PONPONPON (hidden message)

[RayJason]

Okay something has been bugging me pretty severely now.


PONPONPON is a song released by きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ (Kyary Pamyu Pamyu). It's known for it's adorable and annoyingly catchy tune and overly cute vocals. Okay, okay any person who doesn't understand Japanese would label this song being about little kids. I've let everyone at work listen to this song and they see this song as a "Kick, clap / head, shoulder, knee and toes" child-song. On YouTube (where the PV and song became viral) more than half of the people posting comments, comment about the song being childish (hence for children).

When men reads the translated lyrics it becomes pretty clear that the song isn't about little children, but more about progressing and eventually giving up.

"But all I can do is keep going forward—I hate it I hate it"
"every day PON every time is PON, but maybe it’s pointless…"

Then again, the chorus consist out of "PON" and "way" which don't really have a meaning.



(microphone out of ear)

Now it becomes VERY WEIRD. The video starts of with the ¿microphone? going through the (2nd) character (the redhead)'s ear.... Okay. We see that the room is divided, on the left and right side there are lots of toys and on the right side we have a window, in the middle the (other /main) character stands. Then a brain pops up, and later on many weird ornaments are seen flying; skulls, fishes, military tanks, turtles, birds, hearts, bones, a bird with a crown, bee's, a saw, boxing gloves, glasses, eyes, another skull with only one eyeball........ The list CONTINUES.

(crows before)

(What grabs my attention is that the second character barfs out crows (black birds) and then they appear in the main room (where the girl dances) = this clarifies that the second character can execute her "might" on the girl, who I believe is unharmed and innocent (now).

(crows after)

The scariest and weirdest thing however must be the dancer in pink with her face masked, who pops up after the brain let her.... She copies EVERY single move Kyary makes. And what is weird is that she mostly appears at the window, maybe meaning that she cannot be in the same room as Kyary herself? (There were a few screens featuring them both, but the 3rd character (the dancer) was edited in).

And also the 2nd character (redhead) doesn't appear with kyary as well.. However, 2nd char and 3rd char do appear together.

(light emanating from the skull)
(ring above the tv)

And then something happens which grabbed my attention immediately, at midway (of the PV) kyary holds a yellow TV with the second character on screen. A ring (which dead angels wear, to sign that they've died, like in Dragonball Z when Vegeta or Goku die, they get those yellow golden rings, only now it's a pink one). ~~~ A ring appears above the television, suggesting that she has died, or will die soon ???

The PV on YouTube is different than the one that has aired on TV. On the picture below you can see that:
(see how both PV's are the exact same except for the contents of the mirror)

Circled in RED: Proportions are the exact same.
Circled in YELLOW: Proportions of the window is the same but it shows a whole new different sight of kyary. In the YouTube PV we only see her face, in the TV PV we see her full head with light emanating from it.

The skull (resembling death) emanates yellow light as well which highly imply that the 2nd character has died?

So far, it's pretty confusing, weird and kinda horrifying what ideas you can come up with by watching this PV. The scariest thing has to happen though.

Because, there is supposed to be a hidden message in all of this.

When you play this song backwards you hear this:

"Shi-ne" (You are dead / You'll die)
"Majinaí wo suru wa" (Perform a trick)
"Mou inai ne" (Nobody over / Nobody left)
"Iki tomeru ze" (Terminate breath)
"Mou nan nimo naino" (Nothing left)
"Mou inai ne" (Nobody over / Nobody left)
"Un mei ni shiyou yo" (Let's make this your fate)
"SEKAI mo owaru shi" (The WORLD will end)
"Nani mo nai shi" (Nothing left)



How do you feel about this and what is your interpretation about the PV and song? I hate struggling with so many interpretations of my own, and it has been bugging me a lot, since I want to know just WHAT exactly is the hidden meaning of this song. Nevertheless I enjoy the brilliant instrumentation, and kyary's vocals stay so darn hypnotizing. (I should sleep now, it's 4PM and I have to wake up early, DAMN YOU KYARY)

(PICTURES WON'T SHOW UP, that's why I put them as link!)

[tinka69]

Ugh...too much thinking... 0_o

[CatGirl]

Um... Yeaaah I definitely heard a low voice saying "shi ne" in that video you made and I'm kind of freaking out right now lmao UGH...

[jewelbox]

I just can't believe in stuff like this

[JackieRos]

so the hidden message is that the world will end?


What I always thought is that her songs sound like she's sad and
not happy cheery like everybody thinks.
The most sad song I think of her is the one with the false lashes.

[RayJason]

I think it's more than just "the world will end". I don't know it's so freakingly creepy in every imaginable way! Especially the line "Un mei ni shiyou yo" (Let's make this your fate) is so striking.

