The Searchable Kao-Ani Archive

questions_and_answers.txt

What are kao-ani?

In the early 2000s, before the standard emoji we have on our phones today, there was a vibrant ecosystem of kao-ani. Like emoji, these little bits of pixel art were used to represent emotions and actions, and they were frequently used on forums and blogs. The word “kao” means “face” in Japanese, and “ani” indicates that they are animated gifs--animated faces.

Why archive them?

They’re art! Kao-ani became popular around the world, and countless people made their own. Some are professional quality, some were clearly made by ambitious amateurs or excited, anime-loving kids. Due to the transient nature of both the artform and the internet itself, though, so many of these works can easily become lost media, if they haven’t been lost already.

How does the naming/tagging system work?

When I have two or more of a certain style of kao-ani, I group them together and name that group. Sometimes the names are arbitrary, sometimes they're descriptive. I have to call these groups something purely for organizational purposes, but any "official" names they might have had are generally not known to me.
Once I've grouped them by style/character, I tag them individually according to the mood or action represented. I have some standard tags that I'll list here, but I also try to tag as comprehensively as possible to make the database searchable.

Standard Tags:
Moods are divided broadly into positive, negative, and neutral, then with one or more specific mood tags.

Positive: excited, happy, love, playful
Negative: angry, embarrassed, frustrated, sad, scared, surprised
Neutral: bored, busy, hungry, hot, cold, tired

Sometimes kao-ani depict particular actions or serve as website navigation. Here are the standard tags for those.

Actions: bowing, chores, cheers/kanpai, eating, kissing, jumping, music*, running, seasonal**, sleeping, smiling, waving, working
Messages/Utility: email, sorry, thank you, welcome/youkoso, website navigation
*both listening and playing.
**for all holidays and seasonal activities.

There are more actions than just those, of course, but those are some common ones. I tag actions with the gerund (-ing ending) form of the relevant verb(s).

Where can I find more information about kao-ani?

Working on this one!

Can I share source information, memories, or other thoughts with you?

Absolutely! I would love to track down sources for as many of these as I possibly can, and I think it would be great to have a little section of the museum dedicated to submitted kao-ani-related memories, thoughts, or stories.

Can I submit kao-ani?

Yes! My collection is nowhere near complete. Please double check to be sure your submission is not already in the database, though. If you give me your name (and, optionally, website or social media link), I'll credit you as a contributor. Of course, you can remain anonymous if you like.

Are there other kao-ani archives?

Yes! Ikilote is a particularly fantastic resource. But I’m not aware of any archives that are tagged and searchable in the way this one is. I want this to be not just an archive, but a way for people to find and use kao-ani in the modern day if they want to. You can’t use them if you can’t quickly find them!

Legal Stuff

I do not own any of the kao-ani in this database. If you created any of the graphics seen here and you would like me to take it down or credit you, please reach out!

All I claim to "own" in any sense here is the database itself--the assembling of it, the presentation and coding, the time I've put into creating and maintaining it. As this is an archival project, I encourage people to download, save, reference, repurpose, and generally use the website as desired. Use whatever you want, as long as it's in good faith. My only request is that you consider linking back and/or giving me a shout-out of some sort.

Please direct takedown requests to birdrobot07 @ gmail . com!

Blobs

Abiss

Nickname source: file name.

angel, yellow, positive, happy, smiling

angel, yellow, positive, happy, smiling, sakura, cherry blossom, seasonal, blushing

angel, yellow, positive, happy, smiling

angel, yellow, positive, happy, smiling, excited, confetti, party

angel, yellow, negative, crying, frowning, sad, depressed, tears

angel, yellow, positive, happy, excited, love

angel, yellow, positive, happy, smiling, friends

angel, yellow, positive, happy, smiling, moon, space, shooting star, flying, jumping

angel, yellow, negative, shocked, surprised, scared, yelling, screaming

angel, yellow, negative, angry, annoyed, irritated, side eye

angel, yellow, neutral, surprised, website navigation, email

angel, yellow, positive, happy, smiling, stars, rain, shower

angel, yellow, positive, happy, smiling, friends, website navigation, divider

angel, yellow, positive, happy, excited, rainbow, running, stars

angel, yellow, neutral, smiling

angel, yellow, positive, happy, smiling, confetti, welcome, youkoso, celebration, party

