is a Japanese video game series and

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program, o ...

created by manga artist

Mine Yoshizaki is a Japanese mangaka, manga creator. His most well known works are ''Sgt. Frog'', a manga he created which later received an anime adaption, and ''Kemono Friends'', a multimedia franchise for which Yoshizaki serves as concept designer. Career ...

. The first project was a

mobile game A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any Mobile device, portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet computer, table ...

developed by

Nexon Nexon Co., Ltd. (formerly ) is a South Korean video game developer and publisher. It develops and publishes titles including ''MapleStory'', ''Crazyracing Kartrider'', ''Sudden Attack'', ''Dungeon & Fighter'', ''The First Descendant'', and ''Bl ...

, which ran from March 2015 to December 2016. A

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

by Furai was serialized in

Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...

's ''

Monthly Shōnen Ace is a monthly '' shōnen'' manga magazine in Japan published by Kadokawa Shoten, started in 1994. Unlike the big ''shōnen'' weeklies with circulation figures in the millions, ''Ace'' is aimed at a less mainstream audience, and has a particular em ...

'' from May 2015 to March 2017. A second game of the series was released by

Bushiroad is a Japanese entertainment company, producer of collectible card games and trading cards, and publisher of mobile apps and games, which was founded in 2007 by Takaaki Kidani and is headquartered in Tokyo. Bushiroad created and owns various med ...

in January 2018. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series produced by

Yaoyorozu was a Japanese animation studio producing anime using cel shading and 3D computer graphics technology. History The company was founded in Minato, Tokyo by the screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) ...

aired from January to March 2017. A second season by Tomason aired from January to April 2019.

Plot

Japari Park is a large zoo, filled with extant,

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

cryptids Cryptids are animals or other beings whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology, the study of cryptids, is a pseudoscience claiming that such beings may exist somewhere in the wild; it has been widely cri ...

species, and some

legendary creature A legendary creature is a type of extraordinary or supernatural being that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), and may be featured in historical accounts before modernity, but has not been scientifically shown to exist. In t ...

s. Due to a mysterious substance known as "Sandstar", many animals have become

anthropomorphized Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

into girls known as . The manga ''Kemono Friends: Welcome to Japari Park!'' follows a park keeper named Nana who looks after the various characters in Japari Park. The manga is set earlier than the rest of the works in the franchise. In the Nexon mobile game, the park has been closed to visitors due to an outbreak of aggressive and amorphous creatures known as "Ceruleans", which the Friends have to battle with the help of the player and the park guide, Mirai. In the first season of the anime, which is set sometime after the mobile game, a girl wakes up in Japari Park with no recollection of who she is or how she got there. She encounters a serval Friend, who names the girl "Kaban". Together, they set out on an adventure to find out what kind of animal Kaban is, passing through multiple regions of Japari Park and meeting new friends along the way.

Characters

Kemono Friends

Main characters

; : :The main protagonist of the anime series. She is a young girl who finds herself in Japari Park with no memory of who she is or where she is from. Her name was given to her by Serval due to the backpack she carries. Shy yet resourceful, she travels through Japari Park along with Serval to find out her identity while encountering more Friends along the way, eventually discovering that she is a human. She is the only character with whom Lucky Beast will directly communicate. In ''Kemono Friends 2'', she reappears as an adult, working alongside the owls to research the phenomenon of Ceruleans. ; : :A serval cat that was originally from the

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

Area of Japari Park. She is the first friend to meet Kaban, eager to join her in the search for her identity. Energetic and curious, Serval is often amazed by the skills and talents of Kaban and the Friends they encounter on their journey. She reappears as a main character in ''Kemono Friends 2'', though appears to have lost her memory of her time with Kaban.

Key Friends

; : :A

fennec fox The fennec fox (''Vulpes zerda'') is a small fox native to the deserts of North Africa, ranging from Western Sahara and Mauritania to the Sinai Peninsula. Its most distinctive feature is its unusually large ears, which serve to dissipate hea ...

who accompanies Raccoon as she pursues Kaban and Serval. She also appears in the original mobile game with a similar role. ; : :A

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

who is chasing after Kaban and Serval, believing that she stole something from her. In the Japanese version, she calls herself "Arai-san" instead of using the first-person pronoun. She also appears in the original mobile game with a similar role. ; : :An all-

penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

idol group, consisting of , a

royal penguin The royal penguin (''Eudyptes schlegeli'') is a species of penguin, which can be found only on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island and adjacent islands. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the royal penguin as Leas ...

