THE FIRST CATS AND CATGIRLS IN JAPAN
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Green, and the first OVA made in Japan
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Midori no neko (the green cat) is the first OVA made in Japan by the mythical father of anime and manga: Osamu Tezuka.
This OVA is from October 10, 1983 and focuses on Green, a green cat that is said to attract fortune and misfortune to its owner.
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Bagi, the first CatGirl
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Ozamu Tezuka, was the creator of Manga and Anime, and of course the creation of the CatGirl had to pass through his hands.
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In the 1980s, the Japanese government approved the research on DNA combination. Tezuka, who in his mangas and animes expressed his concern about the misuse of technologies by the government, decided to carry out the animation project "Bagi monster of the mighty nature".
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In the anime, scientists create Bagi through genetic manipulation, the creature in question being the first CatGirl, dated August 19, 1984, the day the film was released in Japan.
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Unlike Tezuka's previous films, the film is not aimed at a child audience, as it is basically a criticism of the Japanese government. Raw scenes abound, such as in the scientific laboratory where animals being tortured in the name of science in experiments worthy of the Nazi doctor Mengele. Tearful scenes also abound to accentuate the message of protest.
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I will not analyze the plot of the film, but I will mention Bagi's characteristics:
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Bagi, being the first Cat Girl, has an old-fashioned "character design", i.e. more anthropomorphic features than the current CatGirl we know and love (a human girl with only cat ears and tail).
Bagi, when running, can do it with her two feet or using her four limbs.
Bagi's face resembles that of a feline with a cat's mouth and muzzle, and her face is covered with hair. This coat is short, but at the end of the film it grows.
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Kimba the white lion, the first anime in color
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Janguru Taitei or known in the world as Kimba the white lion, was the first color anime in the history of Japan, the year of the series' premiere was October 6, 1965.
The manga dates from November 1950.
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The story begins with Cesar, a white lion who is killed by humans, Cesar's partner, Snowene who is captured, gives birth to her son on a boat, this baby that is also white will be called Kimba. The ship sinks but Kimba manages to escape and has many adventures until she returns to Africa.
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Yes, the first Anime in color was of a feline!.
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The first catgirl in the mangas
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Bagi is the first catgirl in the anime and who is the first cat girl in the manga?
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Mmm.... that's a tough one. The oldest I could find would be Alpeia Artemis, from the mangaka: Masamune Shirow, a genius who made a name for himself all over the world with works like: Dominion Tank Police, Black Magic M66, Appleseed, Ghost in the Shell, etc.
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The manga dates from February 15, 1985, one year after Bagi. As one of the first CatGirls, she looks like Bagi, i.e. furry (fur on the whole body and animal face).
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Catrap the first game with a catgirl
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In 1990, for the gameboy console, the game Catrap (cat + trap) was released, a game whose game system was basically to move blocks through a certain number of levels.
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Catrap, has its origin in a game made by the Japanese Yutaka Isokawa in 1985 for the computer Sharp in 1985 game that was called Pitman (man of the well)
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The story is about two protagonists who enter a haunted house and are transformed into a catgirl and a catboy respectively. Both must escape the haunted house and regain their original human form.
The protagonists have an aesthetics taken from the modern anime and manga, that is to say they only have ears and tail in their catpeople form.
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I tried to see images of the original game of 1985 but I could only find the game of 1990 on youtube, but if the protagonists of the game for the Sharp computer are catboys, then they would be the first catboys in history, only after Ozamu Tezuka's Bagui who created the first catgirl in 1984.
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The first Japanese cartoon of a cat with sound
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Hi, I'm not going to talk about the history of Japanese cartoons, a really big topic. I will simply summarize it by saying that what we call ANIME/MANGA is the creation of Ozamu Tezuka, the drawings with big eyes and extensive and deep plot are the creation of Tezuka's genius. But before Tezuka, the Japanese were already making cartoons, these weren't mangas or animes, I'd call them pre-animes.
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Kuro Nyago (the black cat), is a 3-minute cartoon, drawn and directed by Novuro Ofuji who also plays the producer. The year 1929.
This would be the first Japanese cartoon with sound featuring a cat; and second, in the entire history of Japan, as the first cartoon with sound would be Tairiki Taro No Mucha Shugyo (The Bold Training of the Mighty Taro) from 1928.
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Kuro Nyago, starts when the cherry blossoms are blossoming and some children pass by singing, saying that they would like to see a cat with a red collar and who talks and who can dance. Behind the cherry tree, a cat emerges to dance and calls his younger brother to join him in the dance.
The song says that cats evolved from tigers. The surprised children ask how this is possible and the cat replies that it was necessary so as not to frighten the children.
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Felicia, the first catgirl fighter and the nationality that was invented for her
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Felicia is a character from the game DARKSTALKERS (Vampire in Japan), a Capcom company game that was released in 1994.
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What I always found strange was that Felicia was a U.S. citizen, since she is classified as a Bakeneko in the game, and this creature is originally from Japan.
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Perhaps the explanation lies in the fact that there was already one Darkstalkers character from the land of the rising sun (Bishamon - the samurai ghost warrior).
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As the game is from 1994, Felicia the Cat Girl, has several anthropomorphic parts on her body (her four limbs) as well as some fur on her body. If the game had been older, it would surely have been covered in hair like Ozamu Tezuka's Cat Girl: Bagi (1984), and if it had been a more recent game, Felicia would have had only ears and tail (plus more powers).
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Let's hope to see a fourth installment of this game as the people in charge indicate between the lines that they are not going to make a new game (if they answer something else it would seem to be so as not to upset the fans in front of them). I hope I'm wrong since Felicia's fans are so many.
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Felicia would be the first catgirl fighter in a street fighter game. Since the first female fighter in a fighting game is Chun Li (year 1991)
Translation done with DeepL and myself, sorry for any grammar and punctuation errors, thank you.
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