catgirl

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{{About|the anime/manga trope|the film|Cat Girl|the character|Carrie Kelley|other uses|Catgirl (disambiguation)}}

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File:Neko Wikipe-tan.svg illustration of a catgirl maid, with cat ears and a tail]]

A {{Nihongo|catgirl|猫耳|nekomimi|{{lit|cat ear[s]}}|lead=yes}}{{efn|Also: {{Nihongo||猫娘|nekomusume|{{lit|cat girl}}}}}} or neko is a young female character with feline traits, such as cat ears, a tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. As a type of kemonomimi, catgirls are associated with Japanese anime and manga but may appear in other genres. The equivalent male character is called a catboy.

Catgirls are descended from Edo and Shōwa period stories of villainous, shapeshifting cat monsters such as bakeneko or nekomata, whose cat traits designated them as antagonists. Postwar and more recent media have largely rehabilitated catgirls into docile, moe characters.

Description

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| image1 = Toronto 2015 cosplay (16931212845).jpg

| alt1 = A young woman is wearing a maid outfit and cat ears and presenting a bottle of soda on a tray.

| image2 = Cosplay of Azusa Nakano 2024 FF43.jpg

| alt2 = A young woman is cosplaying wearing cat ears and a school girl outfit and is posing for a photograph.

| footer = Catgirl cosplayers at fan conventions

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The term catgirl 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 or verbal tics, or the ability to become a cat. 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 considered kemonā, 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.{{Cite web |date=17 February 2017 |title=『けものフレンズ』大ヒットの理由とは？ガチケモナーな東大研究者が語るケモナーの歴史とその深淵 |trans-title=What is the reason for the huge success of "Kemono Friends"? A hardcore furry researcher from Tokyo University talks about the history and depths of furries |url=https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/kikakuthetower/kemono_friends |access-date=4 March 2025 |website=Denfaminicogamer |language=Japanese}}

History

The oldest mention of the term {{Nihongo||猫娘|nekomusume|{{lit|cat girl}}}} comes from an 18th-century misemono in which a cat/woman hybrid was displayed. Stories of shapeshifting bakeneko prostitutes were popular during the Edo period.{{Cite book |last=Davisson |first=Zack |author-link=Zack Davisson |title=Kaibyō : the supernatural cats of Japan |publisher=Chin Music Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-63405-916-9 |edition=First |location=Seattle, WA |oclc=1006517249}} The ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861) depicted the human forms of cat monsters as retaining cat ears, a trait that made them appear untrustworthy or frightening.{{Cite web |last=Planty |first=Blake |date=July 19, 2020 |title=From Bakeneko to Bakemonogatari: The Secret History of Catgirls |url=https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/features/2020/7/19/from-bakeneko-to-bakemonogatari-the-secret-history-of-catgirls |access-date=March 4, 2025 |website=Crunchyroll News}} The popularity of the nekomusume continued throughout the Edo and Shōwa periods, with many tales of cat/woman hybrids appearing in works such as the {{Nihongo|Ehon Sayoshigure|絵本小夜時雨}} and {{Nihongo|Ansei zakki|安政雑記}}.

The villain in Kenji Miyazawa's 1924 work {{ill|The 4th of Narcissus Month|ja|水仙月の四日}} is the first example of a beautiful cat-eared woman in modern Japanese literature.{{Cite web |date=29 April 2012 |title=ニコニコ超会議のネコ耳人気に嫉妬！最古のネコ耳もかわいいもん |trans-title=I'm jealous of the popularity of cat ears at Niconico Chokaigi! The oldest cat ears are cute too |url=http://magazine.gow.asia/life/column_details.php?column_uid=00001362 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505121210/http://magazine.gow.asia/life/column_details.php?column_uid=00001362 |archive-date=5 May 2012 |access-date=4 March 2025 |website=Gow! Magazine |language=Japanese}} In 1936, the nekomusume experienced a revival in kamishibai. Anime and manga such as Princess Knight (1953) and Star 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 in Dominion (1985) and Bakemonogatari (2009).{{Cite web |date=2 November 2013 |title=なぜ獣耳（けもみみ）娘はかわいいのか？を検証してみた |trans-title=Why are girls with animal ears so cute? |url=https://news.nicovideo.jp/watch/nw825268 |access-date=4 March 2025 |website=Da Vinci |language=Japanese}}{{Cite book |last=Berndt |first=Jaqueline |title=Phänomen Manga : Comic-Kulture in Japan |publisher=Edition q |year=1995 |isbn=978-3-86124-289-5 |location=Berlin |page=111 |language=de}}

