Myaku Myaku says hello.
By now, the word kawaii has be.come pretty well known outside of Japan, especially among those with an interest in the cute aspects of Japanese pop culture. But there’s so much cuteness in Japan that kawaii has a number of linguistic variants, one of which is kimokawaii, or “creepy cute,” for aesthetics that are a mix of unsettling and adorable elements.
Kimokawaii seems to be what the organizers of the upcoming Expo 2025 World Expo in Osaka are going for with the event’s mascot character, Myaku Myaku.
Myaku Myaku is a humanoid…something…with a blue body and a red ring of bulbous growths encircling its face. Some of those growths have exposed eyes, and the rest either don’t or are simply closed up.
Myaku Myaku’s selection as Expo 2025’s mascot has been a divisive one, but it’s hard to deny that the many-eyeballed character is helping to draw eyes to the event as it enters the late stages of preparations. This week, though, what’s getting attention isn’t how Myaku Myaku looks, but how the character sounds, as a special video reveals the character’s voice for the first time, and once again it’s got people surprised.
“Hello” murmurs Myaku Myaku in a barely audible voice, before a positive reaction from the in-video crowd gives the mascot the courage for a bigger, more energetic go at the greeting.
In contrast to the contrasting kimokawaii nature of Myaku Myaku’s visual design, the creature’s voice is 100-percent kawaii, bursting with innocent, youthful energy. Myaku Myaku even throws in a giddy little twirl, showing that the creature even has another eye that we can’t see from the front.
▼ An eye on its butt.
The video also reveals that while Myaku Myaku has a lot of eyes, they do seem to all be in emotional coordination with one another.
Much like when the character was first revealed, there’s been a wide range of reactions to hearing Myaku Myaku’s voice for the first time, with approving Twitter commenters saying…
“It…it can talk!”
“Ah, good, it’s turning out to be cuter than I’d expected.”
“I’m starting to come around on Myaku Myaku’s cuteness.”
“You’re so cute, Myaku Myaku! I’m definitely gonna go to the expo.”
“This is the first time I’ve thought that Myaku Myaky is cute.”
…while other still aren’t sold on the character.
“I think Myaku Myaku ate a little girl’s brain and is copying her knowledge and capabilities.”
“It doesn’t really seem like a character that can understand human language. I imagined it’d speak in groaning sounds.”
“It really should have a gruff old man’s voice.”
“It’s kind of gross how it’s obviously trying to act cute. I’m looking forward to the expo, but I can’t bring myself to like the mascot.”
In addition to Expo 2025’s Twitter account, Myaku Myaku’s speaking voice was also revealed as part of a presentation for various updates related to the event, after which the character appeared on stage to greet the audience.
The presenter also said that “From today on, Myaku Myaku will probably be remembering a lot of different words in order to communicate,” so odds are we’ll be hearing more from the mascot in the runup to Expo 2025’s opening in April of next year.
Source: Twitter/@expo2025_japan via IT Media
Top image: YouTube/Expo2025 大阪・関西万博
Insert images: PR Times, YouTube/Expo2025 大阪・関西万博
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