When we first saw the announcement of the Junji Ito x Sanrio collection, we might have been momentarily startled by the contrast between the two styles. It paired some of the cutest characters in Sanrio's world—like Hello Kitty, Kuromi, and Pompompurin—with characters created by one of Japan's most famous horror manga artists, Junji Ito. The collection plays with turning Sanrio characters' heads into balloons, reminding us of Ito's most famous manga, 'The Human Head Balloon,' which brings a chilling twist to these adorable figures. Additionally, there is an image of Tomie, the evil, immortal schoolgirl, stacked alongside Hello Kitty as the main promotional image. The image is unusual, but interestingly, when we look closer, it doesn't feel so strange; in fact, it feels strangely fitting.
Tomie is dressed in the 'gal' style, a rebellious fashion that goes against traditional Japanese beauty standards. She is adorned with cute, playful accessories from head to toe, even including a flip phone. This character’s pose and expression evoke a corner of the internet from a past era—the atmosphere of Tumblr around 2014. Though not long ago, many people clearly long for its return. To understand why, we need to look back at Tumblr's golden age. Tumblr was one of the pioneering social media platforms. Simply put, it was a mix between Instagram and Twitter, differing in that social media then was not the mainstream space it is today. Tumblr had fewer functions, boundaries, and rules than current social media platforms. The general impression of Tumblr is that it felt more homely, and users had more ownership over it. This means the platform itself did not create its identity and culture; the users did. Around 2014, Tumblr's peak identity was as a space for women and the LGBTQ+ community. This was because it allowed people to inhabit new identities without needing to show their faces or use their real names. In the less open world of 2014 (except for white men), Tumblr became a safe space for those who had no room to be themselves in the real world. How does this relate to Tomie and Hello Kitty? We may have heard the phrase 'Girlhood is a Spectrum,' meaning there are many ways to be a girl. We don't need to conform to any particular style, favorite color, or specific tastes in movies or books. In safe spaces for women like Tumblr, we saw many extreme experiments with these shades. One side asked, 'Why must I be a conventional girl?' while the other asked, 'What's wrong with being a conventional girl?'
When we first saw the announcement of the Junji Ito x Sanrio collection, we might have been momentarily startled by the contrast between the two styles. It paired some of the cutest characters in Sanrio's world—like Hello Kitty, Kuromi, and Pompompurin—with characters created by one of Japan's most famous horror manga artists, Junji Ito. The collection plays with turning Sanrio characters' heads into balloons, reminding us of Ito's most famous manga, 'The Human Head Balloon,' which brings a chilling twist to these adorable figures. Additionally, there is an image of Tomie, the evil, immortal schoolgirl, stacked alongside Hello Kitty as the main promotional image. The image is unusual, but interestingly, when we look closer, it doesn't feel so strange; in fact, it feels strangely fitting.
Tomie is dressed in the 'gal' style, a rebellious fashion that goes against traditional Japanese beauty standards. She is adorned with cute, playful accessories from head to toe, even including a flip phone. This character’s pose and expression evoke a corner of the internet from a past era—the atmosphere of Tumblr around 2014. Though not long ago, many people clearly long for its return. To understand why, we need to look back at Tumblr's golden age. Tumblr was one of the pioneering social media platforms. Simply put, it was a mix between Instagram and Twitter, differing in that social media then was not the mainstream space it is today. Tumblr had fewer functions, boundaries, and rules than current social media platforms. The general impression of Tumblr is that it felt more homely, and users had more ownership over it. This means the platform itself did not create its identity and culture; the users did. Around 2014, Tumblr's peak identity was as a space for women and the LGBTQ+ community. This was because it allowed people to inhabit new identities without needing to show their faces or use their real names. In the less open world of 2014 (except for white men), Tumblr became a safe space for those who had no room to be themselves in the real world. How does this relate to Tomie and Hello Kitty? We may have heard the phrase 'Girlhood is a Spectrum,' meaning there are many ways to be a girl. We don't need to conform to any particular style, favorite color, or specific tastes in movies or books. In safe spaces for women like Tumblr, we saw many extreme experiments with these shades. One side asked, 'Why must I be a conventional girl?' while the other asked, 'What's wrong with being a conventional girl?'