3 Reasons Naomi Watanabe “Rain On Me” Parody Is Iconic

On July 25, 2020 Japanese comedian Naomi Watanabe uploaded a music video parody of Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s song “Rain On Me”. Naomi played the part of Lady Gaga and recruited fellow plus sized comedian Yuriyan Retriever, to play the role of Ariana Grande.

Naomi Watanabe got her big break parodying Beyoncé back in the day and has since grown to become a plus size fashion icon and Japan’s most-followed Instagram celebrity with over 9.4 million followers. Her latest “Rain On Me” parody is her first music video to be released on her YouTube channel, Naomi Club, and the perfect return to the form of her celebrity impersonating days.

 

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A post shared by 渡辺直美 (@watanabenaomi703) on Mar 19, 2016 at 7:05pm PDT

Since the release of her parody video, many were quick to start commenting on the amazing production value and straight-up “perfect recreation” of the original video performed by Gaga and Ariana. Although a parody is often an exaggerated imitation of a work or artist for comedic purposes, Naomi’s parody is so good you end up being more mesmerized by the dancing comedic duo than actually finding the video funny. You’ll of course find a few scenes with Naomi’s classic exaggerated face making and cute Japanese easter eggs such as the “dango sticks” in place of Gaga’s knives to chuckle at, but the whole video is truly just a masterpiece.

Plus size representation

Japan is one of the thinnest countries in the world where the average woman weighs 52 kg (115 lb). Naomi Watanabe is a spokesperson and cover girl for La Farfa, Japan’s magazine for plus-size women, as well as one of Japan’s leading women who are attempting to overturn the lack of size inclusivity in the country.

 

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A post shared by @punyus on Jun 19, 2020 at 2:20am PDT

Naomi has her own clothing line, Punyus, which is one of Japan’s limited plus-specific labels that provide women of different sizes with the opportunity to embrace fashion in a fun variety-filled way, unlike other plus-size retailers that only stock genre-specific styles. Naomi’s mission is to allow women to celebrate their figures instead of feeling forced to hide them. She encourages everyone to not be ashamed of who they are, with her goal to help women embrace their personal style, without having to change their bodies.

Naomi’s empowerment ideals can be seen in her new parody video where she invites plus-size comedian Yuriyan Retriever to join her in recreating Gaga and Ariana’s iconic looks, proving that no matter the size, you can look and feel just as fabulous as some of the biggest stars in the world!

 

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A post shared by 渡辺直美 (@watanabenaomi703) on Jul 27, 2020 at 3:39am PDT

Safe Distancing and Masks

Did you notice that in Naomi’s parody all the backup dancers are wearing masks or face shields? There’s even a partition in between Naomi and Yuriyan for “safe distancing”. Although the music video was shot after the state of emergency was lifted in Japan, Naomi and her team made sure that all participants continued to follow safe covid protocols.

They chose to incorporate them into the video itself to demonstrate the latest safety procedures in action. Plus, they did a great job showing off how ravishing you can look even with a mask or face shield on.

High-Quality production

If you were wondering why production on the video was such high quality, it might have had something to do with Naomi actually getting permission from Gaga’s production team so that the parody could be as close to the original as intended. Plus, both Naomi and Yuriyan are famous for their impersonations of famous celebrities, dancers, and artists so their performing abilities are always topnotch.

 

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A post shared by ゆりやんレトリィバァ (@yuriyan.retriever) on Jul 26, 2020 at 6:09am PDT

Naomi was able to create the iconic parody in collaboration with makeup artists, stylists, and manicurists, as well as director Daisuke Ninomiya, who has worked with many big Japanese artists in producing their music videos, but will not be making any revenue from it.

Naomi says she now owes a big production fee and commented on her Instagram that she’ll “think of a part two ten years from now when I hopefully have paid them back”.

Watch the parody video here:

And compare it to the original:

Naomi’s parody music video currently has over 4.7 million views on YouTube (July 2020). Enjoy comparing the two videos and let us know if you thought Naomi and Yuriyan were able to pull it off in the comments below! We think they did!