It's an egg yolk with a little butt crack.

它是有個小屁股縫的蛋黃。

Gudetama looks like a character someone gave up on… it has limbs but no fingers or toes.

蛋黃哥看起來像是被某人放棄的角色 ... 它有四肢但沒有手指或腳趾。

It has a mouth but no teeth — and yet people can't get enough of it.

它有嘴巴但沒有牙齒 — 儘管如此，人們還是愛它愛到無法自拔。

You can find it on backpacks, cups, airplanes, credit cards, and it even has its own themed cafe.

你可以在後背包、杯子、飛機機身和信用卡看見它的身影，它甚至還有專屬主題咖啡廳。

But Gudetama's cute looks aren't the driving force behind its insane popularity.

但是，蛋黃哥可愛的外表並不是它爆紅的原因。

Its main attraction is its lazy personality.

它的主要吸引力來自其慵懶的個性。

Gudetama comes from a Japanese company called Sanrio.

蛋黃哥出自一家叫做三麗鷗的日本公司

You might have heard of them.

你可能已有聽聞。

They're the creators behind Hello Kitty.

這家公司創造了 Hello Kitty。

In 2013, Sanrio held a company wide competition to come up with a food-based character.

2013 年，三麗鷗舉辦一場公司全體競賽，為求推出一個以食物為主題的角色。

And once people voted, Gudetama didn't end up on top.

投票後，蛋黃哥並不是第一名。

Kirimichan, the salmon fillet came in first.

鮭魚片 Kirimi 醬得到第一名。

We actually started to release products based on the salmon fillet and its friends.

我們也推出一系列鮭魚片和它的朋友為主的產品。

Gudetama, the lazy egg came in second, but we also released products based on Gudetama, and it really really took off.

蛋黃哥這個慵懶的蛋，則得到第二，但我們也推出以蛋黃哥為主的產品，結果大受歡迎。

The appeal of Gudetama's melancholy stands in contrast to the American concept of cuteness, which is pretty straightforward.

蛋黃哥的憂鬱外表跟美式可愛的概念相反，可以說是淺顯易見的不同。

The idea of cute represents goodness and optimism, while pessimism tends to define evil.

可愛代表良善及樂觀，而悲觀傾向定義為邪惡。

This is evident in some of Disney's early films.

這在迪士尼的一些早期電影顯而易見。

Oh, they do look very delicious!

白雪公主：噢，它們看起來真美味！

WITCH: Yes...

巫婆：是啊 ...

As you can see— there's a clear divide between good and evil.

你可以發現，善良與邪惡有明顯的區別。

Villains are usually depicted as unappealing, scary, and old, draped in shadows and dark colors.

反派通常被描寫為不具吸引力、嚇人的和衰老的，披戴著陰影和暗色斗篷。

They are meant to be identified as evil, which means that they can never be cute.

它們註定被視為邪惡，也代表他們跟可愛永遠都沾不上邊。

But in Japan, there's more of a gray area to this.

但是在日本，對這一點有個灰色地帶。

The word "kawaii" is widely used to describe the quality of being like a child.

「卡哇伊」這個字廣泛用來形容兒童的特質。

Which means that you can be cute and lazy at the same time.

這表示你能同時既可愛又慵懶。

The term emerged in the 1970s and became a big part of Japanese culture.

這個詞彙出現在 1970 年代，成為日本文化的一大部分。

It was shown through fashion, handwriting, and even behavior.

它表現在時尚、字跡，甚至在行為上。

And many Japanese artists and academics believed that this popular culture around cuteness happened for a reason.

而許多日本藝術家及學者相信，這些圍繞可愛的流行文化因一個原因而產生。

In Japan, the kawaii culture is often linked to the country's post-WWII years.

在日本，卡哇伊文化經常和二戰後的那些年做連結。

TRUMAN: ... a message from the Japanese government.

TRUMAN：... 一則來自日本政府的訊息。

I deem this reply a full acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration...

我將此回覆視為完全接受《波茲坦宣言》 ...

The idea is that because of its trauma and defeat, the country leaned into its vulnerability.

這概念來自於創傷與戰敗，國家接受了自身的脆弱。

And since then, the concept of kawaii has grown and even formed smaller subgroups.

自那時起，「卡哇伊」的概念開始成長，甚至形成一些較小型次文化團體。

This is kimo-kawaii which is sometimes also called gro-kawaii.

這是「醜可愛」，有時也稱作「噁可愛」（註：指令人感到醜陋、噁心但可愛的東西）。

And there's Yuru-kawaii.

還有「慵懶可愛」。

Yuru means relaxed and calm.

Yuru 的意思是放鬆與沉靜。

According to cartooning expert Aya Kakeda, this particular group became popular because of the stress in modern society.

根據卡漫專家 Aya Kakeda 表示，這類變得受歡迎是因為現代社會的壓力。

She points out that in the US, people are drawn to spas and meditation for relaxation.

她指出在美國，人們會靠沉浸在 spa ，或是冥想中來放鬆。

But in Japan, Yuru's calm appearance brings comfort to a lot of people.

但在日本，Yuru 沉靜的外表能帶給許多人舒坦。

You can also see a shift in Sanrio's characters throughout the years.

你也可以觀察到三麗鷗角色逐年的變化。

They've started giving them a personality to make them more relatable.

它們開始給角色添加個性以增加連結。

When Hello Kitty came out in 1974 — she was more traditionally cute than Gudetama.

Hello Kitty 在 1974 年推出 — 雖然她比蛋黃哥有更傳統的可愛。

But she has remained somewhat emotionless.

但她一直以來保持不帶情感。

She doesn't even have a mouth to smile or frown with.

她甚至沒有嘴巴來表示開心或沮喪。

And that makes her more of a blank canvas; she can be whatever we want her to be.

這讓她像是空白畫布；能任由我們決定她的外觀。

But many people feel a connection with Gudetama because of its gloomy personality.

但很多人因蛋黃哥抑鬱的個性而產生連結。

This approach to cuteness extends beyond appearances — it evokes a reaction.

這種可愛的方式遠超越了外表 — 它激發回響。

These characters can make you laugh, or feel relaxed, and you can relate to them by observing their personality.

這些角色能使你笑或放鬆，也能藉由觀察它們的個性與角色產生共鳴。

So at a time of confusion and turmoil all around the world.

所以，在一個混亂及騷動的世界中。

Maybe this is just what we need: An egg yolk with a little bum, that's just done dealing with life.

也許這正是我們需要的：一顆有著小屁股的厭世蛋黃。