Vaporwave is an art movement that emerged in the early 2010s, characterized by its exploration of nostalgia, dream states, decay, and the mundane. It can be seen as a meme, a critique of capitalism, or a medium of irony. The music of vaporwave samples sounds from the 80s and 90s, giving them a degraded VHS tape quality. The visual art associated with vaporwave combines vintage computer graphics, pop culture references, and retro aesthetics. The use of Unicode text in vaporwave adds an additional layer of complexity and creativity to the genre. While vaporwave and synthwave share similarities, vaporwave makes more extensive use of characters from different Unicode blocks, especially CJK characters and fullwidth/halfwidth forms. The prevalence of Japanese text in vaporwave can be attributed to the influence of Japanese technology and culture in the 80s and 90s. The question of whether vaporwave is guilty of cultural appropriation or racism is a topic of ongoing debate.
https://yaytext.com/blog/vaporwave-unicode-analysis/