She is British, blond, slim and cute. Her name is Beckii Cruel [ja] and, at age 14, has become an idol on the Japanese web.
Beckii Cruel started to gain popularity at the end of this year thanks to some videos posted on YouTube where she appears dancing in her room, to the tune of anime songs, attracting the interest of inveterate fans of anime and manga.
After becoming a celebrity on the Internet as user xBextahx, she was invited to perform in Akihabara, the district in eastern Tokyo that is widely acknowledged as the symbol of the otaku culture [en].
bluecafe09k48 sums up Beckii's profile for us.
イギリス・マン島在住の美少女、14歳ですね~。
マンガ「フルーツバスケット」を読んで以来、
日本のオタク文化に嵌ったのが3年前とのこと。
ベッキー・クルーエル自身が日本のアニメソングなどで踊っている動画を
YouTubeで公開したのが今年の3月くらいから。
「男女」がニコニコ動画に転載されたのが5月頃で、人気が爆発。
After she read the manga Fruits Basket three years ago, she went crazy for the Japanese otaku culture [she says].
This March, Beckii Cruel published on Youtube videos of herself dancing to Japanese anime songs.
After the video Danjo (Man and Woman) was shown on [the Japanese video sharing website] Niko Niko Doga in May, her popularity exploded.
PV of Danjo (男女)
Beckii Cruel's popularity is certainly a Japanese phenomenon, as demonstrated by the fact that the only Wikipedia entry on her is in Japanese. However, the word of mouth has spread also among those foreigners who are passionate fans of Akihabara and the otaku culture in general.
GodLen, at Animevice. com, for example, comments with a bit of mock jealousy on the British idol's career.
Beckii Cruel, oh how I wish I were her, for she is the Cinderella story of the otaku world. This 14-year-old girl from England has won over the hearts of moe-loving otaku in Japan by posting videos of herself dancing to anime and Jpop songs on youtube. Yesterday she had the opportunity to dance in front of over 600 fans at the Enta Matsuri in Akihabara; amazing, and it all started with a youtube video. Now she has a DVD coming out in Japan (which you can pre-order now) that features her dancing her dance, and being overall moe.
Sankei News interview to Beckii Cruel at Akihabara Enta Festival
Beckii Cruel, who was recently chosen by candy and sweets maker Lotte to promote the Fit's Dance Contest together with other celebrities, performed live for the first time at Akihabara Enta Festival on October 25 [here are some pictures of the show].
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