The 2025 World Expo, however, will be held in Japan ’ s Kansai region – specifically in Osaka at Yumeshima, a man-made island. The name translates to “ Dream Island ”. It ’ ll be the beginning clock time Osaka has hosted the ball-shaped event since 1970. And as the home plate of an complect skyscraper– Umeda Sky Building –Osaka seems to be the perfective rate to celebrate invention .
hera ’ s the official logo for the momentous occasion .
The official Kansai Expo 2025 logo. (Source: Bureau International des Expositions) For context, here was the shortlist of son to choose from.
The shortlist of potential logos for Kansai Expo 2025. (Source: Bureau International des Expositions) The winning logo was created by Team Inari, led by graphic designer Shimada Tamotsu. The googly-eyed wonder is meant to express “ the glare of life ”. Designed to resemble a cell lens nucleus, and besides the city of Osaka itself, Shimada and his team ’ s goal was to create something “ original and impactful ” like Osaka ’ s Sun Tower, which was the centerpiece of the 1970 World Expo .
Though the opinion was largely silent, the logo has been met with amuse reactions by japanese netizens, which led to a trending subject on Twitter, “ # コロシテ “, ( koroshite ) or “ Kill me. ” The katakana serves as a bold baptismal font in this case, reflecting the body-horror being of the amorphous logo .
related logos include “ # コロシテ君 ” or “ # コロシテくん ” ( Koroshite-kun ), roughly translating to “ Mr. Kill Me ” .
away from shock and awe, japanese netizens created many memes that parody the logo ’ south antic appearance. Comparisons to existing icons include Tohato Caramel Corn, and pon de ring donuts, with Koroshite-kun existing as a mash-up of the two.
Some have likened it to guarana berries, which resemble white eyeballs with fleshy red eyelids .
As promised, here are some hot takes on Koroshite-kun. All of the images are linked directly back to their source .
First up, we have manga artist Mori Yukie who wanted to do a “ sci-fi construction ” on the Kansai Expo 2025 logo. here we see two people approach the Osaka Sun Tower, where within in its hollow interior, another visualize has gone afoot. But finally….finally after a long 50 years, a new creation arises, a fleshy, pulsating “ magnificence of life ! ”
Next we have @ badskabibads, who created a free-to-play television game where Koroshite-kun is a giant trapped in a tower that you must escape. It directly references 8-bit dungeon crawlers .
A screenshot of “Koroshite-kun no horage” by @badskabibads. For the full clip, please click here. (Source: Twitter)
And ultimately, @ 0620Oyu, decided to take a childlike road, and merely replaced all the eyes with “ pien ” emojis–also known as the “ puppy-dog eyes ”. They did it because “ the original logo felt excessively monster-like ” .
Though some may deem the logo to be an strange choice, there ’ s no doubt the design has a viral quality to it. Be on the lookout for Koroshite-kun gear about five years from now .
