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For all inquiries, including takedown requests, please use the form linked below!

Questions? Comments? Takedowns?

Click here to contact me!!!

 Japanese is ok too!　日本語もOK!

...But please take a quick look through the FAQ to make sure your question isn't addressed here already! Thank you.

Q. What are kao-ani? In the early 2000s, before we all had the standardized emoji that comes with 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. They originated in Japan, so the name is Japanese: “kao” means “face” in Japanese, and “ani” indicates that they are animated gifs--animated faces.

Q. Why archive them? I think that at its core, life is about collecting little things that bring you joy.

Q. No, seriously, 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.

Q. Who runs this? I'm Lumi, a millennial with fond memories of the old web. I also run a Tumblr blog called Internet Salvage where I post a wider variety of old web graphics. That's all that's relevant here, really, but if you want to know a bit more about me and the other stuff I do besides archiving, check out my personal site at birdrobot.party.

Q. What's with the nicknames? Say you're exploring an archived website and you find these two kao-ani:

I'm sure you can see that these are two different kao-ani characters, but how do you articulate that? They can be described in most of the same words--blue, eating, smiling.

You can't name the one on the left "blue" because the other one is also blue, nor can you name it "three hairs" because you'll find other kao with three hairs, and what then?

Well, what if you just decided that the blue, three-hair-having guy is named Doug? And hey, there's another animation that looks just like the one on the right that's named "yuumi-b.gif" so why not call that one Yuumi?

Due to the sheer number of kao-ani floating around the web, and the fact that so few of them have known, "official" names, this is the best method I could come up with to organize them.

In each gallery, you'll find my reason for that kao's nickname. I also list any other known names in current or prior use.

Q. How does the categorization system work? First, the three broadest categories: animals, blobs, and other. These are largely self-explanatory, but for clarity:

Animals: cats, dogs, birds, bugs, and other distinctly beast-like kaos.
Blobs: your standard squishy orb guys.
Other: a much smaller category for a few oddball kaos.

The subcategories of "animals" are also pretty self-explanatory.

The subcategories of "blobs" are a bit more complex. I made the decision to file them based primarily on attribute rather than color, because certain features like hair or halos or flowers are much more useful identifiers than overall color.

Note that props are not accessories! A blob "with accessories" is a blob that always (or almost always) has a particular item with it or on it.

Angels & Devils: blobs with permanent halos, wings, devil horns/tails, etc.
Plants & Food: blobs that look like flowers, cactuses, oranges, tomatoes, etc.
With Accessories: blobs wearing head decorations like hats or flowers, ribbons, etc.
With Antennae: blobs that have antennae, but probably aren't bugs.
With Hair: blobs that seem to have hair on their head.

Not all blobs have these features, though, in which case I do file by color--blue, green, grey, pink/purple, white, and yellow/orange.

Finally, the "other" category contains:

Characters: established characters, like Hello Kitty or Pikachu.
Nonstandard: oddly shaped and/or sized kaoani.
Oversized Scenes: large images that depict multiple types of kao-ani.
Animated ShiftJIS: not actually kao-ani, but kao-adjacent.

Q. 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. Click here to get in touch!

Q. Can I submit source information, memories, or other thoughts? 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. Click here to get in touch!

Q. Can I take/save/reuse kao-ani? Short answer: yes, at least in the limited capacity I have to grant this permission.

I do not own the kao-ani displayed on this website. 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.

This project is an attempt to celebrate not just kao-ani, but the people who made them and the context in which they were used. These artists rarely received the credit they deserved, and I want to change that if possible.

You are welcome to download, save, and generally use this website as desired as long as it's in good faith and respectful to both me and the artists whose work I've archived. You may not use any part of this archive for commercial purposes.

My only personal request is that you consider linking back and/or giving me a shout-out of some sort so that more people can find this little project. Thank you!