Kuruneko - The Internet meme

  Yokay, so you're here, that means you probably found this article because you love cats, like anime plushies that happen to also be kitties, or you are one of the few English reading blokes that digs on "Kuruneko". For the rest of my regular audience that already knows what Kuruneko is, give yourself a pat on the back. You are one cat loving otaku that truly knows how to dig up the good stuff. I think I'll start calling yall "nekotaku". (Great a new internet meme has just been born) As for me... no pats on the back deserved as I'm behind the times a bit. But hey, "Better Nate than lever!" Even Suppie who is pretty well versed in Japanese culture, hadn't heard of Kuruneko yet, and if she did, she wasn't sharing any new anime goodness with me... If you have no idea what Kuruneko is and haven't skipped ahead yet, take a ride with me as I discover what Suppie has been hiding from me...

くるねこ (Kuruneko)
  First a blog entry-graduating to a manga, progressing on to anime fame in 50 episode shorts each about 3 minutes long. (A second season is in the works already! Wow I'm already way behind. Good thing each episode is only 3 mins long) The genre is a slice of life / comedy anime just about every day life with these cute cats that sometimes have an attitude. But isn't that the proper job of a cat?

The names of the five cats in the series I was able to dig up are: 
ぼん Lanterns
胡ぼん Hu Lanterns
もんさん Mr. Mon
ポ子 Child P.O.
トメ Tome

Official Website of Kuruneko
Check out some Kuruneko videos online and try not to die of cuteness overload:
http://www.soku.com/search_video/type_tag_q_Kuruneko or check out the one I've selected for your clicky-clicky play happy finger:



  Kuruneko over the last couple of years has been a Internet meme mostly in the circles of cat loving online Japanese communities.  Not surprising then that in the English speaking communities, that Kuruneko is almost unheard of. I'm hoping that a big dog like Broccoli picks this cute anime title up and translates it for us nekotaku. The 3 minute long episodes make for really short attention span kids and they tend to do shows like that... We'll see...

  Of course the more wired we get, the more parodies and ytmnd stuff will happen to your original creation... In this case... IT'S A GOOD THING! -  I'll share with you the ShonenSean approved versions of these Kuruneko / Vocaloid smashups. janbox00 has some really cute vids up on their Youtube channel and they are all worth watching. This one is my favorite:


  Now that you are an expert on Kuruneko, you probably are spreading this Japanese internet meme to all your English speaking comrades. I hope you get bragging rights as the first in your circle to spam the videos or make your own smash-up. Have fun! If you can't get enough of the Kuruneko goodness, Japan has all kinds of Kuruneko goodies, the first of which are plushies and to my knowledge they are currently only being offered by OtakuFuel in the stateside regions anyways... If you are interested in the family of Kuruneko plushies, here's some pics:

Kuruneko Family portrait

胡ぼん Hu Lanterns

もんさん Mr. Mon

ポ子 Child P.O.

トメ Tome

ぼん Lanterns

Which Kuruneko-chan is your favorite? For me I think it has to be Hu Lanterns. When my nice saw them all she about died. It was kind of like watching a Ryou Kuroyanagi reaction or something... glad it made her day... I hope that if Kuruneko is new to you that it made your day today too! That's all for now... Ho na na!

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