Oozie the Doozie? Creepy-kun? Japan jeers at ‘monstrous’ World Expo mascot
The official mascot of the 2025 Osaka World Expo has five eyes and a face that’s ‘appropriate for a nuclear accident’, social media users said after being asked to name the ‘monstrosity’.
www.scmp.com
Officially adopted by the Expo in March, the winning entry is the work of picture book artist Yohei Yamashita. It depicts a blue, bipedal figure topped with a circle of red, interconnected bubbles containing five eyes looking in different directions.
Organizers are accepting proposals for names until May 16, with entrants urged to come up with one that is original, international, easy to remember and aligned with the expo.
However, Japan’s social media users appear to have taken the competition as an invitation to express their true feelings about the mascot’s design – calling it a slew of disparaging names on Twitter, Facebook, online chat sites and in the comments sections of online media coverage of the contest.
Early entries on the expo’s Twitter page included “Death-kun”, “Curse of the Abyss”, and simply “The End”.
One contributor on the Japan Today news website said: “How about ‘Demented Terrifying My Guts Are My Face Monster From Hades’ – because that is what the mascot is,” adding: “My gods, who approved that monstrosity?”
Several people questioned the thought processes behind the selection, with one poster on the site stating, “That is frankly just frightening …. [it] might be appropriate for a nuclear accident, but not a World Expo.”
Another pointed out that the promotional images for the event and the soft toys that will be sold will “mentally scar a whole generation of kids. What the heck were they thinking?”
my favorite part of the article
Organizers are accepting proposals for names until May 16, with entrants urged to come up with one that is original, international, easy to remember and aligned with the expo.
However, Japan’s social media users appear to have taken the competition as an invitation to express their true feelings about the mascot’s design – calling it a slew of disparaging names on Twitter, Facebook, online chat sites and in the comments sections of online media coverage of the contest.
Early entries on the expo’s Twitter page included “Death-kun”, “Curse of the Abyss”, and simply “The End”.
One contributor on the Japan Today news website said: “How about ‘Demented Terrifying My Guts Are My Face Monster From Hades’ – because that is what the mascot is,” adding: “My gods, who approved that monstrosity?”
Several people questioned the thought processes behind the selection, with one poster on the site stating, “That is frankly just frightening …. [it] might be appropriate for a nuclear accident, but not a World Expo.”
Another pointed out that the promotional images for the event and the soft toys that will be sold will “mentally scar a whole generation of kids. What the heck were they thinking?”
also for some reason is able to changes forms
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