Catgirls - Stil relevant enough?

[MFauli]

Let´s make this the official catgirl thread or whatever, but I wanted to ask a specific question to all fellow anime-lovers: When a new anime/manga introduces a catgirl character, can that character still captivate you, raise your interest, or do you go into "oh no, another one of those ..."-mode?

Obviously, HXH pulled it off well, but HXH isn´t "new", even if the Chimera arc is being animated for the first time. I can´t provide an example as of now, but still, the question remains. Part of the reason I´m asking is because I´m writing another book and I´d like to introduce a catgirl-ish character, yet I´m hesitent if people might be too pejorative to that concept nowadays (outside of super-moe-otakus who obviously love each and any catgirl ...)

Your thoughts?

[Death BOO Z]

I'm against it.
if you want a character to be playful and cute, it (well, she) should be written that way. show, don't tell.
I'm against all non-human characters. actually. specism FTW!

[Buffalobiian]

I was never "into" cat-girls in the first place. That is to say, if all their characteristics were present aside from the species-aspect of it, I reckon I'd like them just the same. The appearance is fine either way - but I'm not fond of cat-speak either..

[Kraco]

Like vampires, catgirls have no doubt suffered from massive inflation. You can see especially in cheap rpgs and such (and naturally anime based on those) that it's just a matter of character design, mainly moe for those who like them. Of course you see every now and then catgirls that have a meaning and that couldn't have been made to work without being catgirls; it's not like good writing had entirely disappeared, even if the anime business is flooded with moe shows.

I quite like catgirls that have been written meaningfully and actually have feline behavior qualities. However, the plot has to need such and the catgirl mustn't be there just for the sake of being there. So, for me, I suppose whether a character is a catgirl or not is secondary to the basic qualities of the character, but I have nothing against them, especially when they make the show a bit more cheerful.

If you have to ask whether to include one in your story or not, then don't. Obviously your story doesn't need catgirls if you are asking us here about it.

[MFauli]

Well, the story I´m writing will feature lots of different "alien"-like beings, so catgirl or not is a non-matter in terms of plot-relevance.

I just wanted to see how you react when you see a catgirl-character these days. So far it seems that it depends on good writing ... something that´s rare when it comes to catgirls. Hm ...

[MasterOfMoogles]

Do we really need more catgirls after Hanekawa from Monogatari?

[Ryllharu]

How you misspell "Karura from Utawarerumono" that badly is beyond me, but I'll admit that the anime title is difficult to spell.

[DarthEnderX]

I was never "into" cat-girls in the first place.

Same here.

Never really understood why it would appeal to anyone except furries.

[MasterOfMoogles]

How you misspell "Karura from Utawarerumono" that badly is beyond me, but I'll admit that the anime title is difficult to spell.

Are you talking to me? I can only imagine you are because nobody else has mentioned Utawarerumono, the anime with fun characters like Amururineuruka.
Do you not watch Bakemonogatari?

Edit:
Ok, I get what you're trying to say now, but it went totally over my head at first. I'll leave the above because it is amusing.

Karura is pretty good. I don't know... What are the stats you use to rate catgirls? How do you compare them?

[MFauli]

Same here.

Never really understood why it would appeal to anyone except furries.

well, id say most of us grew up with cartoons/anime featuring anthromorphic characters. So I dont really see the element of surprise when people find such designs attractive.

that said, i think having a catgirl-ish character in a serious story nowadays is extremely difficult to pull of well, well enough to prevent people from thnking "sigh, another one".

[DarthEnderX]

well, id say most of us grew up with cartoons/anime featuring anthromorphic characters. So I dont really see the element of surprise when people find such designs attractive.

Damn Cheetara. Ruining an entire generation of nerds.

[MFauli]

well, looks like catgirls are still somewhat relevent:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=626786

lol Square Enix