Surrealists at Sanrio Censor Comic for Implying Hello Kitty Is an Actual Cat

In honor of Hello Kitty’s anniversary this year, Sanrio has made some clarifications that rocked casual fans of the now-40-year-old character. I say “character” because I’d rather not misgender a mystery, and Sanrio is adamant that Hello Kitty is not, despite what name and appearance might imply, a cat. Hello Kitty is apparently also not a human, doesn’t actually have a mouth, and is probably a horcrux full of magick most foul, so come on, dudes, what gives?

In a confounding new development, Gotham Academy artist Karl Kershcl says that a Metroid-inspired strip he designed for a book featuring Hello Kitty art from illustrators around the globe was censored because (bolding my own, because gadzooks): “Sanrio doesn’t want Hello Kitty associated with an actual cat in any way. ”

Here’s the redacted strip in its entirety:

What’s fascinating to me about this new development in #CatGate is Sanrio’s appetite for absurdity. One-dimensional disembodied Hello Kitty head flying through space? Bring it on. Anatomically accurate kitten snuggling on a windowsill? DO NOT BESMIRCH THE GOOD NAME OF SANRIO WITH YOUR HUMAN NEED FOR CONCRETES, DRAWER-MAN! MEANINGLESSNESS SIRED US AND CHAOS SHALL SWALLOW US, GAZE UPON US AND DESPAIR! [Citation needed.]

Hello Kitty’s identity crisis is our identity crisis. Good career move, cat.

(via Comic Alliance)

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Carolyn Cox