But just overal, PONPONPON appears to be the most kawaii song you've ever heard when you listen to it the first 2 times, but after like 20 plays or something you automaticly notice that the song isn't that upbeat and cheery at all. The "happy" factor drains everytime I listen to the song, almost making it a sad song for me now. It's not like ayu's glitter (which I compared and classified PONPONPON to be fit in the same catogory).

I really want to know the correct interpretation of the PV, you know, what they want to express and tell us (what they worked so hard on). It's not just random bleep, it has a meaning and I appreciate the work they've done on this PV so therefore I must understand it haha.

The weirdest thing is that there are 2 versions of this PV (almost the same safe for one screen) and it's never mentioned.

[Andrenekoi]

Well... talking as someone with a graphic design background (my graduation )... sometimes it's not about delivering an actual message, but about making u feel on a certain way... Like You were PV from Ayu... it doesn't openly tell a story or something, but it's constructed on the overall feeling of loneliness.

This PV obviously contrast the ideas of the japanese bizarre and kawaii (what isn't unusual for the japanese production at all) and I believe it makes far more sense to someone naturally aware of japanese symbology or aesthetics (and most of us fail on this as most of us weren't raised on that culture ), but I also think this video was planned to cause on people determinated feelings and reactions instead of an actual message...^^

I don't think it's satanic as the video with the reversed music implied, as I believe if we had a major evil trying to conquer earth, it wouldn't be sending us messages to show its purpose Also, on the eastern culture, the idea of "end of the world" is about ending a moment to start another (like the lyrics of Talkin' 2 myself), they mostly don't believe on a world end on the way we do over here, like, it ends and its over.

[LONJJONG]

Oh my God o_O
I'm not a fan her and her song...
It's kinda creepy!

[ohsixthirty]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

I don't think it's satanic as the video with the reversed music implied, as I believe if we had a major evil trying to conquer earth, it wouldn't be sending us messages to show its purpose

THIS THIS THIS

why do people think that some organization (illuminati, or whatever else) would be sending us messages? if its a secret, why the heck would they put this in some random jpop video. makes no sense.

[Earth_maiden]

^ THANK YOU!!! Why would people go through all the trouble to input secret messages into things like PVs or MVs when they want to keep their organization a secret? Where's the logic?

[ShiroMai]

I read a lot about all that occultist/Illuminati stuff, but well, I can't watch most of those videos anyway, because I'm partly epileptic and the shots of light and spinning graphics are a major trigger for me.

I still make jokes with my friends about how people who cannot watch that stuff are the ones that the occultist propaganda can't reach XD

[RayJason]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Well... talking as someone with a graphic design background (my graduation )... sometimes it's not about delivering an actual message, but about making u feel on a certain way... Like You were PV from Ayu... it doesn't openly tell a story or something, but it's constructed on the overall feeling of loneliness.

This PV obviously contrast the ideas of the japanese bizarre and kawaii (what isn't unusual for the japanese production at all) and I believe it makes far more sense to someone naturally aware of japanese symbology or aesthetics (and most of us fail on this as most of us weren't raised on that culture ), but I also think this video was planned to cause on people determinated feelings and reactions instead of an actual message...^^

I don't think it's satanic as the video with the reversed music implied, as I believe if we had a major evil trying to conquer earth, it wouldn't be sending us messages to show its purpose Also, on the eastern culture, the idea of "end of the world" is about ending a moment to start another (like the lyrics of Talkin' 2 myself), they mostly don't believe on a world end on the way we do over here, like, it ends and its over.

Firstly many thanks for your interesting reply!

Thank you again for clearing that up (kinda). I already thought it was super strange that there were so many stuff thrown in the PV. At first when I saw the PV for the very first time I was like "are they trying to be random?" (I saw way creepy stuff). But I've watched this PV like 40 times or something, (5-10 on a daily basis because I want to figure it out). To be honest, I think it's then a mix of telling a story and what you said; 'that it's constructed on the overall lonely feeling'.

(What is Illuminati by the way? I looked in Wikipedia but I cannot get a simple answer :/) The reversed satan thing firstly came over as stupid to me, and I thought that a inteligent Japanese speaker made those words from carefully misjudging the voice heard (when playing backwards). But later on it made sense, because in the PV I think they hint that the (red head) character died? (they've hid that in the YouTube version).

If I may ask you one last thing , how do you interpret this PV; please mention the three main characters (main kawaii girl, red head girl with long lashes and fruit on her head and the big pink masked dancer). I'd be very gratefull to hear this from someone with a degree in background (visuals) design!!!

