CATDOLL: "Kemono Friends" becomes the dark horse of January's new series. There seems to be a hidden story behind its popularity.

Which is the most anticipated new anime in January? More than a month after all the animations were aired, Japanese audiences finally gave the answer - unexpectedly, "Kemono Friends" became the biggest dark horse of the new anime in January.

Currently, the popularity of Kemono Friends in Japan is rising at an alarming rate, which is completely beyond the expectations of everyone in and outside the industry. You know, this animation adapted from a mobile game had stopped operating before it was broadcast. Unexpectedly, as a derivative TV animation, it actually surpassed the game itself, which is quite a sense of black humor and shocking.

Whether it is the discussion on the Internet or the top of Amazon's sales charts, you can see traces of "Kemono Friends". For example, according to CKWorks statistics, the proportion of live users of the fifth episode of "Kemono Friends" animation is as high as 240%, which shows how popular it is. Influenced by the popularity of the animation, various fan art related to "Kemono Friends" has also skyrocketed, forming a new trend in the circle.

In the sales ranking of picture books on the Amazon website, the official official book of "Kemono Friends" which comes with a BD of the first two episodes of the animation took the top spot on the list, and the single CD also ranked among the top ten on the Amazon CD list, which is probably incomparable to other animations of the same period.

So why is this work so popular? This is inseparable from the unique obscure setting, character image creation and cute and healing plot. In the ED of "Kemono Friends", various ruins-like scenes are often seen. Some people speculate that this seems to foreshadow the "end of the world" after the mobile game is shut down.

In addition, the characters designed by Yoshizaki Kannon are also very impressive. For example, the hippo that appeared in the first episode, at first glance, can't see any hippo elements, but after the explanation of enthusiastic netizens, it finally dawned on me - it turns out that Yoshizaki Kannon took the hippo's mouth and facial contours into consideration...

Of course, a happy and healing plot is equally important. When watching "Kemono Friends", through the interactions between the characters, the audience seems to be able to forget all the painful things in reality, whether it is the pressure brought by the workplace or school, it seems to be gone with the wind. In short, is there any animation more suitable for escaping reality than "Kemono Friends"?

Even the official of "Kemono Friends" was not prepared for the popularity of the animation, and the animation director even tweeted that he was shocked by the popularity of "Kemono Friends". I wonder if the original mobile game will be able to be launched again under the popularity of the animation...

The animation of "Kemono Friends" is adapted from the mobile game launched by the Korean game company Nexon in 2015. The background of this work is the "Japali Zoo" full of mysteries of various animals. The game contains many girlish animals and you can make friends with them. This animation will be produced in full 3D animation, which will restore the world view of the game while also bringing a brand new story.

For more new animations, please visit Anime Star's January 2017 New Animation Special>>>