; , an

emperor penguin The emperor penguin (''Aptenodytes forsteri'') is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is Endemism in birds, endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in length and weighing fr ...

; , a

gentoo penguin The gentoo penguin ( ) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a penguin species (or possibly a species complex) in the genus ''Pygoscelis'', most closely related to the Adélie penguin (''P. adeliae'') and the chinstrap penguin (''P. antarcticus''). The earl ...

; , a

rockhopper penguin The rockhopper penguins are three closely related taxa of crested penguins that have been traditionally treated as a single species and are sometimes split into three species. Not all experts agree on the classification of these penguins. Some ...

; and , a

humboldt penguin The Humboldt penguin (''Spheniscus humboldti'') is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, along the Pacific coast of Peru and Chile. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos penguin. ...

. ; and :, Yuka Aisaka :A reoccurring character in the manga series. An Ezo red fox who is rather lazy and enjoys eating Japari buns. ; and : :A

northern white-faced owl The northern white-faced owl (''Ptilopsis leucotis'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. The southern white-faced owl (''P. granti'') was formerly included in this species and the two were known as the white-faced scops-owl. It is fo ...

and

Eurasian eagle owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total ...

– respectively referred to as and – who reside in Japari library. : ; : : A friend based on the

Sand Cat The sand cat (''Felis margarita'') is a small wild cat that inhabits sandy and stony deserts far from water sources. With its sandy to light grey fur, it is well camouflaged in a desert environment. Its head-and-body length ranges from with a ...

that appears in many different pieces of Kemono Friends media. Her voice actor in the 2017 anime is also the singer for the ending theme . : ; : : A friend based on a

Cryptid Cryptids are animals or other beings whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology, the study of cryptids, is a pseudoscience claiming that such beings may exist somewhere in the wild; it has been widely cri ...

Tsuchinoko In Japanese folklore, the , literally translating to "child of hammer", is a snake-like being. The name ''tsuchinoko'' is prevalent in Western Japan, including Kansai and Shikoku; the creature is known as in Northeastern Japan. Description Tsu ...

. She has appeared in many different pieces of Kemono Friends media, most notably the Stage Plays and the 2017 anime. : ; : :A friend based on the

Hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...

that appeared in many Kemono Friends media including the 2017 anime, Welcome To Japari Park manga and the original mobile game. : ; : :A friend based on the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

that appears in many Kemono Friends media. Most notably the 2017 anime. : ; : :An

Asian Small-Clawed Otter The Asian small-clawed otter (''Aonyx cinereus''), also called oriental small-clawed otter and small-clawed otter, is an otter species native to South and Southeast Asia. It has short claws that do not extend beyond the pads of its webbed digits ...

Friend that appeared in many Kemono Friends media including the 2017 anime. : ; : :A Friend based on the Japanese Crested Ibis. She is infamous for being tone-deaf across many of her appearances in Kemono Friends media. : ; : An

Alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recentl ...

Friend known mostly for running the Japari Cafe in the 2017 anime. ; : Brown Bear is a member of a group of Cerulean Hunters in her most notable appearance in the 2017 anime. ; : :African Wild Dog is a member of a group of Cerulean Hunters in her most notable appearance, the 2017 anime.

Kemono Friends 2

; : : The main protagonist of ''Kemono Friends 2'', named after the sound of his stomach grumbling. He emerged from a mysterious laboratory in Japari Park, with his only clue home being a sketchbook. ; : :A

caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...

who appears alongside Serval in ''Kemono Friends 2''. ; and : :A

giant armadillo The giant armadillo (''Priodontes maximus''), colloquially ''tatu-canastra'', ''tatou'', ''ocarro'' or ''tatú carreta'', is the largest living species of armadillo (although their extinct relatives, the Glyptodontidae, glyptodonts, were much l ...

and

giant pangolin The giant pangolin (''Smutsia gigantea'') is a species of pangolin from genus '' Smutsia'' of subfamily Smutsiinae within the family Manidae. It is the largest living species of pangolins. Members of the species inhabit Africa with a range stret ...

