Gudetama looks like a character someone gave up on—it has limbs but no fingers or toes; it has a mouth but no teeth. 蛋黄哥看起来像一个被人放弃的角色－－它有四肢但没有手指或脚趾；它有嘴巴但没有牙齿。

And yet, people can't get enough of it. You can find it on backpacks, cups, airplanes, credit cards, and it even has its own theme cafe. 然而，人们有再多蛋黄哥都不嫌多。你可以在背包、杯子、飞机、信用卡上看到它的身影，它甚至还有自己的主题咖啡厅。

But Gudetama's cute looks aren't the driving force behind its insane popularity. Its main attraction is its lazy personality. 不过蛋黄哥的可爱外貌并不是它爆红的主要因素。它主要吸引人的地方是它软烂的个性。　

"Can I go home now?" "You're the star of the show..." 「我现在能回家了吗？」「你是节目的主角耶...」

Gudetama comes from a Japanese company called Sanrio. You might have heard of them. 蛋黄哥出自一家叫三丽鸥的日本公司。你可能听过他们。

They're the creators behind Hello Kitty. In 2013, Sanrio held a company-wide competition to come up with a food-based character. 他们是 Hello Kitty 背后的创造者。2013 年，三丽鸥举办了一场全公司的竞赛来构思出以食物为主的角色。

And once people voted, Gudetama didn't end up on top. 而人们投了票，蛋黄哥最后并未得到第一名。

Kirimichan, the salmon fillet, came in first. We actually started to release products based on the salmon fillet and its friends. 鲑鱼君，一块鲑鱼排，获得首奖。我们真的开始发行以这块鲑鱼排和它的朋友为主的产品。

Gudetama, the lazy egg, came in second, but we also released products based on Gudetama, and it really, really took off. 蛋黄哥，一颗懒散的蛋，得到第二名，不过我们也发行了以蛋黄哥为主的产品，而它真的大受欢迎。

The appeal of Gudetama's melancholy stands in contrast to the American concept of cuteness, which is pretty straightforward. 蛋黄哥的郁闷吸引力和美国对可爱的看法十分不同，美国的可爱还满浅显易懂的。

The idea of cute represents goodness and optimism, while pessimism tends to define evil. 可爱这概念就代表良善和乐观，而悲观往往是邪恶的特性。

This is evident in some of Disney's early films. 这在一些迪斯尼早期的电影中显而易见。

As you can see, there is a clear divide between good and evil. 如你所见，好与坏之间有很清楚的分界。

Villains are usually depicted as unappealing, scary, and old—draped in shadows and dark colors. 坏人通常被描绘成不迷人、可怕而且衰老的－－掩盖在阴影和深色中。

They're meant to be identified as evil, which means that they can never be cute. 他们本该被视为是邪恶的，那也就代表他们永远不可能可爱。

But in Japan, there's more of a gray area to this. 不过在日本，这比较有模糊地带。

The word "kawaii" is widely used to describe the quality of being like a child, which means that you can be cute and lazy at the same time. 「卡哇伊」一词被广泛用来形容像孩子一样的特性，代表你可以同时又可爱又懒散。 

Yeah, kawaii is a fascinating idea to me. It's a very vulnerable kind of cute. 嗯，卡哇伊对我来说是个很有趣的概念。那是种很脆弱的可爱。

It's forcing, like... It's you're so cute that you make people wanna take care of you. 那迫使，象是... 就是你可爱到让人想来照顾你。

The term emerged in the 1970s and became a big part of Japanese culture. 这个词在 1970 年代出现，成为日本文化很重要的一部分。

It was shown through fashion, handwriting, and even behavior. 可爱被透过时尚、笔迹，甚至是行为表现出来。

And many Japanese artists and academics believed that this popular culture on cuteness happened for a reason. 而许多日本艺术家和学者相信这种可爱流行文化的出现是有原因的。

In Japan, the kawaii culture is often linked to the country's post-World War II years. 在日本，可爱文化常被和国家在二战后的那些年作连结。

"...a message from the Japanese government. I deem this reply a full acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration." 「...来自日本政府的一则讯息。我将此回覆视为对波兹坦宣言的全然接受。」

The idea is that because of its trauma and defeat, the country leaned into its vulnerability. 那见解是认为因为日本的的创伤和战败，这国家接受了自身的脆弱。

And since then, the concept of kawaii has grown and even formed smaller subgroups. 而自那时起，卡哇伊这个概念便开始成长，甚至形成了一些较小的次级团体。

This is kimo-kawaii, which is sometimes called "gro-kawaii." And there is yuru-kawaii. 这是丑萌，有时也被称作「恶心萌」。还有懒萌。

Yuru means relaxed and calm. According to cartooning expert Aya Kakeda, this particular group became popular because of the stress in modern society. Yuru 的意思是放松和平静。根据卡漫专家悬田阿也表示，这个类别变得受欢迎是因为现代社会的压力。

She points out that in the U.S., people are drawn to spas and meditation for relaxation, 她指出在美国，人们喜欢用 spa 疗程和冥想来放松，

but in Japan, yuru's calm appearance brings comfort to a lot of people. 但在日本，懒萌角色的平和外表疗愈了许多人。

You can also see a shift in Sanrio's characters throughout the years. 你也可以看到三丽鸥的角色在这些年来的变化。

They've started giving them a personality to make them more relatable. 他们开始赋予角色个性来让它们更亲切。

When Hello Kitty came out in 1974, she was more traditionally cute than Gudetama, but she remained somewhat emotionless. 当 Hello Kitty 在 1974 年问世时，她相较于蛋黄哥是种比较传统的可爱，不过她有一点没有感情。

She doesn't even have a mouth to smile or frown with, and that makes her more of a blank canvas—she can be whatever we want her to be. 她甚至没有嘴巴来微笑或表示不满，那使得 Hello Kitty 比较像张空白画布－－她可以变成我们想要的任何样子。

But many people feel a connection with Gudetama because of its gloomy personality. 不过很多人因为蛋黄哥忧郁的个性而感到和它有种连结。

This approach to cuteness extends beyond appearances. It evokes a reaction. 这种对可爱的诠释超越了外表。那激发出一种反应。

These characters can make you laugh or feel relaxed, and you can relate to them by observing their personality. 这些角色能让你开怀笑或感到放松，而你可以透过观察他们的个性来产生共鸣。

So at a time of confusion and turmoil all around the world, maybe this is just what we need—an egg yolk with a little bum that's just done dealing with life. 所以在一个到处充满困惑和动荡的时代，或许这就是我们所需要的－－一颗有着小屁股的厌世蛋黄。

"Can't see the future." "Today might be a better day." 「看不到未来。」「今天或许会是更美好的一天。」