Acatgirl (Japanese:猫耳,Hepburn:nekomimi,lit. 'cat ear[s]')[a] orneko is a young female character with feline traits, such ascat ears, a tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. As a type ofkemonomimi, catgirls are associated with Japaneseanime andmanga but may appear in other genres. The equivalent male character is called acatboy.
Catgirls are descended fromEdo andShōwa period stories of villainous,shapeshiftingcat monsters such asbakeneko ornekomata, whose cat traits designated them as antagonists.Postwar and more recent media have largely rehabilitated catgirls into docile,moe characters.
The termcatgirl is applied broadly to characters with some (often minor or superficial) cat physiology, and usually with at least one of either cat ears or a cat tail. Depending on the narrative, a catgirl may have cat-like mannerisms orverbal tics, or the ability to become a cat.[1] A character who wears a cat ear headband, or who is momentarily depicted with cat ears to convey emotion, might also be called a catgirl within that context.
Whether a catgirl is correctly categorized as a "furry", or whether a person who appreciates catgirls is consideredkemonā, is hotly controversial to fans who do not wish to be associated with both furry and catgirl cultures. This is further complicated by the loose definition of a catgirl as a character who may or may not possess certain cat traits, raising the question of which or how many such traits can be added before a character is better sorted as a furry.[2]
The oldest mention of the termnekomusume (猫娘,lit. 'cat girl') comes from an 18th-centurymisemono in which a cat/woman hybrid was displayed.[3] Stories of shapeshiftingbakenekoprostitutes were popular during theEdo period.[3] Theukiyo-e artistUtagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861) depicted the human forms of cat monsters as retaining cat ears, a trait that made them appear untrustworthy or frightening.[1] The popularity of thenekomusume continued throughout the Edo andShōwa periods, with many tales of cat/woman hybrids appearing in works such as theEhon Sayoshigure (絵本小夜時雨) andAnsei zakki (安政雑記).[3]
The villain inKenji Miyazawa's 1924 workThe 4th of Narcissus Month [ja] is the first example of a beautiful cat-eared woman in modern Japanese literature.[4] In 1936, thenekomusume experienced a revival inkamishibai.[3]Anime andmanga such asPrincess Knight (1953) andStar of Cottonland (1978) began to reimagine catgirls as cute and approachable characters rather than dangerous monsters, though these mediums can still cast antagonistic catgirls as inDominion (1985) andBakemonogatari (2009).[1][5][6]
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By the 1990s, catgirls had become common in Japanese anime and manga.[7] Catgirls have since been featured invarious media worldwide. Enough of a subculture has developed for various themed conventions and events to be held around the world, such asNekocon.[8]
In 1980s Japan, cat ears started to appear as a regular accessory in some youth,[9] with limited continuing popularity.[5] Recent cat ear headbands sometimes use motorized ears, which emote depending on the wearer's state of mindas determined by an electrode.[4] Some Japanese trains and train stations are also decorated with cat ears.
In the West,queer ortransgender youth may adopt the catgirl as anideal self, to be expressed on theInternet.[10] In a 2022 survey of transsoftware engineers, 80.5% indicated they were "kinda" or "very" experienced with the catgirl concept.[11]
Japanese philosopherHiroki Azuma has stated that catgirl characteristics such as cat ears and feline speech patterns are examples ofmoe-elements.[7][12] In a 2010 critique of the manga seriesLoveless, thefeminist writer T. A. Noonan argued that, in Japanese culture, catgirl characteristics have a similar role to that of thePlayboy Bunny in western culture, serving as afetishization of youthful innocence.[13]
According to the Japanese magazineDa Vinci, that cat ears can be easily added to a character or costume without compromise has made the catgirl trope accessible and quickly popular. It is further suggested that the docile image created by cat ears stimulates the viewer's desire to protect cute animals.[5]