Thanks again!

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by RayJason

Firstly many thanks for your interesting reply!

Thank you again for clearing that up (kinda). I already thought it was super strange that there were so many stuff thrown in the PV. At first when I saw the PV for the very first time I was like "are they trying to be random?" (I saw way creepy stuff). But I've watched this PV like 40 times or something, (5-10 on a daily basis because I want to figure it out). To be honest, I think it's then a mix of telling a story and what you said; 'that it's constructed on the overall lonely feeling'.

(What is Illuminati by the way? I looked in Wikipedia but I cannot get a simple answer :/) The reversed satan thing firstly came over as stupid to me, and I thought that a inteligent Japanese speaker made those words from carefully misjudging the voice heard (when playing backwards). But later on it made sense, because in the PV I think they hint that the (red head) character died? (they've hid that in the YouTube version).

If I may ask you one last thing , how do you interpret this PV; please mention the three main characters (main kawaii girl, red head girl with long lashes and fruit on her head and the big pink masked dancer). I'd be very gratefull to hear this from someone with a degree in background (visuals) design!!!

Thanks again!

Haha, thanks ^^ I just brought my graphic designer background cuz sometimes people keep looking for a plot or a history on some stuff that don't have it, cuz the work was displaying a overall idea and feeling mostly instead of a narrative. This tend to be done by very text focused individuals (like me, who did it a lot and who ended up stepping out of the designer production to write instead )

Well... I just read the lyrics to feel more confortable on reading this, so, there are my thoughts about the pv/song:

Visually, it perverts the idea of "kawaii" with death symbols everywhere, causing a overall disturbing final result... Perverting the idea of kawaii is not anything new to jpop, btw, Ai Otsuka, Ayu and AKB48 are always doing it for example... Otsuka with sexual innuendos, Ayu by being agressive and AKB48 for being openly sexual. This time the twist is turning stuff morbid.

But the PV is very japanese on the way it is bizarre, the symbols, the disturbing images, the colors, the profusion of images, it's all very commonly the bizarre Japanese. It always common stuff from Harajuku fashion (from what I read and saw on internat as i never went to Japan)

IMO, when she contrasts kawaii and child like stuff with death symbols she is talking about growing old, the finity of the youth to the moment of your death, or the death of your youth, what is a recurrent theme on nowadays pop culture (the whole "let's party like there's no tomorrow" hedonistic thing most hot pop acts are doing for a while now).

The fat faceless white haired person being her old-self she is afraid of and avoiding, and the actual young Kyary Pamyu Pamyu being haunted by the death (and ageing) images, but at the same time, adored by her old self.

So, to me, it's a video (and the song also can be) about the fear of growing old, but knowing it's something you can't escape.^^

About the Illuminati, they "are" a organization trying to bring the New Order or New Era to the world by controlling media, politics and organizations. This New Order being something like the apocalypse from the christian bible (no religion, only one nation, people having a mark on their bodies, etc.), and one of their methods is brainwashing though pop stars So, if I'm not wrong, right now Madonna is their biggest priest on media, but Jay Z, Beyoncé and Gaga are also among the best ranked illuminatis... No need to say Ayu is one of the top illuminatis in Asia too Illuminati obsessed people keep looking for signals of them on music videos, songs, etc...

edit: There are a lot of stuff on the video I can't really understand as I'm not Japanese, and I don't know the overall symbology behind colors and objects they use there... The Pink Kyaru for example, I don't know what pink means to japanese to the point of getting if her being pink on some scenes has a meaning or was just made to look cool. Stuff like the "bread" over here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PonPonPon

[AyuGAME]

scary..hahaha...

[JackieRos]

Originally Posted by RayJason

But just overal, PONPONPON appears to be the
most kawaii song you've ever heard when you listen to it the first 2 times, but
after like 20 plays or something you automaticly notice that the song isn't that
upbeat and cheery at all. The "happy" factor drains everytime I listen to the
song, almost making it a sad song for me now. It's not like ayu's glitter (which
I compared and classified PONPONPON to be fit in the same catogory)..

EXACTLY!!!!!

The first time I was like awwww and then as I listened to it often I would feel sad listening to the song.
I agree with everything.

[RayJason]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Haha, thanks ^^ I just brought my graphic designer background cuz sometimes people keep looking for a plot or a history on some stuff that don't have it, cuz the work was displaying a overall idea and feeling mostly instead of a narrative. This tend to be done by very text focused individuals (like me, who did it a lot and who ended up stepping out of the designer production to write instead )

Well... I just read the lyrics to feel more confortable on reading this, so, there are my thoughts about the pv/song:

Visually, it perverts the idea of "kawaii" with death symbols everywhere, causing a overall disturbing final result... Perverting the idea of kawaii is not anything new to jpop, btw, Ai Otsuka, Ayu and AKB48 are always doing it for example... Otsuka with sexual innuendos, Ayu by being agressive and AKB48 for being openly sexual. This time the twist is turning stuff morbid.

