Nostalgia-Inducing Experience
When experiencing Mariya Takeuchi’s Plastic Love for the first time, nostalgia is the most fitting term to describe the emotion. Although it does not specifically portray the thoughts and feelings at the conclusion, it resembles the mesmerizing sensation of déjà vu, as if we have encountered the song previously and inevitably find ourselves in a trance-like reverie. Despite exuding a pronounced retro vibe, it carries an ’80s ambiance with its repetitive low-pitched synth. The inclusion of subtle percussion and distant background backbeats keeps us captivated throughout the musical journey. However, comprehending its historical context allows us to understand why Plastic Love has garnered such fervent devotion from Takeuchi’s followers.
Unveiled in 1984 as part of her album Variety, Plastic Love has witnessed substantial popularity in recent years, particularly beyond the borders of Japan, owing to its recognition across social media and music streaming platforms. The song has also attained an iconic status within the city pop genre, a subgenre of Japanese pop music that enjoyed prominence during the 1980s. Beyond its lyrics that depict the sensation of being ensnared in a superficial and hollow relationship, akin to plastic love, the music draws influence from the distinct sounds of pop, disco, and funk from that era, evoking memories of ’80s tunes. Nevertheless, one genre that shares akin tonalities and essence is vaporwave.
Introduction to Vaporwave
Vaporwave represents an electronic funk music subgenre that builds upon the foundations of elevator music, lounge, and smooth jazz. Recognized for its distinctive ’80s and ’90s aesthetics, it has gained popularity as a recurring internet meme and a means of relaxation. Notable characteristics of vaporwave include
- the utilization of peculiar Renaissance-era head sculptures,
- the manipulation of slowed-down infomercial music,
- the incorporation of jingles and
- the incorporation of music from the ’80s and ’90s.
Furthermore, vaporwave frequently incorporates samples from jazz, R&B, or pop songs, creatively modified, decelerated, and manipulated to establish a unique ambiance.
The aesthetics and atmosphere associated with vaporwave frequently evoke a futuristic and melancholic mood. With prominent visual elements such as references to past pop culture, neon imagery, and antiquated computer graphics, its aesthetics often transport us back to the era of consumerist technology and bygone times. Vaporwave also frequently relies on distinct sound effects like pitch-shifting and reverb to impart an unusual and unexpected character to its music samples. Some vaporwave compositions may serve as critiques of past imperfections, consumerism, and pop culture, although this is not always their primary objective.
Despite its nostalgic roots, vaporwave also incorporates substantial experimental elements, rendering it a genre that continues to evolve and diversify. Vaporwave is often regarded as an “underground” or alternative music genre and has influenced other musical genres and artists. Though defining it can be challenging, this genre provides a distinctive listening experience and encourages contemplation on themes related to the past, consumerism, and technology.
It serves as a form of postmodern commentary, representing a digital movement aimed at subverting pop culture and capitalism by dissecting and amalgamating existing media properties, altering them to appear and sound alien, and infusing them with elements of glitch art and cyberpunk aesthetics.
City Pop Royalty
Plastic Love was crafted under the production of Tatsuro Yamashita, Mariya Takeuchi’s husband. Beyond Takeuchi’s recognition as one of the most influential figures in the city pop genre, Yamashita is the foremost and reigning king of city pop. As Japan approached the conclusion of the Showa era, the nation’s burgeoning contemporary cities bore witness to Japan’s ascent as a global economic powerhouse. The cosmopolitan way of life that emerged also left its imprint on the music scene, giving birth to city pop, a genre cherished for its capacity to reflect the emerging urban lifestyle. Today, we have a clearly defined genre known as city pop, representing Japan’s bubble era in the 1980s.
The backdrop of Plastic Love still retains a semblance to our world, possibly elucidating why it continues to strike a chord with music enthusiasts. In a world marked by rapidity, we all chase after a glamorous way of life, often neglecting the truly meaningful aspects of existence, thereby leaving a profound void within our hearts. Plastic Love possesses a mesmeric rhythm and an enticing melody, yet its lyrics convey a sense of hollowness and artificiality to which we can all still relate. During an interview with The Japan Times, Takeuchi described her intention to create a compelling composition imbued with a contemporary pop vibe, narrating the story of a woman who has experienced the profound loss of the man she loved deeply. She further mentioned that the lyrics center around a woman who has lost her one true love. Irrespective of the number of suitors who pursue her, she remains unable to dispel the loneliness stemming from that loss.
