What is Kemono Friends?
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Kemono Friends, also known as KemoFure, is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Mine Yoshizaki, that focuses on the adventures of anthropomorphized animal girls known simply as Friends. It began as a 2015 mobile game but has expanded into a manga, stage play and wildly successful 2017 anime with multiple new projects planned for the future. While it is a relatively new IP, the franchise has succeeded in making a name for itself on its path to becoming a "series that will last 100 years".
The universe of Kemono Friends, contrary to its innocent appearance, is expansive and complex. It boasts a cast of over 400 characters as well as an intricate and puzzling backstory. What's more, much of the series' media has never seen an official release outside of its native Japan. Our wiki, Japari Library, exists as a resource for the series' English-speaking fanbase. It features translations, detailed analyses of the franchise's lore, and information on Friends and the real creatures from which they came.
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Friend of the Week
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The Rock Dove, also known as the Pigeon, is a bird found almost everywhere in the world, especially in rocky areas and cities. They weigh about 250-350g and have a wingspan of roughly 70cm. They come in a variety of colours, though usually they're mostly grey with two black bands on the wings and green and purple iridescence on their necks but can also be white, reddish or almost completely dark grey.
Rock Doves are scavengers and will feed on seeds and grain but also garbage and food left over by humans. They usually walk and feed on the ground in flocks but are found in pairs during breeding season in spring. They will lay two eggs into their nests built on both natural and human-made ledges. Doves are highly protective of their young.
Though they aren't migratory, Rock Doves have an incredible sense of direction and will find back to their homes even if released at an unknown location 1,000 kilometers away. Pigeons were the first birds to be domesticated; for navigation, food, carrying messages, and research around 10,000 years ago. Through its sheer abundance, with an estimated 17-28 million pigeons living in Europe alone, the pigeon enables some of its predators to sustain themselves in cities as well.
Rock Doves Kemono Friends counterpart resembles the most common variation of the Pigeon with her grey hair, light grey vest, dark grey shirt and the dark grey skirt with a light grey band. She wears light red sneakers and socks as well as light grey pantyhose and green-purple sweatbands around her wrists and neck. She appeared in both the Nexon Game and Festival. She's proud of her ability to navigate without the need of tools and wants peace and calm more than anything. This makes her highly respected by Red Junglefowl, who wishes to be more peaceful but is very jumpy and easily startled.
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2018 is off to a good start with our largest poll ever! How'd that happen when the poll got put up so late, anyway? The poll results indicate that the "main" style of Kemono Friends' art, the illustrations drawn for every Friend by Mine Yoshizaki, are the most popular with our readers. With less than half of the votes that went to Mine's art, the 3D models featured in the Kemono Friends anime come next in line. Furai's manga art, as well as the chibi style of the newly-released Kemono Friends Pavilion trailed behind both, with 13 and 9 votes respectively. I guess you can't beat the original!
This month's poll is, as I'm sure many of you expected, all about Kemono Friends Pavilion, which was released at the end of January. How are you liking it so far? We're curious as to what aspect of the game (if any!) our readers like the most.
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Projects
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Official Guidebooks (Lore-Relevant Pages) Translation Progress
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Kemono Friends (2015 Mobile Game) Translation Progress
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Kemono Friends News
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09/21/2018:
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Collab
| A new collaboration with SEGA's word construction puzzle RPG Kotodoman has been announced to promote the second season of the Kemono Friends anime.
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Games
| An upcoming game by SEGA has been announced at the Tokyo Game Show, with more details coming in December.
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Anime
| Promoting the upcoming second season, a new visual has been posted, along with a Kemono Friends season 2 Twitter account being opened.
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Stage
| The first cast photos for Kemonos of the Snowy Night have been released via a new visual.
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Anime
| The fourth episode of the Welcome to Japari Park ONA has been released.
09/02/2018:
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Anime
| Season 2 of the highly successful Kemono Friends anime has been re-confirmed, along with a PV showing off its new animation.
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Games
| Kemono Friends Picross has been announced for release on the Nintendo Switch on October 4th of this year.
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Music
| Safari Drive, a new album by Doubutsu Biscuits, has been confirmed for an October 4th, 2018 release.
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Misc
| The official Kemono Friends website has been updated with a new look.
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Did You Know?
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- While the Generation ? Northern White-Faced Owl is called Professor Konoha, her Generation 2 counterpart was called Professor Konoha-chan.
- Most known types of Cerulean are based on real-world algae, both in design and name.
- The Kemono Friends anime only features a single island of Japari Park, known as the Kyōshū Region.
- Kemonoplasm enables Friends' tails to "clip through" their clothing.
- Kako and Nana are cousins.
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