In Japanese, nekome 猫目 means "cat eyes," and can refer to multiple things: an actual cat's eyes; a person's eyes, whose shape is large, round and upturned, like a cat's; and, in manga and anime, when a character's expression changes into a cat face, drawn with cat-like eyes.
Not to be confused with neko-moku ネコ目, the "order Carnivora" (biology term), which includes cats, who are carnivores. Nor to be confused with kono neko me! この猫め！, which means "this damn cat!" or "you damn cat!"
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011) (Episode 40)
Meaning
Cat's Eyes
As one would expect, the literal usage of nekome 猫目 is to refer to a "cat's eyes."
In the unlikely event you've never seen a cat in your life, this is what they look like:
- Context: a cat, from Real-Life™.
Anime: Nichijou no Zero-wa 日常の０話 (Episode 0, OVA)
- Context: another cat, this time from anime.
Anime: Azumanga Daioh あずまんが大王 (Episode 9)
- Context: another anime cat.
Cat-Like Eye Shape
When nekome 猫目 is used toward a real-life person or anime character, it refers to having cat-like eyes.
Normally, this means that they're upturned eyes, tsurime ツリ目, that are large and round. A tsurime that's not round can look scary. The the larger, rounder nekome doesn't leave this sort of impression.
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011) (Episode 40)
- Kurapika is called nekome no bouya 猫目の坊や, "the cat-eyed boy," by an old lady at the start of the series, as he headed from the Dolle Harbor to Zaban City.
Anime: Go! Princess Precure (Episode 4)
Anime: Nurarihyon no Mago ぬらりひょんの孫 (Episode 1)
Anime: Steins;Gate (Episode 2)
Anime: Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut 最弱無敗の神装機竜《バハムート》 (Episode 1)
Anime: Akame ga Kiru! アカメが斬る！ (Episode 9)
As one would expect, it's also possible to use makeup to create cat-like eyes. For reference: nekome-meiku 猫目メイク, "cat eyes makeup."
Cat-Like Irises
Alternatively, nekome can also refer to eyes whose irises are thin and elliptically vertical, rather than round. Naturally, real people's eyes don't work like this, so it's used only toward anime characters.
Anime: Haikyuu!! ハイキュー！！ (Episode 12)
Cat-Like Pupils
In particular, some characters have vertical slit pupils, exactly like those of a cat, so these can get called nekome, too.
Generally, this means cat girls.
Anime: Onigiri 鬼斬 (Episode 3)
- kin-me gin-me
金目銀目
Gold-eye-silver-eye. A type of heterochromia common in cats.
But it also includes characters who literally have cat eyes.
Anime: Gegege no Kitarou ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 (2018) (Episode 2)
And even demons, too.
Anime: Hataraku Maou-sama! はたらく魔王さま！ (Episode 6)
Cats aren't the only animals with vertical pupils. Some characters have vertical pupils, but are more like scaly, cold-blooded snakes rather than fluffy, warm-blooded cats, so they have "snake eyes," hebi-me ヘビ目, instead.
Anime: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon, 小林さんちのメイドラゴン (Episode 1)
Cat Expression
The word nekome 猫目, "cat eyes," can also refer to a facial expression in manga and anime where a character's face becomes cat-like.
It's worth noting there are variations of this cat face: some of them have cat eyes, others have a cat mouth, nekoguchi 猫口, others include even cat ears, nekomimi 猫耳, and tail sprouting out of nowhere.
Furthermore, there are two styles of cat eyes that are normally used in two distinct situations.
Anime: Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, とある科学の超電磁砲 (Episode 7)
- Context: Misaka notices something extremely interesting.
Cat eyes drawn with vertical irises are used when a character's attitude resembles that of a cat.
Like the proverb, "curiosity killed the cat," this kind of expression can happen when the character's attention has been caught by something.
Alternatively, it can also happen when the character is mischievous, playing pranks or scheming something inside their head.
Right: Gon Freecss ゴン＝フリークス
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (1999) (Episode 57)
- Context: Killua becomes cat faced after learning how much money the treasure is worth.
By contrast, cat eyes drawn wider normally signify the character is sweating cold, probably anxious about something.
Anime: Go! Princess Precure (Episode 1)
Anime: Non Non Biyori のんのんびより (Episode 2)
Sometimes these eyes are used for other reasons, too.
Anime: Barakamon ばらかもん (Episode 8)
- Context: Handa is frustrated and probably very angry.
- nekome Rinku
猫目リンク
Cat-eyed Link. Refers to the cat-eyed design of the Legend of Zelda character Link, found in Wind Waker, among other games.
References
- 猫目 - dic.pixiv.net, accessed 2020-01-31.
- Lists Amanogawa Kirara as example, among others.
- 猫目 - dic.nicovideo.jp, accessed 2020-01-31
- 猫目&つり目が特徴的なかわいいアニメキャラまとめ - matome.naver.jp, accessed 2020-02-02.
- Lists Tsurara, Mine, and Lisesharte as examples, among others.
- 猫目の人の特徴！目の色やメイク法・猫目のキャラクターもご紹介 - jelly-media.jp
- Lists Mine, and Lisesharte as examples, among others.
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