The Mysterious YouTube Phenomenon
The initial catalyst for a widespread reaction was an eight-minute remix posted by the Plastic Lover channel on July 5, 2017. It remains a mystery why YouTube’s recommendation algorithm promoted this particular video to millions of Western users, but it swiftly gained traction. By October 2019, the video had garnered over 27 million views and was still counting. The initial video was taken down because of copyright problems associated with the thumbnail picture. However, it was re-uploaded on another channel, accumulating an additional 13 million views before reinstating the original video. Since then, the song has undergone numerous remixes, blending with tracks from artists like Daft Punk, Eminem, Tool, Paramore, and even the theme song from Cory in the House. The song has also been a wellspring of inspiration for countless fan-made artwork and English translations. Its official music video was created and released in May 2019, 35 years after the song’s initial release. The fervor surrounding Plastic Love has evolved from being an ironic meme into a dedicated fan community for the song Takeuchi and similar music.
Despite being relatively unknown to Western audiences who grew to love it in the late 2010s, Mariya Takeuchi is a Japanese pop icon. Originally, Plastic Love was featured on her 1984 comeback album, Variety, it reached No. 86 on the Japanese pop charts. The song belongs to the city-pop genre, a Japanese musical style influenced by Western genres, characterized by vibrant trumpet sections and animated strings that infuse the song with considerable vitality. However, the well-known and cherished eight-minute version never truly existed in the ’80s; the extended remix made its online debut in 2017. Nevertheless, Takeuchi appreciates that people eagerly await and listen to her music even after her 40-year career.
Resurgent Hits in City Pop
The delayed surge in the popularity of Plastic Love has significantly boosted the recognition of the city pop genre among Western audiences. Along with Miki Matsubara’s Stay with Me, this song is a representative track that has experienced a resurgence in the city pop genre. Typically, these songs, including Plastic Love, are first discovered by underground club music communities like vaporwave and Future Funk before gaining broader appeal through platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.
This newfound popularity has prompted Japanese record labels to re-release albums and produce new content and music videos within the city pop genre. It has resulted in robust sales of CDs and vinyl records. Despite its late arrival on streaming platforms in November 2020, Plastic Love has earned the reputation of being an “invisible hit song” and is now widely acknowledged as a quintessential example of city pop.
For many young city pop enthusiasts, Plastic Love has acted as an entry point to the genre, often attributed to YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. The song and others like Stay with Me and Midnight Joke introduced a younger generation to city pop. Various mashups featuring Western songs, fan-created English lyrics, and vaporwave-inspired remixes have circulated extensively online, making Plastic Love a central focus of virtual discussions.
Takeuchi has expressed astonishment at the song’s popularity among foreign listeners. She never initially considered releasing her work in the West and was curious about how the city pop “movement” gained traction abroad. Many foreign listeners are captivated by the song’s melancholic ambiance, which blends the polished, plastic aesthetics of city pop with emotions of bewilderment, yearning, and solitude. The song’s lyrics also evoke a sense of nostalgia for an idealized past and a future defined by Japanese trademarks, resonating with listeners who may not have experienced that era or country but feel a connection to its artificial allure.
Early Exposure to Japanese Culture and Music
According to an interview with Cat Zhang, the individual behind the Plastic Lover video had their first exposure to anime, Japanese culture, and music, including songs like Stay With Me by Miki Matsubara, in 2012. However, their interest in Japanese music waned by 2014. It was not until 2017 that they came across Plastic Love while listening to a Fazerdaze song. Initially, they ignored it but kept encountering recommendations for the song. Eventually, curiosity got better, and they were pleasantly surprised. Since the song was not readily available, they downloaded the audio and later re-uploaded it when the original video reached 1 million views on YouTube, using the channel name “Sona main,” a reference to League of Legends.