But the PV is very japanese on the way it is bizarre, the symbols, the disturbing images, the colors, the profusion of images, it's all very commonly the bizarre Japanese. It always common stuff from Harajuku fashion (from what I read and saw on internat as i never went to Japan)

IMO, when she contrasts kawaii and child like stuff with death symbols she is talking about growing old, the finity of the youth to the moment of your death, or the death of your youth, what is a recurrent theme on nowadays pop culture (the whole "let's party like there's no tomorrow" hedonistic thing most hot pop acts are doing for a while now).

The fat faceless white haired person being her old-self she is afraid of and avoiding, and the actual young Kyary Pamyu Pamyu being haunted by the death (and ageing) images, but at the same time, adored by her old self.

So, to me, it's a video (and the song also can be) about the fear of growing old, but knowing it's something you can't escape.^^

About the Illuminati, they "are" a organization trying to bring the New Order or New Era to the world by controlling media, politics and organizations. This New Order being something like the apocalypse from the christian bible (no religion, only one nation, people having a mark on their bodies, etc.), and one of their methods is brainwashing though pop stars So, if I'm not wrong, right now Madonna is their biggest priest on media, but Jay Z, Beyoncé and Gaga are also among the best ranked illuminatis... No need to say Ayu is one of the top illuminatis in Asia too Illuminati obsessed people keep looking for signals of them on music videos, songs, etc...

edit: There are a lot of stuff on the video I can't really understand as I'm not Japanese, and I don't know the overall symbology behind colors and objects they use there... The Pink Kyaru for example, I don't know what pink means to japanese to the point of getting if her being pink on some scenes has a meaning or was just made to look cool. Stuff like the "bread" over here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PonPonPon

I saved this quote in a microsoft word document LOL XD. Your rendition of the PV is really really interesting! It gives a whole new twist to the PV since I was searching for the hidden "death" themes in it. Your perspective of the PV makes a LOT more sense than mine. I'll re watch the PV with that in mind.

Though, about the reversed version of the song. It can't be coincidence that those words could be formed, could it?

I guess that this song's theme indeed is like "anti-growing up" like ayu has been supporting in a few of her songs. Lyrics as "I don't want to be adult", "I want to stay child forever" and such. And that the "death" symbols really are referring to aging? (Pink Kyary = thoughts, Cute girl = Kyary self, Fat Kyary (dancer) = Kyary's self image) ?

On Youtube (where the video still gains a lot of views daily) people have been discussing that the PV is about the main singer (Kyary)'s obsession about a boy whom she is sad about. I quote a comment which got over 50 thumbs up: "The song is about her internal suffering. She is sad about a boy. The skull and brain and bones represent her trying to get herself over her partner. The black-faced big momma lady represents her sadness and tries to keep her sad by becoming a part of the main character through copying her every move."

Thanks for explaining Iluminati for me as well, I guess that Lady Gaga is kinda known for it, I'm sure that I've read several articles which covered her hidden death messages in her songs. She even went all open with "Judas" if I'm right XD. I find the whole Iluminati movement kinda creepy :p.

I cannot thank you enough for this! This is one of the most interesting songs (and PV) I've ever heard (and seen), so therefore it was (is) pretty important to me to understand.

Originally Posted by JackieRos

EXACTLY!!!!!

The first time I was like awwww and then as I listened to it often I would feel sad listening to the song.
I agree with everything.

Yeah it's weird, they surely must have put a lot of time and effort in this track to get that effect. The other song "Tsukema Tsukeru" which you referred to in your previous post is such a song too. Sounds cute but actually is kinda sad. (Isn't she talking about how she doesn't has the "right eyes" to "pull it off" or something?)

[Andrenekoi]

^When I was studing semiotics on college, one of my projects was set around the idea of subliminal messages (that hidden messages that you can't really notice at first, but that are noticed by your incoscient). So, I studied about the mechanics of those stuff people notice as hidden messages (reversed songs, faces or skulls on pictures, etc).

