KAWAII POWER! The Aesthetic of Cuteness in Japanese Animation Music
I did a thing!
Again, so much heart and thought and effort went into this one. Always searching for ways to communicate these special messages. And it’s touching to receive the enthusiastic responses of each listener, to hear that the experience was fun, accessible, and heartwarming. :’) Thank you for everyone who has supported me on this journey! <3
Here are the archival materials.
Powerpoint presentation:
Mentimeter presentation:
Hello, everyone! And welcome to the Cuteness Club at the Schulich School of Magical Arts!
The goal of today’s adventure is to better understand the role of cuteness, or more specifically - Japanese ‘kawaii’, in Studio Ghibli’s animation music to advance the application of cuteness to both music making and music appreciation. In other words, to bring composers, performers, and audiences alike, increased awareness and enjoyment of core values that are unique to Studio Ghibli’s kawaii. And these are: innocence, vulnerability, and sincerity.
So how will we do this?
Here is our roadmap: we will begin by developing our understanding of cuteness - what makes something cute? And how do we respond to cuteness? Next, we’ll establish the cultural context for kawaii and Studio Ghibli - how is kawaii different from cute? And what distinguishes Japanese animations from Western ones such as Disney and Pixar? Then, we will move onto part 2 to analyze musical cuteness . First, we’ll compare cuteness three different genres of music: classical, lo-fi, and kawaii metal. Then, we’ll identify the musical elements that signify cuteness – such as rhythm, melody, harmony, and timbre. Finally, we’ll apply these signifiers to composer Joe Hisaishi’s film scores Studio Ghibli.
At the end, as I illustrate musical cuteness in performance, I would like us to reflect on this question: can cuteness that is pure, simple, and honest speak up to cynicism by opening our hearts to vulnerability, hope, and tenderness?
First things first, we must start with a CUTENESS-19 Rapid Test ;) Very simple. Using your devices, quickly select your gut response to the images!
No.1 A red panda has found a box of sushi! What do you say?
No.2 Next, Mr. Tomato is being chased down by zombies! Is this cute?
No.3 Now, what do you think of this grinning, pink, unicorn bunny?
No.4 Alright, moving on to some contemporary sculpture art. Here are some dim-sum babies - to eat, or not to eat?
No.5 Last but not least, we have some political figures in video-game mode! Is this cute?
Well it looks like… we have all tested POSITIVE for cuteness in one way or another.
Cuteness has swept across our world by storm. Its symptoms can be observed throughout our daily lives from the products we buy, the media we consume, to the language and behaviour we use. The term "cute" has been characterized as "vulnerable, simple, clumsy, charming, and childlike". But more than its original symptoms of ‘sweet, cuddly, round and soft’, cuteness has developed into variants that are creepy, monstrous, and surreal. While cuteness can evoke ‘warm and fuzzy feelings’, it can also provoke ‘ugly or aggressive one’. It simultaneously attracts and repels. Because the cute object is seemingly weak, we can’t help but want to take care of it, squeeze it, fawn over it, or even take dark pleasure in further deforming or belittling it.
So, how do we try to prevent and resist this paradoxical power cuteness has over us? We become skeptical and cynical, we put on shields and masks, we try to keep our distance. But is there another way? Well, we can get the « Ghibli » vaccine! Use cuteness to fight cuteness! 3 doses to speak up to cynicism: innocence, vulnerability, sincerity.
What is Studio Ghibli, and how is it unique?
Founded in 1985, Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation film studio directed by Hayao Mizayaki, Isao Takahata, and producer Toshi Suzuki. Its best-known films My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Spirited Away bring out a magical purity that is simple, truthful, and heartwarming. Each film addresses universal human conditions such as fear, melancholy, and loneliness with courage, resilience, kindness, and joy.
And how does cuteness play into these films? By evoking empathy and vulnerability, cuteness amplifies qualities of comfort, endearment, and understanding. There is an honesty and subtlety in the sweetness of Ghibli. A ‘precious’ and ‘cherished’ feeling. A sense of warmth and nostalgia for the purity, earnestness, and magic of childhood. The sensation of kawaii.
To help us understand Japanese kawaii, we need to look at its cultural context. Kawaii, in Japanese culture, conveys significantly different contextual meanings than “cute”. Kawaii can be roughly translated as ‘capable of being loved’. But historically speaking, this love comes from pity and affection evoked by looking down upon an object that is smaller, weaker, ashamed, or embarrassed. In the Edo period, kawaii became associated the endearment towards soft, cuddly, tiny, lovely, pretty, and even beautiful things. There was also a growing emphasis on tastiness and consumablility: ‘sweet, delicious, tasty, savory, appetizing’. Throughout the Taisho and Showa Eras, kawaii also became closely tied to girlhood and pervaded girl culture through manga and fashion.
What is important to note also is that kawaii has a special property of not only referring to the object itself, but the relationship between the observer and the object of affection. It’s an impression projected onto the object, a kansei, a mixture of perception and emotion. As such, any object capable of triggering sensations of affection can be kawaii. These properties of kawaii are essential to the unique capacity of Japanese animations to evoke affection and endearment.
