Kemono

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Kemono-Taiheiki, a work of Japanese art from the Muromachi period.

Kemono (Japanese 獣 or けもの "beast") is a genre of Japanese art and character design that prominently features anthropomorphic animal characters. It is used widely in visual arts, especially drawing and painting, and can be found in many manga, anime, and video game works, perhaps most notably Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog games. Anthropomorphic animal characters in the kemono genre are frequently called Jūjin (Japanese 獣人 or じゅうじん "therianthrope"; alternatively, these characters are also sometimes read as kemonobito "beast-human"). Their design differs from artist to artist, but they generally employ animal traits considered cute and endearing. However, most kemono characters retain a fundamentally human personality, seldom behaving as the actual animals from which they have been anthropomorphic; as such, kemono are typically depicted living as humans do.