Cartoons and HoloEN SPELLING BEE

※This is a repost of an article originally published on July 27, 2024.

　One thing I especially love about overseas streamers is how eager they are to treat themselves like cartoons—to actively lean into exaggerated, deformed (chibi) versions of themselves. The difference from Japan shows up really clearly, and it’s fascinating. In Japan, being a cute-girl character tends to get layered onto “late-night anime heroine” vibes; in the English-speaking world, the cartoon sensibility is valued more, and everything gets pulled in that direction.

　This morning’s SPELLING BEE, hosted by amesame (Amelia & Gura), was genuinely shocking. One by one, the participants’ standing avatars got increasingly deformed, and by the time everyone was assembled, it was basically a finished children’s TV show.

　It starts at 9 a.m. in Japan, which means for someone like me—whose sleep schedule is totally flipped—I end up watching while half-asleep, nodding off. And with that timing plus that visual, the whole thing becomes this wildly chaotic yet hilarious scene. It’s just pure fun. It even feels comforting, like when I was a kid and silence made me anxious, so I’d leave Cartoon Network on because it ran cartoons 24/7.

　Morning here is night over there, so English-speaking streamers’ lives usually happen around 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. my time. That’s exactly when I’m often suffering from insomnia, lying in bed making pathetic little “uuhh uuhh” noises, wishing someone would save me. So when I get to see their plans and deformed gags—less “trying too hard to be a perfect bishoujo,” and more “anime-ish” in the original sense—it honestly helps.

　Recently, streamers from the EU have joined too, and their peak hours shift again: they’ll stream around 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. That timing also sinks in perfectly—Japan is totally empty, and even NHK’s “scenery stream” programs have ended, so it hits just right. The result is that from late night through early morning, I’m basically listening to English nonstop. So much so that when I hear Japanese during a meeting, it startles me more than it should. Sometimes I fall asleep with streams playing, and even the people in my dreams talk to me in English.

　Being able to deform yourself—meaning, being able to swing hard into goofiness (the plush-toy form is cute and powerful)—is a sign of strong entertainment instinct. They’ll do collabs in that deformed state, or stay in that form for multiple streams, like it’s totally normal. And the viewers love it.

　In Japan, it would be accepted as a one-shot gag, sure—but after 20 or 30 minutes you’d probably see comments like, “Go back to being a cute girl.” That absolute hunger for a “real girl” feel (even if it’s still an illustration—there’s a line they won’t cross) comes from the massive foundation of galgame culture. That’s also a kind of national character, so it matters too.

　In Japan, even Powerpuff Girls get “taller” proportions. (Which is exactly why Powerpuff Girls Z became a one-of-a-kind work that only Japan could make.) And I’m seriously excited to see how the new Panty & Stocking will sell “reverse sakuga collapse” in the modern era. I love Stocking. Like, really.

　As for what a spelling bee is: apparently it’s a kind of game where if you can’t spell a word correctly, you get punished. It’s basically the English equivalent of our “read this kanji correctly” quiz. English doesn’t have kanji, but instead you get tested on grammar and usage—your education and “taste” show in how correct and beautiful your sentences are.

　Anyway—watching Fuwawa get burned as the penalty for a wrong answer, and scream, with absolutely zero mercy (and she stays on fire the whole time after that too), was so funny I laughed out loud.

　“Laughing out loud because something is too funny”—there’s nothing more important in life than that. BAU BAU.