Given the characters’ immense cuteness and their ubiquity in Japan, you might be forgiven for thinking that Chiikawa is a simple slice-of-life story about fluffy critters living in a pastel fairytale world. Upon closer inspection, though, you’ll discover that the stories are riddled with dark themes, including but not limited to: systemic poverty, psychological and body horror, unbreakable curses and gruesome murder (yes, really).
by TokyoWeekender
9 comments
no tax and nenkin tho? Food grow freely in nature and you can go a few days without working? Get a nice house via lottery? Plus they’re cute as heck
idk I would totally sign up to be a Chiikawa in my next life /s
Chiikawa is deep commentary on the Israel-Palestine war and also the Epstein files.
I always read it as a satire of neoliberalism.
I secretly hope that Chiikawa will become a world-famous character.
かわいいだけじゃだめですか？
If you need closer inspection to realize all these you might be legally blind. Have we already forgotten how long the Seirḗn arc lasted?
I don’t wanna be a chiikawa, I just wanna be like Pochette-Yoroi san.
Im convinced Nagano was planing to turn Hachiware into a Chimera and have it fight/be killed by Chiikawa and Usagi but gave up since the whole thing blew up and became so popular.
“Dark lore” = the author states that many people live in individual-privatized police states in Japan, and unwittingly it resonated abroad.