A meme surrounding one of the world’s most beloved Japanese characters that started in China has caught people’s attention in Japan. In particular, the meme’s anti-work vibes seem to resonate with overworked and underpaid Japanese office workers.
The “Untamed” or “Wild” Kitty (破天荒キティ; hatenkou kiti) trend uses what appears to be AI-generated images of Sanrio’s hallmark character, who’s ringing in her 50th birthday this year. However, rather than showing the sweet, angelic princess that most know and love, Kitty-chan is depicted committing various acts of mischief, such as arson and property destruction.
The images bear watermarks noting that they come from the Chinese service Xiaohongshu (“Little Red Book”), a.k.a. RED, REDnote, or XHS. Hello Kitty is extremely popular in China, with her fame there akin to that of Barbie in the West. She served as the Japanese “tourism ambassador” for China and Hong Kong in 2008 – the first time a fictional character ever served that role.
The images caught notice on Japanese Twitter (also known as X) over the past few days. As local Japanese magazine ITMedia notes, many users seemed to resonate with pictures showing Kitty taking out her workplace frustrations.
In several images, Kitty can be seen smashing a laptop or desktop with a hammer. In another, she points a gun at her monitor. Other images show her on fire as she tries to concentrate on her work or, presumably, reads an angry e-mail.
“I feel this,” one Japanese user wrote.
Others, however, weren’t so happy. “Kitty would never do that,” they griped. Other users also lamented what they saw as a sullying of Kitty-chan’s wholesome image.
English Japan fans on Unseen Japan’s Bluesky account were split. While some enjoyed the images, others branded them a cheap AI-generated Aggretsuko rip-off – a reference to the Japanese-American animated comedy that depicts Retsuko, a “salarypanda,” as she overcomes numerous struggles in the Japanese workplace. (Aggretsuko is also owned by Sanrio.)
Various events around Japan are currently celebrating Hello Kitty’s 50th year in production. One of the most notable is an exhibit at the Tokyo National Museum. The exhibit made the news last month when scalpers, hoping to score valuable limited-edition Kitty merchandise, swarmed the museum, resulting in an hours-long wait for admission.
(Note: Unseen Japan does not support AI art and does not use AI-generated art in our articles. We always commission artists and pay them a fair rate for their work.)
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Sources
Xiaohongshu. Wikipedia
キティちゃんが喫煙、暴行──“破天荒キティ”Xで出回る 中国SNS発のAI画像か 「イメージ壊れる」の声も. ITMedia
Hello Kitty. Wikipedia
