Culture

A New Lofi Character Just Dropped

This is my MCU.

by Lia Kim  12 April 2023
Lofi Girl Lofi Boy Synthwave

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Don’t freak out, but a new addition to the Lofi Girl universe has just been revealed.

Lofi Boy is here with a new aesthetic, a dog instead of a cat, and a wave of nostalgia that both swept me back to my dazed mid-pandemic state and plucked me out of it in one fell swoop.

Who Is Lofi Girl?

If you’re unfamiliar with the cultural impact of Lofi Girl, props to you, as you’re probably a very efficient person. If, however, you regularly enjoyed the company of Lofi Girl and her artfully cluttered desk, then you too have probably struggled to get stuff done. 

Crucially, Lofi Girl was never one to pass judgement. She was right there with you for as long as it took, along with thousands of others. She was the ultimate study buddy who, let’s be honest, deserves my degree more than I do. 

I’ve held onto the habit of tuning into the playlist at work, too. But my reliance on her during the pandemic means that she now gives me flashbacks to a tough time. Plus, I’d been listening to Lofi Girl for a good three years now, and dare I say that the mystical power wielded by those synthwave beats was finally starting to wane. 

Lofi Boy Is Wrinkling My Brain

I’ve explored other Lofi playlists to fill the Lofi Girl hole. Gaming and Anime Lofi is my go-to, Old Songs But Lofi is cute, and I still return to Lofi Girl now and then.

Then a few days ago, the unthinkable happened: Lofi Girl disappeared. Not the livestream itself, but her character, based on Studio Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart character Shizuku Tsukishima, had vanished from the stream. A short 30-second video titled “What is happening with this blue window?” was posted to the channel with our girl staring out across the way at, you guessed it, a blue window.

The original livestream (sans Lofi Girl) ended up being enigmatically slapped with a question mark, as was a second livestream, which showed a much closer view of the mystery blue room. This one had a countdown timer and a calendar with a circle around the date April 11. 

Then came the grand reveal: Lofi Boy. Five years after the original Lofi Girl stream started, it’s back with a fresh synthwave sound, a sweet pup, and a whole new set of beats.

I kid you not when I say this news has given me a new lease on life. The sight of a new character in the same Lofi universe swept me right back to when I first discovered Lofi Girl and the steady bursts of motivation that came from working alongside her cute little cat and cosy room. Lofi Boy is all of that, with a futuristic twist. 

It’s also somehow making me nostalgic for an imagined future where I look back at this stage of my life that hasn’t actually happened yet. So I’ll see you in 2028 where I reflect in minute detail on what Lofi Boy meant to me.