– respectively nicknamed Arma and Sen – who work as detectives who will take on any request in exchange for food. ; and : :A

greater lophorina The greater lophorina (''Lophorina latipennis''), formerly a subspecies of the superb bird-of-paradise, is a species of passerine bird in the bird-of-paradise family Paradisaeidae. It is found in the central and northeast montane regions of New ...

and

western parotia The western or Arfak parotia (''Parotia sefilata'') is a medium-sized, approximately 33 cm long, bird-of-paradise with a medium-length tail. Parotia comes from the Greek ''parotis'', a lock or curl of hair by the ear, alluding to the head wi ...

Other characters

; : :A small, robotic creature also referred to as by the Friends. While he does not respond to the Friends themselves, he will directly answer questions and statements made by Kaban, providing information on Japari Park, Friends, and needed items when trouble arises. ; : :A park guide who worked at Japari Park when it was still open and adores animals. During her time at the park, she recorded various reports which are played through Lucky Beast. A different Serval () worked alongside Mirai when Japari Park was open. ; :The main protagonist of the manga ''Kemono Friends: Welcome to Japari Park!''. She works as a caretaker of the animal girls at Japari Park.

Media

Video games

launched their first smartphone app in Japan in March 2015. The app shut down on December 14, 2016, which is one month before the anime's premiere. Nexon initially stated that there were no plans to restart the service despite the popularity of the anime series, although the company later announced that it is possible to relaunch, but no final decision has been made. On April 23, a new game in development by

was announced. On August 14, its name was revealed to be , and will be a simulation game. Originally meant to be released in late 2017, the release date was pushed back to January 26, 2018. ''Kemono Friends Picross'', a

nonogram Nonograms, also known as Hanjie, Paint by Numbers, Griddlers, Pic-a-Pix, and Picross, are picture logic puzzles in which cells in a grid must be colored or left blank according to numbers at the edges of the grid to reveal a hidden picture. In ...

game developed by

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

for their ''

Picross ''Picross'' is a series of puzzle video games developed by Jupiter Corporation and owned by Nintendo. It features a series of nonogram puzzles solved by the player. The series started in 1995 with ''Mario's Picross'' for the Game Boy. After man ...

'' series, was released internationally for

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

on October 4, 2018. The third smartphone app ''Kemono Friends 3'', by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

launched in Japan on 24 September 2019. Sega later transferred the publishing rights to Appirits. The arcade version ''Kemono Friends 3 Planet Tour'' was launched on 26 September 2019 and shut down on 30 September 2021. On April 16, 2020,

launched a crossover event, ''Kemono Friends ×

Mabinogi The ''Mabinogion'' () is a collection of the earliest Welsh prose stories, compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created –1410, as well as a few earlier frag ...

''. On may 5, 2022 a Pachislot game developed by Rodeo and published by Sammy titled ''Pachislot Kemono Friends'' was released. The game featured a collaboration with the Beast King Pachislot series featuring Friends based on some of the animal characters from Beast King such as Beast King Hippopotamus and Beast King Lion. On May 31, 2022, an officially-licensed mobile RPG developed by Chinese game developer ZLONGAME- titled ''Kemono Friends Kingdom''- was launched on servers for the Singapore/Malaysia region, the game language being Simplified Chinese. Servers for mainland China and Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan would launch soon after; however, all Asian servers would close on April 14, 2023, preceding an announcement on May 12, 2023, that the game would be receiving a global release. Shortly thereafter, in the same year, select regions would have access to three beta tests through the Google Play Store, occurring from May 18 to May 31, June 9 to June 21, and June 28 to July 3, respectively. On July 13, 2023, an open beta launched for iOS and Android devices.

Manga

illustrated by Fly, titled , began serialization in

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...

