Rawr!!! These kitties are super cute and they like to sing, dance and play in hot tubs.

All About Japanese Cat Girls: The Japanese (or at least manga and anime creators) seem to have a fascination with Nekomimi - catgirls, literally "cat-eared". The combination of feline and female seems to resonate strongly in the collective muse and shows up in many forms, ranging from the "10,000 horsepower innocent", the cyborg Nuku-Nuku (from All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku) all the way up to the devastatingly sexy criminals Ana and Una Puma from Dominion Tank Police. They are found in genres as widely varied as High Fantasy (Merle and others in Vision Of Escaflowne), light comedy and Cyber Punk, proving that they are not a setting-specific feature, but a general type that can be inserted into just about anything. This makes sense, because cats are girls. The catgirl seems to have roots in ancient myth with a Nekomata, but the first true catgirl (and thus the trope) appears to have been created by Osamu Tezuka in the 1950s. Interestingly, Catwoman from the Batman series predates this creation by at least 10 years, but she only dresses up in cat motif -- she doesn't have any biologically cat-like features, an Island of Dr. Moreau-esque episode of Batman The Animated Series notwithstanding. (And what "Catwoman" movie? Never heard of it!) It is noteworthy that the most common (if somewhat hackneyed) method of drawing anime characters, particularly females, tends to give them catlike features (large eyes, a small mouth and a skull shaped much like that of a young human child) - and that cats are extremely anthropomorphic for non-primates in the first place. Given this, the catgirl is possibly nothing more than the logical conclusion of this. Catgirls usually have Cute Little Fangs and a tendency to use a Cat Smile when happy. For some reason, characters which are not actually catgirls often show up as catgirls in the fantasies of other (male) characters. Collars often make a prominent appearance in such cases. In a less suggestive context, playful female characters often have catgirl avatars in Cyber Space sequences. The view of catgirls among Western fans is somewhat mixed. Catgirls are extremely common subjects of cosplay and forum roleplaying, and in the US at least, catgirl cosplayers are often stereotyped as obnoxious, pushy preteens with squeaky voices speaking broken Japanese. 'Please spay your catgirl' is a common joke in some circles, reflecting the general low esteem they are held in by some people, especially those who conflate them with the more negative aspects of the Furry Fandom. However, catgirls are a popular subject of Fan Art among US anime fans, including catgirl versions of non-catgirl characters. As we have learned from one Internet meme, every time you mention real science in a discussion of comic book science, the supernatural, or science fiction, God kills a catgirl. Every so often, you'll see a catboy, which is the same thing in male flavor, essentially. They're far less common than the female version, but otherwise the same basic idea. They tend to be either Keets or bad boys, and are actually more likely to wear collars than their female counterparts - especially in Fan Art. Western comic books prefer the cat-people type to the ears-and-tail version. Expect a Western feline-themed character to be portrayed as especially sexy and especially dangerous, with deadly claws and agility second only to Spider-Man. Cute Little Fangs are present but seldom used in a cute manner. Characters who are fully human but with a cat theme tend to be the more acrobatic sort of Badass Normal. Clawed gloves come standard. It is not uncommon for them to be 'upgraded' to actual cat-person via Applied Phlebotinum. For less common Kemonomimi, see Petting Zoo People. Possibly related is the "air intake" ◊ hair formation found on long-haired characters, which might resemble cat ears...