Now, we are moving into the musical portion of our adventure. What makes music sound cute? Because cuteness is a relatively new aesthetic category, musicologists have yet to define its signifiers and affects. To investigate the musical cuteness, we’ll look ta 3 different genres of music: 1. kawaii metal, which fuses cheery Japanese idol pop with heavy metal to transform cuteness into a subversive form, 2. lo-fi, which uses low-fidelity recordings and audible imperfections to emphasize intimacy and approachability, and 3. classical music, from Mozart’s comic operas to Tchaikovsky's magical ballets.
Let’s have another activity. I’ll play three excerpts, and as you listen, submit through your devices what you think makes the music sound cute!
Now that you’ve identified some important signifiers, we can organize them into categories:
rhythm
melody, sound effects
harmony, phrase structure
instrumentation, timbre, texture
styles, forms
Now, let’s add another player to the game: Joe Hisaishi. Hisaishi is a Japanese composer with diverse outputs ranging from concert music to anime music and electronic albums. He is best known for his collaborations with Studio Ghibli’s director, Hayao Miyazaki. Hisaishi’s musical influences include minimalism, jazz, pop, synth pop, and electronics. While his style is not confined to kawaii, the aesthetic of cuteness is prominent in his music to capture the emotional core of the films. Now that we’ve identified musical signifiers of cuteness, I’d like you to help me apply them to Hisaishi’s music.
Let’s begin with My Neighbor Totoro (1988), a heartwarming story about two sisters - Satsuki and Mei. As they settle into an old country house, they encounter forest spirits and befriend the cuddly troll, Totoro. I have taken the official music video of Totoro’s main theme and labelled my interpretations of musical cuteness as they occur. The video, while not being in the film, mirrors a touching scene when the sisters wake up at night and find Totoro using magic to help sprout the seeds they planted in their garden.
Next, we have, Kiki’s Delivery Service! A story about a 13-year-old girl, Kiki, who leaves home for the first time to train as a witch. She has to learn to be independent, make new friends, and find a sense of meaning in her magic. She loses that magic for a while, which is a heartfelt parallel to the struggles of artists and creatives, who can find themselves suddenly out of touch with their creativity, inspiration, and purpose.
So now it’s your turn to diagnose the musical cuteness! As we listen to this next excerpt, note down any signifiers of cuteness you hear!
Here are some of my interpretations. First, the theme, “A Town with an Ocean View” is marked Allegretto, meaning ‘a little lively’. Diminutive tempo markings with often signify the small and minuscule qualities of cuteness. This theme also uses a melodic gesture found in many ‘cute’ motifs, which takes large leaps upwards to mimic a motion of skipping, bouncing, and jumping in youthful, silly, and cheerful energy. The accompaniment figure also outlines large upward 10th to create a sweeping, dance-like motion. The rhythm of the accompaniment, which uses three straight eighth notes followed by an eighth rest also emphasizes the sense of floating airiness. The usage of rests to create empty spaces portrays the lifting, buoyant, and youthful spirit of Kiki.
The instrumentation is also representative of ‘cuteness’, using a single chirpy oboe playing short staccato articulation. The nasally timber of the oboe mimics a child’s playful or whining, mischievous singing. The string pizzicato accompaniment is also simple and delicate. Percussion including shaker, tambourine adds the shimmering timbre as well as the repetitive lighthearted, energetic rhythmic drive.
Next, we have a special surprise! I will be joined by Maitreyi on violin and Julia on cello to play an excerpt from another Ghibli film, Princess Mononoke. This excerpt is the theme these forest spirits called Kodama. They have small round bodies and eerie black holes for eyes and mouths: creepy but cute <3. These friendly spirits represent the health of the woods. Their musical theme uses delicate, upward-arpeggiated pizzicato in the strings.
Finally, we have Spirited Away, the story of Chihiro, a ten-year-old girl who enters the world of Japanese spirits. After her parents are turned into pigs by the witch Yubaba, Chihiro takes a job working in Yubaba's bathhouse to find a way to free herself and her parents and return to the human world. The cuteness in this film is slightly different from the previous ones. While still innocent and pure, there’s also more prominent sense of mystery, nostalgia, and melancholy. As we listen to this last song, I invite you to think about the purity of the voice – which represents for me the innocence and vulnerability that is untainted by cynicism, skepticism, and irony – even at its saddest and most touching, tender moments. I’d also like you to pay attention to the lyrics – which captures a propound sense of hope and sincerity.
We’ve finally arrived at the end of our journey, and we come back to our initial question: can cuteness speak up to cynicism? We began by investigating cuteness and its darker variants. Then we explored a pure and innocent form of cuteness, kawaii, found in the Studio Ghibli’s animations. From there, we discovered how to interpret and identify musical cuteness using signifiers. And we applied these signifiers to the music of Joe Hisaishi to better understand and appreciate the core values of Ghibli’s films: innocence, vulnerability, and sincerity. And now, to illustrate Studio Ghibli’s unique kawaii, my duo partner and I will perform a medley of Hisaishi’s music arranged for piano 4-hands by composer Wesley Chu.
One last activity as you listen to this kawaii music: let me know any thoughts and feelings that arise. You could also reflect back on our initial question: Can cuteness speak up to cynicism? How? How do we remove our shields and masks?
Perhaps, as we grow older and often more suspicious, doubtful/skeptical, and distanced, we need to re-open our hearts to vulnerability, softness, and tenderness. Perhaps cuteness can be the sounds of empathy and sincerity. Daring you to care. Daring you to embrace the magic of affection. Let in the sweetness.
Thank you all very much for coming today, and I hope you decide to join our cuteness club! <3