's '' Shōnen Ace'' magazine from May 2015. The first ''tankōbon volume'' was released on December 26, 2016. At their panel in Anime Expo,

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

announced their license to the manga. In April 2018, Tokyopop released the German version of the manga on July 26, 2018. Another manga series, ''Kemono Friends: À La Carte'', which began serialization in 2017, was licensed by Yen Press in 2019. It is an anthology series, compiling stories and illustrations by various artists, with the second volume at one point being the highest selling book on Amazon Japan in August 2017. A manga adaptation of ''Kemono Friends 2'' began serialization in ''

'' on January 26, 2019.

Anime

The anime television series, produced by

, aired in Japan between January 10, 2017, and March 28, 2017; and was co-produced, financed and streamed simultaneously by

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

. The opening theme is by Dōbutsu Biscuits×PPP, while the ending theme is by Mewhan. Original content for

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Niconico , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese sound symbolism, Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, accordi ...

and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on April 5, 2017. Additional shorts have been created in collaboration with

Japan Racing Association The Japan Racing Association () is a public company established in Japan under a law to operate Chūō Keiba (中央競馬 Central horse racing) and to manage racecourses, betting facilities, and horse-training facilities in the country. It was ...

Animelo Summer Live ''Animelo Summer Live'', abbreviated as , is the biggest annual anime song music festival in Japan hosted by Dwango and Nippon Cultural Broadcasting. Animelo Summer Live has been held every summer since 2005. Description Animelo performers are ...

2017, and

Nissin Foods is a Japanese food company. Founded in 1948 by Momofuku Ando in Izumiōtsu, Osaka, it owns Nissin Food Products, Nissin Chilled Foods, Nissin Frozen Foods, and Myojo Foods. It is known for development of the world's first marketed brand of i ...

Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. History Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retr ...

distributed the series for Crunchyroll in North America, and produced an English dub by Sound Cadence Studios. The full English dub cast had been announced at

Otakon Otakon ( ) is an annual three-day anime convention held during July/August. From 1999 to 2016, it took place at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland's Inner Harbor district; in 2017, it moved to the Walter E. Washing ...

2019, and released on Blu-ray on September 24, 2019. The anime gained additional worldwide attention in 2017 due to coverage of the unusual story of Grape-kun, a

Humboldt penguin The Humboldt penguin (''Spheniscus humboldti'') is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, along the Pacific coast of Peru and Chile. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos penguin. ...

at the Saitama Tobu Zoo that developed a romantic attraction to a cardboard cutout of the character Hululu. A second anime season was announced to be greenlit for production on July 26, 2017, and was officially confirmed on September 2, 2018. The second season is animated by Tomason, with Ryuichi Kimura and Takuya Matsumoto replacing Tatsuki as director and writer, respectively. The rest of the cast and staff reprised their roles. The second season aired from January 14 to April 1, 2019. The opening theme is "Notteke~ Japari Beat," by Dōbutsu Biscuits×PPP. The ending theme from episodes 1–5 is "Hoshi o Tsunagete" by Gothic×Luck. From episode 6-onwards, Gothic×Luck performed the series' second ending theme "Kimi wa Kaeru Basho." A short anime titled ''Kemono Friends 3'' has been greenlit for production. An

original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animat ...

mini-series based on the original mobile game, titled , began streaming on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.VTuber A or is an online entertainer who uses a virtual Avatar (computing), avatar generated using computer graphics. Real-time motion capture software or technology are often—but not always—used to capture movement. The digital trend originated i ...

project titled ''Kemono Friends V Project'', ''KemoV'' for short, was launched on

on April 26, 2021. The project currently has 9 active members, each based on characters and designs from the ''Kemono Friends'' franchise.

Reception

Anime

Season one

Initial criticism often latched onto the quality and style of the CGI animation. Critic

Hiroki Azuma (born May 9, 1971) is a Japanese cultural critic, novelist, and philosopher. He is the co-founder and former director of Genron, an independent institute in Tokyo, Japan. Biography Azuma was born in Mitaka, Tokyo. Azuma received his PhD in ...

reported on Twitter that he stopped watching partway through the first episode. However, its popularity increased explosively after the release of the fourth episode. In reference to the simplistic and repetitive nature of the show, it has been described by critical bloggers as "causing one's IQ to melt" and "lowering one's intelligence". Despite its low production quality, the anime series earned praise from critics and viewers in Japan due to the storyline and characters, becoming a fad in the country. Nick Creamer of ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

