Maru (cat)

Maru
Other name(s) まる, lit. 'round'
Species Felis catus
Breed Scottish Fold (Straight)
Sex Male
Born May 24, 2007 (2007-05-24) (age 11)
Years active 2008–present
Known for Internet celebrity

Maru (まる, Japanese: circle or round; born May 24, 2007[1]) is a male Scottish Fold (straight variety[2]) cat in Japan who has become popular on YouTube. As of September 2016, videos featuring Maru have been viewed over 325 million times, a Guinness World Record for YouTube video views of an individual animal.[3][4] Videos featuring Maru have an average of 800,000 views each and he is mentioned often in print and televised media discussing Internet celebrities.[5] Maru has been described as the "most famous cat on the internet"[6] (although Grumpy Cat is another candidate for that description).

Maru's owner posts videos under the account name 'mugumogu'. His owner is almost never seen in the videos, although the video titled "Maru's ear cleaning". is an exception. The videos include title cards in English and Japanese setting up and describing the events, and often show Maru playing in cardboard boxes, indicated by "I love a box!" in his first video.

Videos of Maru are collections of clips - usually around 3–7 minutes in length - of Maru engaging in various activities, with most videos having a central theme or activity as indicated by the title card. Maru, during these videos, shows his fascination with boxes, his placid personality, his amusing antics, and an inventive intelligence and intuition.

In August 2013, Maru's owner adopted a two-month-old mixed-breed cat named Hana from a veterinarian. During the two-week trial period, Maru and Hana got along very well and Mugumogu decided to make Hana a new member of their family.[7]

Fame

Entertainment Weekly mentioned Maru alongside Keyboard Cat and Nora in its "Notable Kitty Videos" article.[8][9] The New York Times mentioned Maru in an article about cats and dogs in the media and included pictures of the cat.[10] Maru's videos have been featured on the Fresh Step's commercial on the Fresh Step YouTube Channel.[11] Maru has also been featured in advertisements within Japan, for various products.[12] As of December 2011, Maru's channel is the 7th most subscribed in Japan.

After the March 2011 earthquakes in Japan, Mugumogu reported from Maru's blog that Maru was safe and unharmed, though a carrying case was prepared in the event of an evacuation.[13]

In March 2017, Maru was certified as the most viewed animal on YouTube.[14] His videos have been watched a total of 341,840,777 times as of 3 June 2017.

Published media

A book and DVD (containing English and Japanese text) entitled I am Maru was released in Japan in September 2009.[15][16][17] A further DVD Maru Desu followed in February the year after.[18] A second book, もっと、まるです (More Maru) was released on August 31, 2011 (Japanese only).[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ mugumogu (2011-05-24). "まるです。". Sisinmaru.com. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  2. ↑ Donahue, Deirdre (22 August 2011). "Maru, the cat's meow of YouTube, stars in a new book". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2011-08-23.
  3. ↑ mugumogu (10 July 2008). "mugumogu's Channel". YouTube. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCofdZITUEY
  5. ↑ mugumogu (2006). "I am Maru". Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  6. ↑ "In Search of the Living, Purring, Singing Heart of the Online Cat-Industrial Complex | WIRED". Retrieved 2015-07-05.
  7. ↑ mugumogu (2013-08-06). "まるです". Sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  8. ↑ "Notable Kitty Videos". Entertainment Weekly. 7 August 2009. p. 39.
  9. ↑ Svetkey, Benjamin (30 July 2009). "Cat videos! Cat videos! Cat videos! Help us grade the cat videos!". EW.com. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  10. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (23 July 2010). "On Films and TV, Cats and Dogs Playing Cute". NYTimes.com.
  11. ↑ freshstep. "freshstep's Channel". YouTube. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  12. ↑ Photo of Maru WiMAX ad
  13. ↑ Maru. "Maru blog post". Maru. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  14. ↑ Guinness World Records (2017-03-24), Maru - The cat from Japan that holds the record for most watched animal on YouTube, retrieved 2017-03-26
  15. ↑ mugumogu. "I am Maru". Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  16. ↑ mugumogu. "I am Maru 2". Tokimeki Publishing. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  17. ↑ mugumogu (2009). I am Maru (Maru Desu) (in Japanese). Tokimeki Publishing. ISBN 978-4-04-895128-9.
  18. ↑ mugumogu (2010). "I am Maru". Columbia Music Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  19. ↑ "Amazon.co.jp： もっと、まるです。: ｍｕｇｕｍｏｇｕ: 本". Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
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