Aoi

Nickname source: appearance.

blue, negative, sighing, annoyed, giving up, owata

blue, positive, happy, smiling, excited, flowers

blue, neutral, smiling

Bao Girls

Nickname source: appearance (bun hairstyle).

aaa

BT & GT

Nickname source: ???

aaa

Bubble Hair

Nickname source: appearance (colorful head decorations).

aaa

Buns

Nickname source: appearance (heart buns hairstyle).

aaa

Cactus

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Camellia

Nickname source: appearance (red flower).

aaa

Chibi Bug

Nickname source: very small guy who looks like a bug.

aaa

Chibiel

Nickname source: ikilote.net

aaa

Chirol

Nickname source: ikilote.net.
Note: Seems related to Chiruchiru.

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, rain, seasonal, umbrella, shower

bug, antenna, blue, positive, flirty, love, crush, adoring, loving

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, actions, hot, tired, exhausted, sweating, towel, rubbing, wiping

bug, antenna, blue, positive, actions, laughing, lmao, rofl, haha, hilarious, funny

bug, antenna, blue, positive, actions, laughing, lmao, rofl, haha, hilarious, funny, gyahaha

bug, antenna, blue, positive, actions, cheering, excited, banzai, happy, yay

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, actions, greetings, bye, goodbye, waving

bug, antenna, blue, positive, happy, actions, smiling, waving, greetings

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, shocked, surprised, startled, ?!, !?, whoa, what, oh no

bug, antenna, blue, negative, annoyed, disappointed, irritated, boo, grr, ugh

bug, antenna, blue, positive, actions, happy, drinking, drunk, kanpai, cheers, party, alcohol

bug, antenna, blue, happy birthday, omedetou, congratulations, congrats, party, blowing out candles

bug, antenna, blue, negative, dead, x_x, tired, exhausted

bug, antenna, blue, positive, happy, actions, smiling, waving, greetings

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, whoops, oops, mistake, poka, facepalm, ehehe

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, actions, writing, memo, pencil, notebook, journal, diary, working

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, actions, hot, tired, exhausted, sweating, towel, rubbing, wiping

bug, antenna, blue, positive, actions, happy, good, ok, yes, agreeing, thumbs up, approval

bug, antenna, blue, negative, neutral, embarrassed, flustered, blushing, ehehe, whoops, oops

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, actions, sleeping, napping, snot bubble, zzz

bug, antenna, blue, negative, dizzy, ugh, sick, nauseated

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, confused, what, huh, ?, questioning

bug, antenna, blue, positive, happy, flirty, kissing, blowing a kiss, chu, heart, love, crush, adoring

bug, antenna, blue, positive, neutral, happy

bug, antenna, blue, positive, happy, laughing, funny, haha, lol, giggling

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, actions, writing, memo, pencil, notebook, journal, diary, working

bug, antenna, blue, negative, sad, crying, depressed, tears, disappointed, upset

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, positive, happy, music, ringing a bell

bug, antenna, blue, positive, happy, music, singing, karaoke, performing, party

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, actions, confused, looking around, questioning, huh, where, ?, kyoro

bug, antenna, blue, negative, shocked, surprised, gaan, gonk, gah, !, whoa, uh oh, oh no

bug, antenna, blue, negative, actions, sick, illness, coughing, face mask, goho

bug, antenna, blue, negative, neutral, sorry, apologizing, gomen ne, bowing

bug, antenna, blue, neutral, weather, seasonal, sun, summer

bug, antenna, blue, positive, actions, happy, waving, balloon, seasonal, summer

bug, antenna, blue, positive, happy, actions, smiling, waving, excited, hello, goodbye, greetings

aaa

bug, antenna, blue, pink, friends, couple, hinamatsuri, seasonal, doll festival, japanese, holidays

aaa

bug, antenna, white, grey, gray, negative, bullying, tongue out, blowing raspberries, teasing

aaa

Chiruchiru

Nickname source: ikilote.net.
Note: Seems related to Chirol.

