The most common version of Neco Coneco.
Neco Coneco (Japanese: ねここねこ "Neko Koneko") is a popular stuffed animal franchise that appears frequently in the world of Azumanga Daioh. Neco Coneco appears to be based on the real life toy franchise Tarepanda. The typical example is a white cat with a white kitten sitting on its head, but it also comes in different versions and sizes, such as a sleeping Neco Coneco[1] or an Iriomote Neco Coneco. Chiyo has also been seen wearing a Neco Coneco T-shirt. Sakaki adores the brand, much as she does all cats. During the class trip to Okinawa, she buys an Iriomote Cat version of Neco Coneco.[2] Chiyo also likes it – at one point she brings a sleeping Neco Coneco to school,[1] and at another Sakaki and Kagura decide to make her a Neco Coneco of their own as a birthday present. However, this ended up a failure because both Sakaki and Kagura are poor at sewing and Chiyo could not even recognize their creation as a Neco Coneco.[3] Conventional romanization spelling of the pronunciation of the brand's name yields "neko koneko" ("neko" Japanese for cat + "koneko" Japanese for "kitten"); however, "Neco Coneco" is often used and creates another joke in itself, Connected Cat.
In episode 24 when Sakaki googles cats online, one of the results is a fictional Neco Coneco website, called Neco Coneco Daisuki (ねここねこ大好き Neko Koneko Daisuki), which translates to "Neco Coneco Love". Its web address is "neko-konelove.co.jp".
In addition, Neco Conecos are heroes of "Journeys of Neko Koneko" (ねここねこのたび "Neko Koneko no Tabi"), a series of photographs formerly on Azuma's website.[4] A Neco Coneco doll also appeared as a festival booth prize in Yotsuba&!.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 See Chapter 32.
- ↑ See Chapter 33.
- ↑ See Chapter 29.
- ↑ Neco Coneco no Tabi, archived by the Internet Archive on 3 June 2002.