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Weekly updates


Sure, metal’s alright – but do you ever look at all the beards and lank hair and inexplicable cargo pants and wish it was, you know, heaps cuter? If so, as usual, Japan (the global epicentre for all things adorable) has your answer.

Babymetal, a pre-teen fusion of metal and J-pop, burst onto the scene with the global mission of making the genre more kawaii. You might be wondering how two vastly different musical and cultural movements fit together. Well, Babymetal’s music carries elements of J-pop in that it is full of super-choreographed dance routines, puffy gothic Lolita style costumes and chirpy vocals. But it is also metal, in that all the band’s members (Su-metal, 16; Moametal, 14; Yuimetal 14) have the word metal in their names.

Backed either by Babybone, a band of skeletons playing imaginary instruments, or the Kami Band, a group of musicians whose aesthetic is probably more familiar to fans of the genre, Babymetal kicked off their first world tour on July 1, which will see them play dates in the US, UK and Europe.

[Via.]

More kawaii 

Cats meet sushi meets Japan in the glorious world of nekozushi
So Japan has become obsessed with hamster butts
Japan’s Asahikawa Prison unveils its new mascot, Katakkuri-chan