Pikachu, Studio Ghibli Memes And The Subversive Power Of Cuteness

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Anime and manga imagined both dystopian and utopian futures, using stories that were nostalgic, upsetting or a blend of both to process collective trauma.

In many cases, cute characters guided viewers and readers through grief, guilt and loss . For example, the manga“Barefoot Gen” details the adventures of six-year-old Gen after he survives the bombing of Hiroshima.

Likewise, Studio Ghibli's “Grave of the Fireflies” tells the story of two young siblings, Seita and Setsuko, who face starvation after the bombing of Kobe in the waning days of World War II. They're drawn with large eyes and expressive faces, evoking innocence and powerlessness.

Both Studio Ghibli and the Pokémon franchise emerged in the latter half of the 20th century, along with other titans of cuteness, such as Hello Kitty – she just celebrated her 50th birthday – Doraemon and popular Nintendo characters Kirby and Yoshi .

Cuteness now dominates East Asian cultures.

Cute mascots such as Tencent's QQ Penguin hawk products in China; popular cartoon characters plaster the sides of Japanese trains; and Taipei's subway cards come in the shape of pink bunnies and miniature rice cookers .

In Japan, the term“kawaii” refers to the lovable and cute . This includes not only cartoon characters and plush dolls, but also clothing and even speech , such as talking with a pout or in a childlike voice.

Across Asia , you can see cuteness celebrated in the way people flash heart symbols with their fingers – a gesture originating in South Korea – and you can hear it in the way celebrities sometimes speak with a baby voice , puff out their cheeks or bat their eyelashes.

Softening the blows

Cuteness has a place in American culture. But it has nowhere near the cultural cachet that it has in Asia.

Yet to me, the Studio Ghibli memes that swept American social media platforms revealed a widespread longing for tenderness at a time when the world seems particularly harsh, violent and unpredictable.

Theorist Sianne Ngai has argued that cuteness is usually based on the power differential between the observer and the cute object: A small kitten, a stuffed animal or a cooing baby are cute, in part, because they're so vulnerable.

I think that's why the White House's efforts to join in on the Ghibli memes fell flat. Its X account posted a Ghibli-esque image of a Dominican woman crying while being handcuffed by an ICE agent :

The depiction generated outrage . The cartoon imagines that the audience would revel in punching down. It's a perversion of how cuteness works, celebrating the powerful – the ICE agent and the U.S. government – and not the powerless. Contrast the White House's image with the“Grave of the Fireflies,” which highlighted the vulnerability of children during war.

Rallying around cuteness

Yet the powerlessness of cute characters can also, paradoxically, be powerful: Most onlookers can't help but cheer for a furry, yellow cartoon animal fleeing from riot police. A cute character can look helpless, but it can rally support for the underdog.

Perhaps that's why Pikachu again popped up at two other protests: at an anti-Netanyahu demonstration in Israel on April 5, 2025, and at an anti-Trump rally in Washington, D C, that same day.