therothwoman:

tokyo-fashion:

japanesefashioninferno:

Time passes and you forget sometimes… But I’m here to remind you (since it’s likely that no one else will, having something lots better to do today), that July 16th 2015 marks the 4th anniversary of when a music video by someone calling themselves Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (verily, the name just rolls off the tongue…), first went live on YouTube.

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I had too much to drink a few days ago and watched PON PON PON for the first time in years, with my brain all slack, consciously trying to see it with fresh disembodied giant eyeballs like the ones in the video all over again. I strongly suggest you take the time to do the same if you have a few spare minutes lying around… it’s very wacky!

I am willing to go out on a limb here and say that time is being very kind to the clip. More years (maybe six more, maybe one million) will likely see PON PON PON properly recognized as a pop surrealist masterpiece on par with Un Chien Andalou or a calendar of paintings by Salvador Dali that you can buy on Amazon. The core team of Jun Tamukai (director), Yasutaka Nakata (song), Sebastian Masuda (art direction), Kumiko Iijima (stylist), and Kyary herself clearly nailed it the first time out.

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PON PON PON lead to a new definition of Harajuku Style, or at least a successful renovation / renewal of an old fairground attraction, which Jay summed up succinctly as: so kawaii it looks like a nightmare. It is my pet theory that Japanese pop culture genres need big breakthroughs every 5-10 years or else interest dries up. PON PON PON was the thing for a lot of people, unique for J-pop (at the time) in how it spread virally with zero marketing aside from a single YouTube upload. I shudder to think of all the time and money spent and lost trying to break other Japanese music acts abroad with no gain, only pain. But for PON PON PON, you probably made a cover dance video or know someone who did. Either way, Kids reacted…

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The path Kyary and co. opened up, paved by the likes of Alice in Wonderland, Yellow Submarine, Pee Wee’s Playhouse, and Shuji Terayama, should have been its own strange trip, but a lot of that wild energy has since been absorbed into assorted Cool Japan schemes. Today, Kyary is mostly used as a face to sell TVs and real estate, and while that’s no great crime in a world where people upload mass executions to YouTube, reality has set in. No one is still speculating if Kyary’s videos are brainwashing tools used by the illuminati anymore (they totally are btw). 

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Still, when people can’t get enough of remakes and reboots, a trip back to the primal scene could always be in the cards. Before, Kyary, only a handful of foreigners were willing to walk into such territory. But now, we’re all just a click, or a unicycle ride, away from the lunatic fringe matter where in time and space we are. Stuff comes and goes, but PON PON PON will be out there generations from now, still clapping along to some goofy beat.

Everyday PON / Every time is PON.

Happy PonPonPon Day! 7th anniversary of the music video release.

10th, somehow