'' gave the series an overall grade of B, praising the worldbuilding and criticizing the visual aspects. Multiple phrases and exclamations from the anime became popular keywords on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

; ''Kemono Friends''-related phrases have been tweeted by the accounts of

Sharp Sharp or SHARP may refer to: Acronyms * SHARP (helmet ratings) (Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme), a British motorcycle helmet safety rating scheme * Self Help Addiction Recovery Program, a charitable organisation founded in 199 ...

and Warner Bros. Japan. The first episode of ''Kemono Friends'' quickly surpassed the first episode of ''

Is the Order a Rabbit? , often abbreviated as , is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Koi. The series has been serialized in Houbunsha's '' Manga Time Kirara Max'' magazine since March 2011 and the chapters collected into twelve ''tan ...

'' (9 million views as of September 2017; uploaded on April 16, 2014) as well as other popular shows like ''

Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to a ...

'' in total views on

NicoNico Douga , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, according to Alexa Internet. Th ...

. By February 5, it had surpassed 1 million views, by April 4, it had surpassed 5 million views, and by August 24, it had reached a record-breaking 10 million views. The week after episode 12 and around the time episodes would normally air, demand for an episode 13 reached Twitter's international trends list, and the episode 12.1 short that was uploaded that day (April 5) had reached over 1 million views on both Niconico and YouTube by April 7. The opening theme song "Yokoso Japari Park e" rose to 3rd place in the iTunes charts upon release. It was revealed on May 20 that "Yokoso Japari Park e" had reached gold status (sales of 100,000+ in Japan).

Gen Hoshino is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and writer. Career Music From its formation in 2000 until its disbandment in 2015, Hoshino led the instrumental band Sakerock, where he played marimba and guitar. They released over ten albums. ...

has expressed high praise of the song. Hisashi, guitarist of the band

Glay Glay (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band formed in Hakodate in 1988. The core four members, vocalist Teru (singer), Teru, guitarists Takuro (musician), Takuro and Hisashi (musician), Hisashi, and bassist Jiro (musician), ...

, was inspired to create a guitar arrangement of the opening theme song after watching episode 11. Multiple other ''Kemono Friends'' merchandise topped Amazon rankings upon announcement. The unexpected popularity of the show created a shortage in supply and reservations had to be placed on backorder.

Season two

Season two was received with mixed-to-poor reaction among Japanese audiences. The anime was criticized for foreshadowed plot points being left unresolved and a "perceived malice towards season 1" of ''Kemono Friends'', an opinion compounded by controversies surrounding ''Kemono Friends 2''. Episode 9 and 12 was particularly poorly received due to its contents, with the latter breaking the record of the least positively rated anime episode on ''NicoNico Namahousou'' at 2.6%, surpassing the previously held record of 2.8% by ''

Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V , stylized as ''Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V'', is a Japanese anime series animated by Gallop. It is the fourth spin-off anime series in the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' franchise following ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal''. The series aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from April 6, 2014 ...

'''s 148th episode. Despite the negative reactions, first episode reactions were generally positive, and some viewers liked both seasons. ''Gadget Tsūshin'' listed both the ninth episode's title and "Gomasuri Kusō Bird" (a fan name referring to the roadrunner) in their 2019 anime buzzwords list.

Awards

Controversies

Dispute between Kadokawa and Yaoyorozu

On September 25, 2017, the director of the anime, Tatsuki, revealed on Twitter that Kadokawa had decided to replace him for the production of the second season. Fan response included immense condemnation of Kadokawa and widespread support of Tatsuki, as Tatsuki is regarded as being a highly instrumental part of the anime's charm and success. Fans left angry comments ''en masse'' towards Kadokawa on Niconico Douga's stream of the first episode, with some declaring that they would cancel their Niconico Douga premium membership with the service in response to Tatsuki's firing, as Dwango iconico's ownerand Kadokawa are both child companies of

Kadokawa Dwango , formerly is a Japanese conglomerate based in Fujimi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Created as a result of the merger of the original Kadokawa Corporation and Dwango Co., Ltd. on October 1, 2014, the company has holdings in entertainment (including a ...

