📦 Episode 148: Things That Were Once Trendy but No One Talks About Anymore: 'Name-Neko: The Delinquent Kittens That Became a Social Phenomenon'

🟩 After-School Beginnings

Momo Tanaka: 'Name-Neko—the name alone smells like that era.'

Futa Sato: 'What's the source? They even had license-style merchandise; that's pretty bold, isn't it?'

Daigo Yamamoto: 'How did it sell just by having cats acting like delinquents?'

Kisaburo: 'That’s the point. It wasn't enough to just be "cute" or just "delinquent-like." It captured the era because it mixed both.'

🟦 Grandpa Kisaburo Begins His Story

Kisaburo: 'Name-Neko was a character using photos of kittens dressed in school uniforms or biker gang outfits, and the first generation of merchandise became a huge hit from around 1980 to 1982. Related goods like license-style cards became popular, and it was truly a social phenomenon.'

Kisaburo: 'The point that people today might find surprising is this: it didn't sell just because the cats were cute. The gap of "looking scary but being small" was irresistibly funny.'

Kisaburo: 'Around the end of the Showa era, the symbols of delinquents and punks were still very prominent on the streets and on TV. So, looks like school uniforms and pompadour hairstyles were immediately understood. They put those strong symbols on kittens, of all things. That’s where the laughter and cuteness were born all at once.'

Kisaburo: 'Moreover, things like the license-style merchandise had the strength of "being a conversation piece just by having it." In other words, Name-Neko was a character, but also a prop you wanted to show off.'

🟨 The Atmosphere of Those Days

Kisaburo: 'Name-Neko faces were lined up on the shelves of stationery and toy stores. Round kitten eyes paired with overly aggressive lines. Then, the school uniforms and biker-style clothes were added on top. The moment you saw it, you couldn't help but laugh.'

Kisaburo: 'When you picked them up, the cards were smooth. There were stickers, pencil boards, and stationery too. The atmosphere when friends showed them to each other was unique, too. There was a kind of excitement that was a bit different from just "cute," with people saying things like, "You have this?" or "That design is cool."

Kisaburo: 'This might be what modern people should realize: Name-Neko was an early example of mixing parody into cute culture. It wasn't just about admiring them. Being a little bit bad and a little bit funny—that "twist" is very Showa-esque.'

Kisaburo: 'And as the boom passed, the symbols of the era faded. As the symbols of delinquency drifted away from daily life, the premise of the humor became harder to convey little by little. When a trend disappears, it’s not just the items that go, but the background atmosphere that disappears along with them.'

🟥 Reactions from Kids Today...

Momo Tanaka: 'I see... so the "parody of delinquent culture" was more significant than the cuteness of the cats.'

Futa Sato: 'That’s what’s interesting. If you don't know the background, it just ends up being a weird cat. But back then, the symbols were strongly understood.'

Daigo Yamamoto: 'So, people in the Showa era were already doing "gap moe" (the appeal of a gap in personality), huh?'

Momo Tanaka: 'That’s pretty close.'

Futa Sato: "Besides, the driver's license-style card might be similar to the feeling of 'carrying around a meme image' in today's terms."

Daigo Yamamoto: "I actually kind of want one. It would be hilarious if it fell out of my wallet."

Kisaburo: "People have always wanted to carry around things that are a little funny, I suppose."

🟫 Things that remain, even if forgotten

Kisaburo: "Name-Neko wasn't just some oddball character. It borrowed strong symbols of the era and slammed cuteness into them. That's why a chemical reaction happened instantly in the minds of those who saw it."

Kisaburo: "Trends are strange things. When a product sells, there is always a 'kind of humor only that era could understand' behind it. Name-Neko was like a textbook example of that."

Kisaburo: "Even if it's forgotten, the humor of that dissonance doesn't disappear. Precisely because the era was so serious, the mockery was also very effective."

🌸 Thank you for reading this far.
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