(A)cute confusion: the unpredictable journey of Japanese popular culture
RIS ID
26019
Abstract
This special edition of Intersections dedicated to 'Japanese transnational fandoms' grew out of an encounter in the Hong Kong Mass Transit Rail Station on Valentine's Day in 2006 when I stumbled upon Hello Kitty's wedding. I was somewhat taken aback because I hadn't realised that Kitty had a boyfriend, let alone that she had been going steady, and surely wasn't old enough to make such a commitment. Kitty had always struck me as something of an air-head, the Paris Hilton of the manga world, and neither Kitty herself nor Daniel, her equally stuffed and vacant boyfriend, seemed likely symbols for a romantic interlude. For a start, neither of them have hands or mouths.
Link to publisher version (URL)
Intersections: gender, history and culture in the Asian context
COinS
Publication Details
McLelland, M. J. (2009). (A)cute confusion: the unpredictable journey of Japanese popular culture. Intersections: gender, history and culture in the Asian context, (20), 1-9.