I don't really remember the name of the property, but human brain is programmed to find pattern and to look for a sense, a mean on everything all the time. This is how we are able to recognize a human face or similar stuff on different contexts. Sometimes, our brain trick us into finding meanings and patterns on irrelevant stuff. This is the case most of the time when we hear words in reversed tracks... It's like seeing figures on the clouds. The messages people find tend to be satanic or dark stuff cuz this is what people try to find. ^^

About the death images being about ageing... This is very used on western art (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanitas, thanks thisisLOL that explained this art concept to me and pointed how much Ayu uses it). The YouTube interpretation is interesting, but I tend to believe people like to overthink... It's such a complex concept that it would be too hard for most people to figure out by just watching the video... and when studing comunication, we learn something I tend to believe: If the message can't be received, it's the same of it not existing.^^

[isthisLOL?]

I watched the video with subtitles and this is the conclusion I got to personally:

PONPONPON has surprising depth to it, but I think it's wrong to try to look too deep either.

The lyrical idea expressed is the desperate attempt to hold up an ideal you are not sure you can hold up anymore. That ideal is living in the world of children. Free of dangers and hatred, full of fun and love. That's seen at several points in the lyrics. Right at the beginning there is a contrast established between symbols of adult civilization(the streets and the city) and the sky(a symbol of hope and something neverchanging), note that this contrast happens in an upwards move. First the streets(ground level), then the city(what is above the ground) and then the sky, the highest you can go, an upward movement usually expresses hope. At another point Kayry wishes to be on a merry-go-round, that is the point in the lyrics that convinced me the ideal is childhood, not peace or individualism(which would be another possibility, as there are elements of the New Subjectivity movement in the lyrics). The lyrics express the wish for people to stick together, to just be happy and all like each other, but the lyrics also question that. There are "what if...?"s, doubt is expressed directly through that.
So the protagonist of the lyrics wishes for childhood, to live in such a state, but realizes it is not possible anymore.
Yet she is desperate to keep it up, she makes up reasons to stay in that state as long as possible. (Which is an interesting link to many of Ayumi's lyrics, as the fear of growing up is often addressed in similar ways) She thinks that moving forward, forcing yourself to remain moving, will stop you from maturing.

The chorus contrasts the illusion of individualism children have with the integration into society adults are forced to accept. It's a form of escapism for the singer. She realizes she can't stay a child forever, so she pretends to be a child, the repetitiveness of the lyrics emphasizes that, as does the reliance on music as symbol of freedom - but only in form of headphones, meaning only in your own make-believe world as you push away reality. That's where the music and the video come in, but I'll get to that a bit later. First, the title of the song: The subtitled version I got from jpopsuki explained that "ponpon" is a typical japanese term meaning "wearing nothing at all, showing everything" - in the sense of showing your true self, your individuality. One of the main ideals she wishes for throughout the song and repeats throughout the song. She wants to be herself without having to play a role in any way - in other words, she wants to be a child.

The pure happiness the music suggests is both a contrast to the lyrics AND escapism in itself, it creates a carefree enviroment upon superficial listening.

The video is what I think shouldn't be analyzed too deeply. I think as a whole it is a direct visual representation of the lyrical concepts, but I think most of the details are purely design choices, not artistic choices. The Kyary in the room full of child toys is the Kyary that has build a fantasy world around her as to stay a child forever(hello, Peter Pan!), but through the open window - open windows are symbols of both longing and barriers that have to be crossed - reality and the adult world slowly invade. The window being open symbolizes that this change HAS to occur, that you HAVE to enter reality sooner or later. So throughout the video we see more and more symbols of adult society and even death entering, but Kyary closes her eyes to it. The big number of eyes may symbolize judgement. The adult world does not approve of her wanting to stay a child, so they watch her. The TV set we see her in towards the end is striking, as TVs are a symbol of death. Not literal death, but symbolic death. The death of the mind, of the creativity, of your self. The head of the real Kyary has disappeared at that point, it is being morphed into something new - she is forced into the adult world and what she wanted to preserve is being destroyed in the process. There are a couple more less significant symbols, but I don't think they are all worth explaining to grasp the overall themes.

In the end PONPONPON, the lyrics, music and video, is escapism in it's most pure form: An anthem for something you know exactly you can't have. The desperate longing for the carefree life of a child in a world that forcefully integrates you into a whole.

[SheFliesHigher]

Has anyone seen the Japanese movie "Suicide Club"? There's a pop group that embeds scary messages into their work, and they turn out to be behind this greater scheme to manipulate Japanese people. This discussion reminds me of that.

TBH, I don't give backmasking much credence, and I think the PV is just weird for the sake of being weird, like many PVS are.

[isthisLOL?]

Originally Posted by SheFliesHigher

TBH, I don't give backmasking much credence, and I think the PV is just weird for the sake of being weird, like many PVS are.

I agree. The biggest part of the PV is just random. The main ideas of the lyrics ARE there though.