is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Kemono Friends Project. The project was launched around 2014 by Kadokawa's Kajii Hitoshi. Manga artist Mine Yoshizaki was appointed as the concept designer for the characters and worldview. The first project was a mobile game developed by Nexon, which ran from March 2015 to December 2016. A manga by Furai was serialized in Kadokawa's Monthly Shōnen Ace from May 2015 to March 2017. A second game of the series was released by Bushiroad in January 2018. An anime television series produced by Yaoyorozu 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, extinct, cryptids species, and some legendary creatures. Due to a mysterious substance known as "Sandstar", many animals have become anthropomorphized 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 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 who accompanies Raccoon as she pursues Kaban and Serval. She also appears in the original mobile game with a similar role.
A raccoon 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 idol group, consisting of , a royal penguin; , an emperor penguin; , a gentoo penguin; , a rockhopper penguin; and , a humboldt 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 and Eurasian eagle owl – respectively referred to as and – who reside in Japari library.
A friend based on the Sand Cat 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, Tsuchinoko. 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 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 that appears in many Kemono Friends media. Most notably the 2017 anime.
An Asian Small-Clawed Otter 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 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 who appears alongside Serval in Kemono Friends 2. and
A giant armadillo and giant pangolin – respectively nicknamed Arma and Sen – who work as detectives who will take on any request in exchange for food. and
A greater lophorina and western parotia.
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
Nexon 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 Bushiroad 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 game developed by Jupiter for their Picross series, was released internationally for Nintendo Switch on October 4, 2018.
The third smartphone app Kemono Friends 3, by Sega launched in Japan on 24 September 2019. Sega later transferred the publishing rights to Appirits. The arcade version Kemono Friends 3 Planet Tours was launched on 26 September 2019 and shut down on 30 September 2021.
On April 16, 2020, Nexon launched a crossover event, Kemono Friends × Mabinogi.
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. In the summer of 2025, Teravit had a collab with Kemono Friends introducing Terafit x Kemono Friends.
Manga A manga illustrated by Fly, titled , began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten'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 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 Monthly Shōnen Ace on January 26, 2019.
Anime
The anime television series, produced by Yaoyorozu, aired in Japan between January 10, 2017, and March 28, 2017; and was co-produced, financed and streamed simultaneously by Crunchyroll. The opening theme is by Dōbutsu Biscuits×PPP, while the ending theme is by Mewhan. Original content for TV Tokyo's AniTele service was released from April 1, 2017. An unofficial "episode 12.1" 2-minute short was uploaded by the director to Niconico and YouTube on April 5, 2017. Additional shorts have been created in collaboration with Japan Racing Association, Animelo Summer Live 2017, and Nissin Foods. Discotek Media 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 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 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 mini-series based on the original mobile game, titled , began streaming on TV Tokyo's AnimeTele service from August 10, 2018. Crunchyroll began streaming the series from October 16, 2018.
Stage play A stage play adaptation of Kemono Friends with an original storyline ran at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX in Tokyo from 2017 June 14 to 18. Hiroki Murakami directed the play and penned the script while some of the characters were portrayed by the same actors who voiced them in the anime series. It ran again in 2018 from January 13 to 21.
VTuber project A VTuber project titled Kemono Friends V Project, KemoV for short, was launched on YouTube 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