About animal appendages on UTAU's (especially cat ears)

Angel

Momo's Minion
Okay, here I go. This is a bit of a rant, but I just wanted to see people's views on it and not just letting it off on the Rant Thread.

I've always noticed when people have a UTAU, with cat ears, they get.

'Oh, another cat-themed UTAU'
'What's with the ears?'

But if it's another animal.

'Nice~! Not one of those cat UTAU's'

I haven't seen many cat-eared UTAU lately, and some people have to change their design, because people are telling them, putting cat ears on their character is tacky. What if it's a headband? Or they are just a mix of human + cat? Not all people just stick cat ears on their UTAU for teh lolz. Yes, other animal ears are cool and nice, but if it's cat ears, don't go berserk on them just because it's there.

If a design has cat ears, and the author has stated that characters has them for a specific reason, I don't want comments like:

'Oh nice design, but lose the cat stuff it's unfitting'

Please, what are your thought? I've thought over this and I find it to be unfair, that one's UTAU gets hated on just because their design includes cat ears.
 

Jadii

Momo's Minion
Well I don't personally care about them, but from what I've gathered, it's not because it's UTAU, catgirls are kind of overdone in general.

It's not that they actually dislike the cat parts itself. If it were any other animal that was as overused as cats are, people would make the same type of comment.

I think it really just comes down to the fact that people get tired of the same thing being pushed in their faces 24/7 and it does get pretty tiresome to see the same thing over and over again. People just want something different, I think.
 

DianaTan

Teto's Territory
I think they're used that often because it's easy to draw? Of course it's overused but you people could make it more specific or interesting like the headband Angel said. I think it depends on how it does fit the design or not.

Another fact could be, that there are a few known UTAUs out there with cat stuff so you can think it's some kind of rip off of them? Maybe it's because cats are known all over the world and other animals not?
 

IrisFlower

Precious Flower with Thorns
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Kind of what Jadii said...cat eared characters in general are just everywhere and people get tired of seeing the same thing over and over again. It's like the old knock knock joke of:

"Knock-knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Banana!"
"Banana who?"
"Knock-knock!"
"...Who's there?"
"Banana!"
"Banana who?"

At first it's lol cute but after awhile it gets to the "alright enough already" point. Even in animes when I see neko characters using the classic "Nya!" it's like -punch screen-

It was cute before...now it's not. That's how things work. Like old fashions, neko-ness ran it's course and now unfortunately people are tired of looking at the same thing which is why other animal ears and stuff are more interesting. Because people rarely see it. Where's my giraffe UTAU? That would be pretty hot.
 

icecheetah

Momo's Minion
Chiming in with the "Cats are waaay common" thing. It's even a trope (Cat girl), while other characters with animal traits just get stuck in "Animal Motifs," or "Animal-Eared Headband."
I have no idea why the cat thing is so common though. But it seems that then mixing animal traits into human traits, often the first thing people think is "Mix a cat with it!".
Edit: And the reason I haven't provided links is that TV tropes is notoriously addictive. I don't want any busy people to discover it for the first time.
 

Angel

Momo's Minion
Thread starter
I know cats are overused, and mostly for people who want their character to have the desu factor and other animals are cool too, like one of my characters is part wolf instead, and was human before ^o^
(We over-abused them, and I feel sad)
But it's okay. If we can avoid the (nya desu kawaii neko) of cat girls, and make them more proper and more refined, mabye there's a chance people will be able to stare at one for more than 5 seconds.
 

LupinAKAFlashTH

DEX's Voice Provider. Woah.
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I know from personal experience that if you're trying to draw another type of animal ear but it looks similar to a cat ear, it will wind up making everyone go "Oh a cat"
then you kindly point to a wikia page to properly explain what kind of ears they are and they're either "Oh cool" or "You need to work on your ears."

Its mostly the abuse overuse of cats cat ears.  It gets worse when the creator constantly goes "NYA" (which I actually have met one of those people... goditwassoannoying)
 

IrisFlower

Precious Flower with Thorns
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
thibaud76200 link said:
Cat-eared UTAUs are from SeeU I think, with her cat-ears speakers.

SeeU was definitely not the first synthesized voice to have her avatar use cat ears and that kitty-cat smile. And I'm pretty sure she won't be the last...that's like the people saying those who have long curly hair are copying SeeU. She didn't have long curly hair first either...
There were cat eared UTAU long before the idea of SeeU had even been conceived so they do not in fact come from her. Some of the newer ones maybe...but there are older ones out there that were released before SeeU.