After re-uploading Plastic Love, the video did not gain much traction in the first few days. However, its popularity began to surge from 1,000 to 100,000 views in just a few days. There were other re-uploads of the song, but the uploader’s video outperformed them, mainly because the previous uploader had misspelled Mariya Takeuchi’s name in the title. Even after correcting the spelling, the video was already highly popular, contributing to Mariya Takeuchi’s increasing popularity in the West.
When the video was taken down by an individual named Alan, the uploader initially thought it might be an error or a trolling attempt since there was no information about Alan on YouTube. They expected some action from entities like Warner Music Group or Alfa Moon Records (Mariya Takeuchi’s label before the acquisition) but needed help figuring out how to proceed. Others began re-uploading the song, this time crediting Alan as the photographer. The uploader attempted to re-upload the song with a different picture, but it failed, garnering around 30,000 views, far less than the original 20 million. It made them realize that the song and the picture were closely associated with the viewers’ experience. Negotiations between the uploader and Alan, facilitated by Stevem, began to restore the video. However, Alan was initially reluctant to negotiate due to the amount of hate mail received. Eventually, Alan contacted the uploader months later, expressing a desire to restore the video.
Although the uploader finds it somewhat unusual to be part of the significant Plastic Love phenomenon, they do not see themselves as a leader in it. They acknowledge the mystery surrounding the origin of the eight-minute version of the song and who first paired the picture with the audio. Despite the song being uploaded and taken down from YouTube multiple times, their video has lasted the longest. They find it fascinating to have witnessed the creation of fan art, memes, mashups, covers, and remixes that contributed to the song’s popularity. They continue to receive comments from people sharing their work related to the song. They also note the release of a brand new music video for the song, even after many years, and express happiness for artists like Mariya Takeuchi and Tatsuro Yamashita, who have gained wider recognition due to the growing popularity of city pop.
The Allure of City-Pop Sounds
The smooth and energetic sounds of city-pop in this song are a perfect fit for portraying oneself enjoying a pleasant night in the city, far from life’s troubles. However, those born in the 1990s or 2000s have never experienced that era and must imagine it. The films, music, fashion, and aesthetics of the 1980s that we recall today serve as our primary frame of reference when envisioning that decade, and we view it through rose-colored glasses. We are still distant enough to envision this decade as a time filled with feathers, neon lights, synthesizers, and MTV, but we also know that deep down, this era was more complex than that. All the ordinary and mundane music and media have been forgotten, social issues have been disregarded, and the time appears better and simpler compared to the present. It is even more challenging for Western fans to imagine the 1980s in a culture so different from their own, like Japan, if they have yet to visit the country or study its history. However, more is needed to deter the young millennial and zoomer generations from enjoying the fantasy of standing on neon-lit streets in Tokyo and dreaming of lost love.
The title Plastic Love is just too fitting: young people listen to the song and imagine false memories of times they love, even though those times never truly existed. The chaos of the 1980s seems more luxurious and appealing compared to the 2010s, and we turn to the past to try and experience a time when everything felt more real. We also know that it is merely a nostalgic trip, and in ten years, people will start looking back at the 2010s with the same fondness as new societal issues arise. We are just “playing around,” we know “it is plastic love,” but we continue dancing to the tune and envisioning that fictitious world. Plastic Love by Takeuchi has captured the attention of millions and continues to do so. Although we may never fully comprehend why the song suddenly gained immense popularity three decades later, we can understand that the song is special enough to transcend language, boundaries, and time, enabling millions to connect and fantasize about a better future, even if that time was fictional. That love is not too plastic, after all.
Bibliography
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- Harrietha, B. (2022). The resurgence of city pop. Interrobang.
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- Lammas, C. (2022). What is Japanese City Pop and Why Have You Heard it Before?. The Georgetown Independent.
- Marshall, C. (2018). How Youtube’s Algorithm Turned an Obscure 1980s Japanese Song Into an Enormously Popular Hit: Discover Mariya Takeuchi’s “Plastic Love”. Open Culture.
- Michel, P. S. (2018). Mariya Takeuchi: The pop genius behind 2018’s surprise online smash hit from Japan. The Japan Times.
- Swve. An introduction to Vaporwave. Graphicmade.