What is Neko?

No, not really soap - that came later when it became a sex thing and was horribly altered. I stopped being Neko when women and men had those awful AOs and poses that made me cringe.

Don't forget the twins in Dominion - Tank Police... Oh.. Kyo in Fruits Basket... Hmmm... Tokyo Mew Mew... Cat Girl Nuku Nuku ( OMG!!! Bannō Bunka Nekomusume << It's in the title!!!! XD )... Or, more recently, Utawarerumono and Tsukuyomi ~Moon Phase~. =^-^=

Oooh.. And a Manga example.... Free Collars Kingdom! XD

In Chobits, Chii's A/V pods were meant to resemble nekomimi... Actually... When she cameo'd in Tsubasa Resivoir Chronicles, they were biological cat ears. (^_^)

In Elfen Lied, The Diclonius horns were rather cat-ear-like in shape. (^_^)y

actually in japan neko no ongaesi or the cat returns is in a league of its own...

miyazaki tends not to be lumped together with the rest of anime.. although technically it is an animated movie.

Baketeru animals are part of old shintoism... folk tales of animals changing into human form to trick or help humans.

All anime's are cartoons!

just because this will carry on and on...

There is no answer... not to the question what is an SL Neko.. its probably personal.

Yes neko means cat.. yes there are nekomimi in japanese anime.. and manga and folklore and there is a shinto belief that animals can turn into (bakeru) into humans..
(Bake-neko on the other hand tends to refer to cats who change in to monsters.. like ghost cats that come and terrorise ppl but thats by the by)



there are old ukiyoe depicting neko.. and cats who are just living it up as humans..
and in many other cultures .. recent or not so recent.. there are cats in folklore ..cat ppl .. and so it goes on and on. The real origin is way before anime...


but in SL .. Neko means whatever the individual wants it to be... no need to argue and be purist about it.

Rosario+Vampire = Neko Teacher (not a kids cartoon by any means)

Tokyo Mew Mew = 13yr olds with super powers (dressed as cats)

Bleach = Yoruichi Shihouin (turns into a cat)

Various Hentai

This is true. But just like we have G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17....
There are different catagories for anime.

Actually he's got human ears. His hair is pointy. Reminds me of a stylized D.A.

And yer showing your age for mentioning Astroboy

Truer words have not been spoken.

That's indeed curious. It must be one of those culture-bound conditions; I can imagine being afraid of a ghost lion or tiger, but a ghost cat....like a house cat? It doesn't seem to raise my neck-hair.

Lmao. Snap!

Ooooooh.... Still, pointy. =^-^=

And, more showing my weeaboo status than age. "Old enough" .... but ... Not THAT old. (^_^)

Oooh!!! Another example! Story of Little Monica! Neko-lolicon-hentai FTW!!! \(^_^)/

In movies and books and comics..The cat usually shows up as a shadow on the shouji... accompanied by terrible yowling sounds ,... the slashing sounds and blood sprays up on the now tattered shouji screens..

but here is something more traditional..
(also the cats are LARGE)




EDIT ... short explanaition about the cat in the pic
五徳 means ... well i am not sure of the english word but kind of like the tripod thingie in fires to hold the pot.... but has 5 legs... anyway 五徳猫 or 5 legged fire tripod cat will set your house on fire while you are sleeping.. in japan.. a land of very close wooden structures ... fire is one of the most feared things...

Well, its kind of more of the same, but not really. 'Therianthropy' is the correct term for shapeshifting in general as lycans come from the Greek for wolves. So all lycanthropy and lycans are, or should be, wolves, although lycanthropy is misused for therianthropy, as how many people know the word? Amusingly, there is a place that is very specific in SL about the whole thing (and includes a variation of therianthropy for the sim name - just can't check it right now because SL is seriously borked for me this morning for some reason) that sells animal and feral animal avatars.

Most fantasy books go with 'shapeshifter' for those that change into the complete range of animals, but it implies being able to change into any animal at your choice. Of course, that is no real source, as fantasy writers have resurrected 'changeling' to be sort of the reverse. That term started out meaning a child changed at birth, usually for a faerie or similar, then long ago was used as an explanation for children that were abnormal (and as an excuse to murder them without repercussion, as, of course, they weren't really human), but then started showing up in fantasy all these years later with a largely different meaning, usually in the books I've read meaning something not human passing as human - an inverse shapeshifter.

Don't worry, Eku there isnt a "word" for it. mostly in english it's just called a "cooking tripod" or "campfire tripod".

Is it not also true that in many..or at least some... of the old stories the BakeNeko were good and helpful creatures as well. not all were evil creatures.

Or Schrodinger...

I thought this was a Necco?

In real world beliefs shapeshifting is a powerful shaman tool. In the Far North of teh counry I live in (and I have a place in that north) the shifter is always regarded as a powerful figure. The bear-shaman is a dangerous figure. Do I believe in it? Yes. Even as I am a modern woman, I sense a power there and there are places in teh boreal forests of teh north where I will NOT go.

i thought shapeshifting came from anime!

I thought ShapeShifting was an old Jewish thing.

no everything came from anime..way back before there was anything there was only anime
then there was light

In the true world, some shamans are regarded as capable of shapeshifting. Seriously, it is a powerful ability and really I think teh shaman "enters" teh myth-world mentally rather than simply physically. The bear is always a power-being, but has negative connotations. That is prolly because when a bear is skinned they look like a human - so bears and humans are parallels in various ways.
Shifting is common to many cultures. In the UK midlands, Puck (as in Midsummer Night's Dream and old folklore) is a shifter and can come in many guises. In teh northern hemispehere the "Trickster" figure is a powerful spirit. In Cree he/she (it really, coz it has NO gender) is called Weesagachak. In Ojibway "Nanabush", in Haida/Hasla culture its the The Raven. In other first nations cultures it can be The Coyote. Even in Africa, Anansi teh Spider has trickster attributes.
So Nekos have a deeper cultural heritage than may first appear. The Lynx and teh cougar, the fox and the wolf all have cosmic powers. Nekos I have always felt have a sexual energy that is combined with chaos and desire. Dangerous in a mental sense for the lover who is tempted and seduced by them.
Much darker than just being a sexy "playmate" - there really is no play involved (except for the Neko) and a mate is teh last thing you would want in reality.
In Jewish mythologies I think the Golem is more a soul-stolen figure that teh general community avoids. Mary Shelley may have "borrowed" teh Golem as a model for teh creature that Frankenstein creates.

Sorry, why on earth do you resent them? Please detail the negative experience you had. Simply stating "I'm human" does not qualify as justification, as I am sure you are aware that resent means to feel indignantly aggrieved at, or to be angry with. Why on earth do other people's lifestyles anger you?

Because it is anothe lifestyle and that can anger a person. It's strange but people do have thisodd "anger" emotion when they see someone who is non-conforming. That was a common reaction when I went into malls and dance clubs as a Neko. Often I was told to leave.
Or they make comments that try to "burst teh balloon" of the other person. The deflating aside is often followed by a following group of people who immediately sense an outsider. Try it even in sl a few times and you will see what I mean.

I'm a three foot high bunny rabbit. I know exactly what you mean.

It's bare-faced prejudice. That's essentially what it boils down to - you make a judgement about someone based on their appearance. Odd considering, if I met a 6-foot 6 woman in RL with feline ears and a tail, I wouldn't really know what to make of her.