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Is Hello Kitty A Cat? Viral Interview Saying She Is "Not A Cat" Leaves People Stunned

19 July 2024, 12:25

The revelation that Hello Kitty is a "personification of a cat" rather a literal cat has left people stunned. Picture: Carolyn Jenkins/Alamy Stock Photo, Derek Teo/Alamy Stock Photo

By Katie Louise Smith

"Hello Kitty is not a cat. She’s actually a little girl born and raised in the suburbs of London."

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The revelation that Hello Kitty is not actually a literal cat has swept the internet again, and people are shocked.

For those out there who are already big fans of Sanrio's beloved character, that information is nothing new at all. But now, thanks to a new video that's currently going viral on TikTok, people are stunned after her backstory was re-shared in an interview amid the Hello Kitty 50th anniversary celebrations.

Speaking to the Today Show, Jill Cook, the Director of Retail Business Development at Sanrio, addressed the common misconception that many people have about the character.

"Hello Kitty is not a cat. She’s actually a little girl born and raised in the suburbs of London. She has a mom and dad and a twin sister Mimmy—who is also her best friend," she said.

And yes, you read that correctly... Despite being created by Yuko Shimizu for a Japanese company, she's not actually Japanese either. She's English.

Is Hello Kitty a cat or a human?

So if Hello Kitty is not an actual, literal cat, what is she? Is she a human? Well, not quite. Hello Kitty is never described as a "human", she's only ever described as a "girl". She is actually an anthropomorphised cat, which means she has human traits and feline traits.

She stands on two legs, and is never depicted on all fours. Hello Kitty also has an actual cat as pet, called Charmmy Kitty.

Per a 2014 report from Kotaku who sought clarification on the very important matter, the specific word that the Sanrio spokesperson used to describe Hello Kitty was "gijinka", which means "anthropomorphisation" or "personification."

Hello Kitty is the personification of a cat, rather than an actual cat. The spokesperson did also state that it would be "going too far" to say, flat out, that Hello Kitty is not a cat.

Is Hello Kitty a cat? Viral TikTok video saying she is "not a cat" has left users stunned. Picture: Getty

TikTok users have been left stunned by this information. Replying in the comment section of Today's video, one user wrote: "So close! She is actually a cat!"

"She is 100% a cat stop it lol," another added, while a third wrote: "I'm sorry but she's 100% a cat and you can't convince me otherwise?"

Alongside several other users, one person joked: "Why does the little girl have have whiskers?"

Others are mostly just hung up on the fact that Hello Kitty is British and not Japanese. In Netflix's The Toys That Made Us docuseries, head designer Yuko Yamaguchi explains that Hello Kitty was purposely designed as a British character who lived in London because Japanese women loved England at the time she was created.

And there you have it!