File:Bupuro-chan.png

English: An example of a Menhera/Yami-kawaii character, displaying traits and imagery associated with the aesthetic and mental unwelness in general (such as self-harm and drugs). “Menhera communities are associated with the yami-kawaii (sick-cute) fashion subculture, a variation of the kawaii aesthetic characterized by medical motifs such as pills, syringes, and bandages^[1][2]” “The authors noted that all forms of menhera may engage in some degree of self injury.^[3]”. In addition to this information taken directly from the article/sources I also looked at Ezaki Bisko’s art extensively to make sure I was getting the general look and feel right, particularly noting Menhera-chan’s affinity for blades, pill imagery, and prominent self-harm scars/bandages on both wrists. Finally I overlaid abstract imagery conveying a broken or unwell sense of self (glitchy visuals, a cartoon ghost emerging from a vague dent/hole in the head). Her name is a combination of the Japanese word for the common antidepressant bupropion (ブプロピオン, Bupuropion) and the generic “cute” honorific -chan (and is pronounced “BOOP-oor-o-chan”, not “byew-PER-o-chan”) This image incorporates File:Bupropion skeletal.svg, a public domain diagram of the bupropion molecule