A virus called Ika-tako and other (digital) cute aggressions

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship of computer viruses with the concept of “cute aggression” and its tentacular ramifications, taking as a springboard the Ika-tako virus: a malware created in 2010 by a Japanese NEET called Masato Nakatsuji, which replaced data files with amateurish drawings of cartoony octo- puses and squids. Dividing the analysis into three sections that address issues of its production, content, and reception, and connecting the Ika-taku virus to a set of further transgeographical and transhistorical examples, I seek to demonstrate how these instances of cute aggression push the boundaries of playfulness, spon- taneity, and naivety, threading into a territory where cuteness, race, sexuality, and cybercrime conflate.