They more accurately come from just cat eared anime girls(and boys) in general so people can give their UTAU that Japanese kawaii desu ne feel.
 
D

dCatharsis

Guest
fukokun link said:
We need lots more insect-themed UTAUloids! <:o
Oh yesssssssssss <3
idk why but I'd love to see a pillbug UTAU <3 lol
 

faerimagic

Ruko's Ruffians
8D *has a nekomimi-wearing utauloid for teh trollness*

In my opinion, I actually feel a bit tired seeing cat ears. I mean, I like them, I want one myself. But like everybody else had said, they're just...everywhere.

It's like nekomimi is the absolute symbol of KAWAII (DESU) That, or bad@$$ery.

Cat ears, Dog ears, fox ears, whatever. If I see them, I'm reminded of the neko stereotype and I'm like, "Again? D: They better sound good. *grumble*"

And then there are rabbit ears. Cool, but they're not exactly my taste. It's like rabbit ears force upon you the "Innocent" aspect, or at least "Tsundere/Kuudere".
With nekomimi, the possibilities are endless~
Though, I really don't like it if they slapped a nekomimi on because "Everyone's doing it, therefore, it must be cool." (<_<)

As regards to other animal appendages my stance is "Eh... I'll just see how it goes..." and then hope to be amazed. :smile:
 

DianaTan

Teto's Territory
Let's do some trollololcatearedkawaiidesunemoemoekyunsparklesparklecatcharacter
Seriously, sometimes I think cats are the only animals in the weeaboo-otaku anime world

I had once the experience that somebody said to my squirrel UTAU "Urgh, squirrels aren't cute at all, do a cat instead =D"
NO
What's the point about making another animal INSTEAD of a CAT? Although I have to say I love cats ;w;
I think this fandom is too much driven by the anime cat girl cliché

4459%20-%20cosplay%20german%20kill_yourself%20neko_mimi%20weeaboo.jpg

this is a famous German quiz game show
WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE THINK ABOUT THIS? WHY A CAT HRRRNG
 

Roxanne

Teto's Territory
Well personally I find them tacky.
I really dislike cat tails and ears on characters, because many people add them because they are soo kawaii desu ne.
Anthro UTAUloids are a diffrent thing though.
 

asparagus

Ruko's Ruffians
Supporter
I find the cat ear thing to be kind of overdone, you know? but if someone makes, say, a gazelle themed UTAU then that's cool and new, yes?

I guess what I mean is that if someone branches out and uses a more unusual animal as inspiration then that's going to catch my interest more then someone who's tacked on a more common set of animal features.
 

PKLpikachu

Teto's Territory
Defender of Defoko
PKLpikachu link said:
[quote author=fukokun link=topic=859.msg5455#msg5455 date=1331333945]
We need lots more insect-themed UTAUloids! <:o

That sounds like a great idea!
*runs off to do some recordings*
[/quote]

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/pklpikachu/utau-cover-ikerenka-semi[/soundcloud]
Told ya I'd do it. :3 I based him off a cicada.
 

nightfrog9

Teto's Territory
*v*, I'mma go redesign my utau now xD  I had her in a cat ear'd hat.
I was origanlly going to do like a frog, but i just assume most people don't like frogs, and wouldn't consiter there sounds liek pretty D:
 

smeen

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
I find it wrong that a design makes you dislike a UTAU. So I'm ok with whatever kind of ears. It's not my character to design anyway, so if the owner likes cat ears, he/she can add them. Who am I to complain?
 

Cdra

possibly dead
Global Mod
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
Cat ears... yep, they're everywhere.  But it's not the presence of the ears alone.  Nay, for me, it's that very -typical- anime style with the giant ears and the signature kittyface, and a very kawaii desu ne outfit, that make me cringe when cat ears are involved.  I find them--and all other animal features--quite tasteful when they're done... well, tastefully. 

So I don't judge a book by its cover.  Cat ears themselves aren't bad--it's the stereotypical trope that follows them around that's bad.  Unless I see signs of that with the UTAU as well, I'm like, cool, ears that are way easier to draw than human ones. o3o;; I hate drawing human ears :U that's why Cdra has pointy weird ones If they're done well, ah, that almost makes me like an utau MORE.  Gotta love a good kemonomimi that's not just a walking stereotype with a stereotypical voice ^~^ and that can mean cats, too!
 

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