Through quite a bit of late-night internet trawling coupled with my own nagging sex drive, I've come to cultivate a taste for Japanese furry ero comics. I've read through quite a few over the past couple of weeks, from short "they fuck, the end" comics to long, sprawling multi-volume epics with character development, cohesive plots, and solid structure. And plenty of fucking.

I reflected on this newfound pleasure while huddled on the floor of my shower, ice-cold water beating down on my shivering form. "What is it about the 'kemono' style that's so appealing?" I asked myself between shaking sobs, clutching the loofah a bit closer to my bare chest. At its essence, there's little difference between it and Western "furry" art--it's basically just sticking animal features on a human form. The only clear difference is the influence of Japanese animation on kemono art: larger eyes, simplistic facial features, and exaggerated body types.

But wait! I thought to myself, watching the blood-streaked vomit spiral down the drain. Aren't those the hallmarks of Western furry art, as well? What really delinates kemono from furry?

I thought back to an interesting panel I attended at last year's Anthrocon about the history of anthropomorphic animals in Japanese art. (Probably the most engaging thing I witnessed there aside from a mouse fursuiter being wheeled out of the rave on a stretcher.) They've been represented in the genre for quite a while, representing everything from natural phenomenon to mythical forces to caricatures of human folly. As Japanese art evolved following the "opening" of Japan to the Western world, kemono did as well. Anthropomorphic characters became less "animals on hind legs in people clothes" and more representative of humans...wait...JUST LIKE THEY DID IN WESTERN ART!

I dashed to my computer and closed the seventeen u18chan tabs on my browser, calling up a quick Google on one of my most revered historical figures, legendary animator Osamu Tezuka. He's widely credited with shaping Japanese comic art and animation into what it is today, including influencing kemono through classics like Kimba the White Lion and Bagi, the Monster of Mighty Nature, two of the earliest occurrences of modern kemono style. What would be his Western equivalent, popularizing the cartoon animal in roughly the same time period? Why, none other than beloved children's cartoonist and anti-semitic tyrant Walt Disney!

It's fairly obvious that Tezuka still influences the style of modern kemono artists, while Disney does the same for Western furries. Still, one burning question remains: why don't the two often mix? I see plenty of instances of kemono on this site, but they always seem to be done by Japanese, Korean, Thai, or otherwise Asian artists. The reverse is also true; a lot of Western furry art is obviously influenced by Disney, Marvel, DC, and Western animation, but is rarely drawn by Eastern artists.

In this era of the flat world and boundless globalization where I can call up my favorite kemono smut with a few clicks, why does such a schism still exist? I'd like to hear your input on the subject!

(As an aside, my favorite kemono comic is Tooboe Bookmark, a riotously adorable gay romance that follows quite a few conventions of anime writing, but still feels original and engaging. If you're into gay furry comics and don't mind subjecting yourself to the whirlwind of awful that is u18chan, you can read it in its current translated entirety here.)