aaa

Doug

Nickname source: arbitrary (asked my friends to name him and they said "Doug.")

aaa

Dyna

Nickname source: initial find of exploding animation.

aaa

Ena

Nickname source: file name.

aaa

Flat

Nickname source: looks flattened.

aaa

Flo

Nickname source: don't recall; probably the flower on its head.

aaa

Fromage

Nickname source: appearance (cheesy yellow).

aaa

Girly

Nickname source: initial find of "giving crush a flower" animation.

aaa

Glasses Starhead

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Greg

Nickname source: arbitrary.

aaa

Heart

Nickname source: appearance.
Note: shares some animations with Doug.

aaa

Lava Blob

Nickname source: appearance (bright, fiery orange color).

aaa

Lemon

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Misato

Nickname source: file name.

aaa

Monochrome Devil

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Moth

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Onion

Nickname source: white and round and kind of onion-like.

aaa

Parasol

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Sirufu

Nickname source: ikilote.net

aaa

Soft

Nickname source: appearance (soft grey gradient).

aaa

Speck

Nickname source: appearance (unusual dithering).

aaa

Spinny Hat

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Tenshi Dango

Nickname source: descriptive (Japanese).

aaa

Tiara

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Tomachan

Nickname source: appearance/file name.

aaa

Uchuu

Nickname source: alien-like appearance (uchuu = "space" in Japanese).

aaa

Vamp

Nickname source: appearance/file name.

aaa

White Baby

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Yuumi

Nickname source: file name.

aaa

Zodiac

Nickname source: appearance.
Note: Do you have the missing ones? Contact me!

white, basic, zodiac, virgo

white, basic, zodiac, libra

white, basic, zodiac, scorpio

white, basic, zodiac, aquarius

white, basic, zodiac, pisces

white, basic, zodiac, aries

white, basic, zodiac, gemini

white, basic, zodiac, cancer

white, basic, zodiac, leo

Not currently part of a set

Note: Kao-ani may be moved in and out of this section without notice as I find and identify more.

Angels

aaa

Basic (White)

Note: Some of these are almost certainly part of the same set, but it's hard to definitively sort them because of the generic "plain white blob" design.

aaa

Basic (Colorful)

aaa

Dressed Up

aaa

Unique Design or Accessories

aaa

Animals

Bunnies - Bonbon

Nickname source: arbitrary?

aaa

Bunnies - Lapi

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Bunnies - Other

aaa

Cats - Achi

Nickname source: inspired by file name.

aaa

Cats - Cappy

Nickname source: appearance (both instances include hats).

aaa

Cats - Grey

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Cats - Kazutan

Nickname source: file name.

aaa

Cats - Kocha

Nickname source: appearance (Japanese for black tea, inspired by the brown fur).

aaa

Cats - K-san

Nickname source: appearance (reminds me of J-san).

aaa

Cats - Leslie

Nickname source: ???

aaa

Cats - LJ Cats

Nickname source: these were used on Livejournal for entry mood indicators. There are many more I don't currently have, but they're still easy to access and I haven't prioritized them.

aaa

Cats - Luna

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Cats - Nekita

Nickname source: file name.

aaa

Cats - Samurai and Friend

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Cats - Shiro and Mike

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Cats - Siamese

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Cats - Torakigu

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Cats - Other

Nickname source: appearance/file name.

aaa

Other - Chick

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Other - Okame

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Other - Pig and Friend

Nickname source: appearance.

aaa

Other - Sheepo

Nickname source: appearance/file name.

aaa

Other - Everything Else

aaa

Characters

aaa

Mixed Blobs/Oversized

bug, blue, pink, antenna, wings, chirol, chiruchiru, christmas, xmas, holidays, seasonal, party

aaa