. ''

The Nikkei ''The Nikkei'', also known as , is the flagship publication of Nikkei, Inc. (based in Tokyo) and the world's largest financial newspaper, with a daily circulation exceeding 1.73 million copies. The Nikkei 225, a stock market index for the Tokyo ...

'' reported that stock prices for

fell by 3.3% compared to the previous day at the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. The exchange is owned by Japan Exchange Group (JPX), a holding company that it also lists (), and operated by Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., a wholly owned sub ...

as a result of the news. In the weeks before this incident, animation studio Yaoyorozu had released a free teaser side episode to its fans, pursuant to their agreement with Kadokawa that Yaoyorozu would be allowed full creative freedom in developing Kemono Friends, an agreement made at a time where the Kemono Friends IP appeared to be near worthless, an agreement they wished to change in response to the soaring value of the IP. In response to the controversy, production committee of the ''Kemono Friends'' anime announced that director Tatsuki and the animation studio Yaoyorozu had been using the ''Kemono Friends'' property on its own without consulting all concerned parties and that Yaoyorozu would not agree to a normalization in communication and withdrew from the project as a result. A September 26 ''Kemono Friends'' streaming program on Niconico Douga then featured several voice actresses from the anime publicly apologizing for the ongoing controversy, despite having little connection to the corporate decisions made. This led to further backlash against Kadokawa, with accusations that they had used the actresses to deflect blame from the company itself. On December 27, 2017, Yoshitada Fukuhara, the animation producer, confirmed that Yaoyorozu would ultimately not go on to produce the second season. Tatsuki has also claimed on Twitter on September 14, 2018, that he was never paid for his involvement with writing the script, or any of the royalties concerning the anime. TV Tokyo's producer for this anime, Nobuyuki Hosoda, responded to fan questions on Twitter stating that he couldn't provide an answer based on the position that he was in.

Anime setting and drawing plagiarism allegations

Concerns rose among Internet users on February 2, 2018, that the then-upcoming game, ''Kemono Friends Puzzle Gokko'', was plagirizing artwork and setting from the first season of the anime without the consent of Tatsuki. Yoshitada Fukuhara weighed in on this as well, stating that he was never informed of this matter and that he would look in to it. 3 weeks later, both the ''Kemono Friends'' official Twitter account and later on a press release by the developer of ''Puzzle Gokko'' issued an apology for the troubles caused and that any legal issues surrounding such issues were resolved.

Audition script plagiarism controversy

On September 2, 2018, the second season of ''Kemono Friends'' was once again announced on their official website and casting calls were published for a new idol unit related to the show. However, it was quickly revealed by the owner of a website called ''Mezasou! Seiyu'' that the sample script for the upcoming audition was lifted from the website without the required proper crediting. The offending script was taken down the following day, and Eiji Kato, one of the producers of Kemono Friends, offered an apology on Twitter and offered to also apologize to the website owner in person but was turned down.

Season 2 producer social media controversy

After the end of the second season, TV Tokyo released an apology statement in regards to a staff member's behavior on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

and their behavior towards viewers. This apology was thought to be about Nobuyuki Hosoya, a producer of both seasons of the show, and later confirmed to be about him by TV Tokyo's Yukio Kawasaki. Hosoya had been accused of making taunting and agitating comments towards critics of ''Kemono Friends 2'' on Twitter and making fun of their comments. Hosoya admitted to his actions being inappropriate. Hosoya was later transferred completely away from anime related work by TV Tokyo, and ultimately leaving TV Tokyo completely, with his name disappearing from all anime he was involved in. Although TV Tokyo claimed it was only part of a regularly planned reshuffle of personnel, he had previously only worked in anime-related work.

Legal concerns over Blu-ray purchase benefits

Concerns of misrepresentation were raised by fans on promotional materials for the official

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

discs of ''Kemono Friends 2.'' Consumers pointed out that no mentions were made to the fact that the "purchase benefit" listed on promotional materials failed to make mention of the fact that an additional commission was required to apply for such benefits via postal money order, leading to complaints and concerns over whether the production committee breached the "Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations" (不当景品類及び不当表示防止法). KADOKAWA issued an apology and correction statement on June 7, 2019, on the official website of ''Kemono Friends 2,'' stating that the benefits will be free and that anyone who already paid in would be refunded.

References

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