Kawaii is a cute, light fashion aesthetic but it has a polar opposite known as yamikawaii. ‘Yami’ in Japanese means ‘dark’ and is often added to words to describe the darker, ‘evil’ version of it. So, the opposite of kawaii is yamikawaii - ‘dark-cute’ or ‘sickly cute’.  This fashion style combines the pastel colors associated with kawaii with black for a more gothic or punk look. It also uses more serious, darker iconography like skulls, guns, syringes, and bandages. There’s a strong link between yamikawaii and some very mature themes like self-harm and illness which has led it to become a very controversial fashion aesthetic as some people believe it makes light of such serious topics.