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Anthropomorphized characters amaze, frighten us, leave us wanting more

Preston Phro Mar 3, 2014
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Anthropomorphized characters are both incredibly popular and prevalent in Japan, as you’re probably already very aware. From battleships to Japanese companies and municipalities, there’s seemingly nothing that can’t be made human–and probably cute as well! And, perhaps as a challenge to what we assume must be Rule 38 of the Internet–anything can be anthropomorphized and if it hasn’t been anthropomorphized yet, someone will do it–one Japanese Internet user took to 2Chan to request, simply enough, “Images of anthropomorphization, please.”

And the Internet gave him exactly what he wanted, with everything from Lipton Ice tea and Doraemon in sexy/creepy human form to an anthropomorphized version of Monday itself. Click below to see what was on display! (Note: Not all of these images are entirely safe for work.)

Doraemon

A robotic cat from the future, Doraemon and his human pal Nobita have been entertaining Japanese children (and adults) since 1969. The blue catbot is perhaps one of the most recognizable–if not the most recognizable–Japanese characters ever. You’d think he’d be great for turning into a human, but it turns out things get…weird. Fast.

▼Here’s a moe Doraemon digging around in his/her pouch for…uhh…something.

▼And taking things in another direction here’s a super-buff Doraemon,
ready to be cast in the next Expendables movies.

▼One more sexy, buff Doraemon–perfect for White Day!

▼We’re guessing that this is Host Club Doraemon.

▼And this is where nightmares come from.

Delicious Mascots

Another favorite for humanifying is food products. While McDonald’s has the creepy Mayor McCheese (are we supposed to eat his head??), Japanese food mascots tend to be bit cuter and little less unsettling.

We begin with, er, Lipton Ice tea. Now that’s one racy tea-bag!

And here are the anthropomorphized versions of Whiterollita (left) and Rumando (right), two popular Japanese brands of cookies.

▼As tasty as they may look, please don’t try to eat the girls!

For a busy businessperson, there’s often little time for a proper meal. Fortunately, though, convenience stores across the country are stocked with all sorts of instant noodles like Akai Kitsune (Red Fox) and Midori no Tanunki (Green Tanuki). In case you’ve never had the easy-to-prepare noodle bowls, the Red Fox is udon with tofu and Green Tanuki is soba with shrimp tempura.

▼They’re also surprised/confused little girls…

▼…depending on the artist! This caption reads: “A young fox and a tanuki in her 30s.”

Hakata no Shio is a salt product produced by Hakata Salt MFG. INC. The Aichi Prefecture-based company doesn’t actually have a mascot of any kind, but that hasn’t stopped intrepid netizens from making one for the company!

▼We think we understand why Hakata-san remains “unofficial.”

Anpanman

After Doraemon, Anpanman is certainly the most well-known Japanese character for kids. The bread-headed superhero has been around since 1973 and will probably keep kids smiling for decades to come, though they might be screaming after they see these Anpanman abominations.

▼”Anpan Kingdom,” just don’t try to eat his face!

▼And this is why some things just shouldn’t be cosplayed!

▼This a more direct and simple anthropomorphization of Anpanman and his friends.
Very tasteful–no nightmares here!

iPhone

While we doubt Steve Jobs would ever have admitted it, we kind of get the feeling that the devices he created were like children to him. Which makes us feel pretty awkward about stuff them in our pants now…

▼”Stop. Poking. Me!!!!”

Earth Jet

You’ve probably seen one or two of the bug spray’s commercials before. They’re just surreal enough to make insect repellent look…well, maybe not cool, but certainly interesting! The powerful bug killer also comes in a well-armed tokusatsu version as well, apparently.

▼But do they do birthday parties??

Animal Crossing…ish

Animal Crossing is, of course, everyone’s favorite DS game. Even if you’ve never played it, it’s still probably your favorite game–you just don’t know it yet! But one fan has noticed an uncanny resemblance to a character from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures.

▼Once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it. And for that, we apologize!

Monday

Our final entry is…Monday. No, not like…well, some product that we can’t think of. Like the day of the week. The worst day of the week, for that matter. And she knows it, too! You almost have to feel bad for her…

▼”I’m sorry I came…”

Awww…it’s almost enough to make you feel bad for all those times you said, “Gaaah! I hate Mondays!!!” Now we’re really curious what Friday Night-chan looks like.

In case you’ve ever wondered what an anthropomorphized RocketNew24 would look like, well, here you go! And now all your night terrors are belong to us.

Sources and images: Mujin Sokuho