By the 1990s, catgirls had become common in Japanese anime and manga. Catgirls have since been featured in various media worldwide. Enough of a subculture has developed for various themed conventions and events to be held around the world, such as Nekocon.{{Cite news |date=2007-11-07 |title=After Action Report |url=http://hamptonroads.com/2007/11/after-action-report |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914090838/http://hamptonroads.com/2007/11/after-action-report |archive-date=2016-09-14 |access-date=2013-02-03 |work=The Virginian-Pilot}}

As an aesthetic

In 1980s Japan, cat ears started to appear as a regular accessory in some youth,{{Cite journal |last=Kaneko |first=Shobo |date=November 1985 |title=「若者+昭和」ライフスタイル事典 |trans-title="Youth + Showa" Lifestyle Encyclopedia |journal=青年心理 |language=Japanese |volume=54 |pages=49}} {{NCID|BN14331136}} with limited continuing popularity. Recent cat ear headbands sometimes use motorized ears, which emote depending on the wearer's state of mind as determined by an electrode. Some Japanese trains and train stations are also decorated with cat ears.

In the West, queer or transgender youth may adopt the catgirl as an ideal self, to be expressed on the Internet.{{Cite thesis |last=Zaman |first=Hazal Ali |title=Feeling Otherwise: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study of Queer and Trans Youth of Color Who Create and Embody Fursonas |date=23 May 2024 |access-date=4 March 2025 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=Portland State University |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e49b1a26b7d5e51d433ff90/t/665a3a0400a4dd49e7c18efd/1717189129257/THE+FINAL_DISS.pdf |doi=10.15760/etd.3757}} In a 2022 survey of trans software engineers, 80.5% indicated they were "kinda" or "very" experienced with the catgirl concept.{{Cite conference |last=Kychenthal |first=Skye |date=26 March 2022 |title=Why The Trans Programmer? |conference=IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference 2022 |arxiv=2205.01553}}

Analysis

File:Neko 1.png

Japanese philosopher Hiroki Azuma has stated that catgirl characteristics such as cat ears and feline speech patterns are examples of moe-elements.{{Cite book |last=Azuma |first=Hiroki |author-link=Hiroki Azuma |url=https://archive.org/details/otakujapansdatab00azum |title=Otaku: Japan's database animals |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8166-6800-7 |edition=English |location=Minneapolis |pages=[https://archive.org/details/otakujapansdatab00azum/page/n77 47], 89 |translator-last=Abel |translator-first=Jonathan |oclc=527737445 |translator-last2=Kono |translator-first2=Shion |url-access=limited}}{{Cite journal |last=Galbraith |first=Patrick W. |date=31 October 2009 |title=Moe and the Potential of Fantasy in Post-Millennial Japan |url=http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/articles/2009/Galbraith.html |url-status=live |journal=Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025065102/http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/articles/2009/Galbraith.html |archive-date=2019-10-25 |access-date=2018-05-23}} In a 2010 critique of the manga series Loveless, the feminist writer T. A. Noonan argued that, in Japanese culture, catgirl characteristics have a similar role to that of the Playboy Bunny in western culture, serving as a fetishization of youthful innocence.{{Cite journal |last=Noonan |first=T. A. |date=Fall 2010 |title="I Can't Get Excited for a Child, Ritsuka": Intersections of Gender, Identity, and Audience Ambiguity in Yun Kôga's Loveless |url=http://academinist.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/MP03_02_02Noonan_Child.pdf |url-status=live |journal=MP: An Online Feminist Journal |volume=3 |issue=2 |issn=1939-330X |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112002434/http://academinist.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/MP03_02_02Noonan_Child.pdf |archive-date=12 January 2016 |access-date=10 February 2013}}

According to the Japanese magazine Da 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.