Pikachu protesters, Studio Ghibli memes and the subversive power of cuteness
Cute characters are often vulnerable, innocent and lovable — and therein lies their power.
By , Associate Professor of New Testament, Yale University
In Antalya, Turkey, in the early hours of March 27, 2025, Pikachu was spotted fleeing the police, .
The person dressed as the popular Pokémon character had been , whose political party later , “Pepper spray, which even affects Pikachu, won’t do anything to you or me! #ResistPikachu.”
At the same time, the internet was having a field day with another stalwart of Japanese anime, deploying generative AI to infuse famous memes, family portraits and movie scenes with a patina of cuteness by recasting them .
Never mind that Studio Ghibli director and founder Hayao Miyazaki famously denounced AI-generated art as “.” Both the Pikachu protester and the viral Studio Ghibli-esque animations demonstrate the global appeal of cuteness.
But to me, there’s more to cute than its ability to go viral.
Cuteness can be used politically. It can highlight injustices against the vulnerable, and it can boost support of the underdog.
It’s a form of in the truest sense of the term.
Asia embraces the cute
As a Taiwanese American, I’ve been a lifelong fan of the cuteness that’s part of East Asian cultures: cute cartoon characters, cute stationery and even .
Now : what makes something “cute,” and how it operates in culture and politics.
Many well-known, cute, pop culture characters and products can be traced to Japan, particularly after World War II, when Japanese animation — — and a style of Japanese comics became popular.
Their narratives and aesthetics still reeling from devastation wrought by the atomic bombs and the humiliation of U.S. occupation.
Anime and manga imagined both dystopian and utopian futures, using stories that were nostalgic, upsetting, or a blend of both to process collective trauma.
In many cases, cute characters guided viewers and readers . For example, the manga “” details the adventures of 6-year-old Gen after he survives the bombing of Hiroshima. Likewise, Studio Ghibli’s “” tells the story of two young siblings, Seita and Setsuko, who face starvation after the bombing of Kobe in the waning days of World War II. They’re drawn with large eyes and expressive faces, evoking innocence and powerlessness.
Both Studio Ghibli and the Pokémon franchise emerged in the latter half of the 20th century, along with other titans of cuteness, such as Hello Kitty — she just — , and popular Nintendo characters and .
Cuteness now dominates East Asian cultures.
such as hawk products in China; plaster the sides of Japanese trains; and Taipei’s subway cards .
In Japan, the term “kawaii” refers to . This includes not only cartoon characters and plush dolls, , such as talking with a pout or in a childlike voice.
, you can see cuteness celebrated in the way people flash heart symbols with their fingers — — and you can hear it in the way celebrities sometimes , or bat their eyelashes.
Softening the blows
in American culture. But it has nowhere near the cultural cachet that it has in Asia.
Yet to me, the Studio Ghibli memes that swept American social media platforms revealed a widespread longing for tenderness at a time when the world seems particularly harsh, violent and unpredictable.
Theorist Sianne Ngai has argued that cuteness is usually based on between the observer and the cute object: A small kitten, a stuffed animal or a cooing baby are cute, in part, because they’re so vulnerable.
I think that’s why the White House’s efforts to join in on the Ghibli memes fell flat. Its X account posted a Ghibli-esque image of a Dominican woman crying while . The depiction .
The cartoon imagines that the audience would revel in punching down. It’s a perversion of how cuteness works, celebrating the powerful — the ICE agent and the U.S. government — and not the powerless. Contrast the White House’s image with the “Grave of the Fireflies,” which highlighted the vulnerability of children during war.
Rallying around cuteness
Yet the powerlessness of cute characters can also, paradoxically, be powerful: Most onlookers can’t help but cheer for a furry, yellow cartoon animal fleeing from riot police. A cute character can look helpless, but it can rally support for the underdog.
Perhaps that’s why Pikachu again popped up at two other protests: at an on April 5, 2025, and at an that same day.
Cuteness, perhaps not surprisingly, has been used as a political tool in Asia. The Milk Tea Alliance, which , is a pan-Asian, pro-democracy movement that unites communities in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Myanmar and beyond.
Organizers pointedly as a tool to condemn violence and denounce authoritarianism. Online images shared by the movement include and cartoons of anthropomorphized cups of Taiwan bubble tea, Thai cha and Hong Kong milk tea .
Comedy can be subversive. , of course, have long tapped into this dynamic.
But cuteness adds a touch of whimsical absurdity that further defangs the power hungry. Is it any wonder Chinese officials after memes comparing Xi Jinping to the beloved stuffed bear went viral?
Despite its cuddly, quaint and charming exterior, cuteness contains hidden superpowers: It celebrates the vulnerable, while sapping authoritarians of gravitas they seek to project.
This article is from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving you the context to understand what’s going on in the world. or .
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Yii-Jan Lin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
