- Source:
- @asfum / @yuan3587 / @G_skull_border / @ckik195 / @clernnn / @mitsumotocs
- Tags:
- Anime / Humboldt Penguin / Japan / Kemono Friends / Love / Penguin falls in love / Penguin gets dumped / Penguins / Twitter / Zoos
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You may remember Grape (great name, btw), an adorable and seemingly confused Humboldt Penguin living at the Tobu Zoo in Saitama prefecture. The story seemed simple enough. Zoo staff had placed a cardboard cutout of Hululu, an anthropomorphized Humboldt Penguin from the series Kemono Friends (the series features animal characters given a more human aesthetic). Grape noticeably became attached to her, probably for her penguin looks, and began hanging out around the cardboard cut out routinely!
New information has come to light, however, thanks to sites like Buzzfeed Japan and Twitter users such as @gon_trpg, who have asked Tobu Zoo staff for background information--revealing Grape's tragic and heartbroken past. Apparently, while Humboldt penguins normally stick together, Grape once had a penguin girlfriend named Midori. Upon arriving at the zoo, however, Midori became attracted to a younger penguin and eventually left Grape for him!
Grape became depressed and spent more and more time away from the group of penguins, obviously heartbroken. That is--until the Hululu cutout arrived! Grape now has become more lively and frequently stays by his new anime girlfriend. Midori still lives in the same penguin section--so perhaps he can make her jealous.
And just recently, Grape perhaps got to live out his dream of Hululu speaking directly to him. Hululu's voice actress from Kemono Friends, Ikuko Chikuta recently visited the zoo and got a photo with them.
Of course, as with many Japanese social media stories, the tale of heartbreak and triumphant rebound has resulted in fan art.