Avril Lavigne ‘Hello Kitty’ Video Indirectly Introduces Fans To Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

Avril Lavigne isn’t doing her career any favors with her recently-released and much-maligned music video for “Hello Kitty,” but another singer may indirectly reap the benefits of this fiasco.

If you’ve spent any amount of time searching for Lavigne-oriented info on Twitter over the past few days, you may have stumbled across people discussing Japanese pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Many people believe Avril Lavigne was heavily inspired by the singer, who is known for her wacky music and trippy music videos.

While Avril Lavigne is relatively well-known in the US, most people probably aren’t aware of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. She’s quite popular in Japan and other parts of the world, due in part to her candy-coated appearance and her admittedly addictive songs. Even if you don’t understand the language, chances are you’ll hum her melodies for days on end.

Born Kiriko Takemura, the Japanese pop star and model is known for her association with “kawaisa” and “decora” culture. Although you may not enjoy her brand of music, it’s hard to deny the fact that she’s nailed the aesthetic Avril Lavigne was shooting for with her “Hello Kitty” music video. In this writer’s humble opinion, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s work is a bit more palatable than the sort of stuff Lavigne is churning out these days. Feel free to disagree.

Check out the clip for “Candy Candy” below. We apologize in advance if you feel the urge to watch this video over and over again.

Here’s another deeply bizarre clip for your viewing pleasure. If David Lynch directed a Lady Gaga video, then it might look something like this.

If you think this writer is out of head comparing Avril Lavigne to the aforementioned J-pop star, then have a look at these Twitter reactions. There’s a few other people on the planet who made the same connection.

I mean, that Avril Lavigne vid was pretty lazy- but it is completely pointless when there's new Kyary Pamyu Pamyu music. YES!

— Oscar Cassidy (@OscarCassidy) April 26, 2014

I let Ryu, my nephew, watch Avril's new video bec. #Japan and he asked why she was imitating Kyary Pamyu Pamyu & saying "kili-kili," haha.

— Erin desu. (@erinemocling) April 26, 2014

Think the Avril video is full of creepy Japanese stuff? You have not been watching enough Kyary Pamyu Pamyu https://t.co/hg2ZLSiKlj

— Paul Reda (@PaulReda) April 25, 2014

If so much you care about music stop talking about Avril and start finding a way for a Foofighters x Kyary Pamyu Pamyu collaboration.

— ???? (????) (@JBantha) April 25, 2014

If the world ends up hating Avril Lavigne with a passion because of “Hello Kitty,” then at least some people discovered the peculiar charms of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu in the process.