiikawa plastic surgery" on Xianyu, you will find that there are many people doing business as "doll doctors". Compared with the old doll repair that was popular in the past, this business often occurs before the doll is obtained.

Some people fill in the address of the doll's doctor directly after purchasing the doll, and then receive it to play with after the plastic surgery is completed.

Common cosmetic surgery items are varied: filling with cotton, rubbing the face, reshaping the face shape, changing the distance between eyes, changing strip eyebrows to puffy eyebrows, anal suture, adjusting foot length, removing stitches and applying blush by hand, changing a plush pen into a scarf, etc.

Through these specific DIY activities, young people are actually seeking deeper interaction and connection with beloved characters.

This behavior can be seen as an emotional investment through which they are able to feel an emotional reward, namely the perception that they have an almost physical connection with these characters.

Grooming chiikawa dolls and actively creating various emoticons are a form of emotional investment and cultural expression by fans, revealing the centrality of personalized and creative activities in modern culture. This phenomenon also reflects people's desire for intimate and personalized interactions in modern society, and the trend of seeking emotional satisfaction through these interactions.

3. Finding the “electronic ibuprofen”

The reason why I like Chiikawa is not only because of their cute appearance, but according to Xiao Jin, I actually envy their mental state more.

Xiao Jin accidentally became a fan of Chiikawa in the second half of last year because of its emoticons, but what really attracted him was the attitude of the cute little characters in the animation towards life.

Chiikawa's world is not utopian. Some people even call it "black, deep and cruel" after interpreting various details. This statement may be a bit exaggerated, but it is indeed as helpless and cruel as reality in some aspects.

The cuties live in a world where most food is free. There are rivers flowing with miso soup, rice cookers constantly bubbling with rice, and gummies growing naturally in the trees. But high-end restaurants like Lang Ramen still require extra payment.

In this world, income still needs to be earned through labor, such as weeding and hunting. Some armored characters also earn income by selling handicrafts.

Earning income is hard work. In one episode, Xiao Ba and Ji Yi stayed up all night to pick flowers, and the work was not finished until dawn. After working harder than 996, they could still squint their eyes and say they wanted to go back to eat and have a good rest. When they went to fight monsters together, they would tremble with fear, but they had to be brave and try to charge again.

While labeling lemons on the assembly line, Ji shared some crispy cookies with a worker next to him. It was a moment of warmth in a cold world, but Ji never saw that worker again soon after.

There are actually quite a few elements of modern society in the setting of the story. Hachi and Ji use the computer together to search for information about ramen restaurants, and huge billboards promote new products and so on.

Including the Level 5 Weed Control Certificate that Ji Yi failed, it also echoes the various certifications that young people are rushing for in reality.

It is not easy to survive in such a cruel world, but the little cuties help each other and live optimistically. Their pure friendship without any calculation of interests makes it even more precious.

Ji failed the Level 5 Weeding Certificate Examination twice, and Xiaoba was so worried that he couldn't sleep all night. Ji comforted him and prepared cookies. When Xiaoba delivered ramen, he saw Ji was studying and didn't disturb him, but put the food outside the door.

And Usagi, who obtained the third-level weeding certificate (the smaller the number, the higher the level) and has a stronger ability to defeat monsters, has never shown any arrogance towards Jii and Xiaoba just because he is more powerful. Instead, he often takes the initiative to explore the world with his two relatively weaker friends.

Xiao Ba fell into a deep pit and climbed up along the vines that Ji Yi threw down, but he couldn't take away the precious crusade stick that he had worked hard to earn. Ji Yi realized that the thing left behind was actually cherished by the other party, so he took the initiative to jump into the pit and climbed up with Xiao Ba's crusade stick in his mouth. Even in difficult situations, he took the initiative to think about others and help others without hesitation. This plot is regarded by many Ji Yi mothers as Ji Yi's highlight moment in the whole play.

To put it simply, Chiikawa's character is like an electronic ibuprofen. When facing stress, you need something cute to "relieve the pain" for yourself, and you will feel comforted when you see the cute little ones who face life positively.

Xiao Ba is the only character in the play who can speak, and because of this setting, he seems particularly considerate. Xiao Ba can speak for others and explain the plot more clearly through his inner thoughts.

What’s more valuable is that Xiao Ba always has a very positive attitude towards solving problems.

Although the house where Xiaoba lives is so simple that there is no door and monsters may break in, Xiaoba is also happy to see the moon hanging in the sky. The precious camera that I saved money to buy has scratches, but I think it will not be visible as long as I hold it far away, and it has a different flavor. The boxed sushi is broken, but soaking it in hot water can also be a delicious meal.

On Bilibili, under a video titled "Moms need to learn repeatedly how Xiaoba handles problems," netizens in the comment section will think about how Xiaoba handles problems in their real lives.

For young people, seeing these little cuties working hard in a world that is just as hard or even harder is a sweet spice in life and also a source of envy.

Grabbing a limited edition item at a pop-up store is like being lucky enough to bring your favorite child home and have him or her become your good friend. Learning needlework by following tutorials on social media also makes this feeling even more unique.

Xiao Jin finally added that as a comic and animation IP that is still being updated, Chiikawa can continuously mass-produce emoticons and peripheral products and remain active in the public eye. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why it can be so popular.

Author: Siweichi; Producer: Wu Duidui

Source: Wu Duidui (ID: esnql520), with technology and the Internet on the left hand and cultural creation and consumption on the right hand.