Seriously? The woke scale is almost overloading here. Haha.
Honestly it had never occurred to me for a second that this was anything racist because the band is called “Cocoon” which appears to have the word “coon” in it so feels like you have just made this into something racist. Have you never noticed how Japanese bands weirdly stylise word and such? Could be the apostrophe was added to make it more unique as searching for a band called “Cocoon” may not be effective so adding an apostrophe gives it their unique twist. And tell me, where would you rather put the apostrophe? Between the two syllables makes sense to me, especially when you think how it would be written in katakana. Maybe they could have gone with “C’ocoon” - pronounced, k-okoon or what about “Coc’oon” oh but wait “kok-oon” may upset you too as it has the word “cock” in it. Maybe they should have thought of the woke and spelt it “Cocune” instead.
Anyway, didnt Boya clearly explain in the initial announcement that the name was chosen specifically for the likeness of their situation and blooming from a cocoon into something bigger and more majestic? Crazy racist shit that is. Haha.
Isnt “coon” often used in America as a shortened version of “raccoon”? Or is that racist too??
I guess I’m the only one that followed the raid. because of Senas vocals lol. From their first single I was hooked especially with what became his signature fading high note. Looking forward to his return. I think it’s not having his vocals that I miss here but this is only their first song also.
FRFR do people use coon for racoon? never heard that before
Nah, me too. Sena’s three-part vocal harmony is still addicting for me (that and Boya’s compositions.) I just found them quite repetitive around and after Junketsu Piranha, that and the whole A, B, C, D, E, etc. type CDs that drove me nuts trying to chase around.
Haven’t heard it either, likely due to the “other” meaning making it a bit dicey of a word. It is the diminutive form since there’s also a breed of cat called the “Maine Coon”, the name originating from it’s cat-racoon crossbreed-like appearance.
Im from the UK so dont know if it’s super common in the states, maybe some of our US crew can help shed light on it? But i have definitely heard it used a few times by Americans. We dont get Raccoons here so isnt really even in our vocabulary. Haha.
LOL it was so repetitive but it was his signature vocal style and no one else does it in the scene so I was here for it and pretty much knew when he would do it lol.
@DirDude I’m like pretty sure no one shortens racoon to coon but I digress
I can only speak for myself, but I instantly read “Cocoon”. But I am used to VK using what Germans call the “deppen apostroph” (Idiot apostrophe) in random positions of a word. Clearly this is a case where coincidentally one part of a word seems to be offensive - I doubt japanese bands know about all the slurs in the world (and before using tumblr neither did I knew the word “coon” either). They just thought emphasizing the last part of the word cocoon looks kewl.
This whole discussion does bemusedly remind me of that time a 'murrican was offended that there was a country named Montenegro. Oh and that time tumblr got enraged because a football team had “Niger” on their jerseys.
That said, this band is nothing special imo. We probably give them more attention by being shocked by their stupid name than impressed by their music, which is sad.
“Coon” has been short for “raccoon” for hundreds of years. That’s where the term obviously comes from. Why black people got called “coon” is more opaque. I guess because racists viewed them as vermin, like raccoons?
Edit: I just looked it up and it seems the racist term might come from the word “barracoon” (from Portuguese barracão (“big hut”), a building used for keeping slaves in. So there are two separate words “coon”, coming from different roots.
And no, this band’s name has nothing to do with either of them. This band’s name is Cocoon, which they have decided to stick a sensational apostrophe in.
I can confirm that yes, people do shorten raccoon to that and I’ve heard it used that way years back. I highly, highly doubt a Japanese band would have any clue at all about this or the racist usage (especially this), and I’m confused how it wasn’t clear that it’s simply the word Co-coon split by syllables. Just because something might be used a way in the US doesn’t always apply elsewhere. Good thing to keep in mind.
That said, I think the topic on other uses for that word is pretty well covered now.
Back to the band themselves, their look is pretty cool. I’ll have to check out the PV sometime soon when I have a moment to
