Everyone loves a love story. But what about a love story between a penguin and a cardboard cutout of an anime character?


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Back in 2006, a penguin named “Grape-kun” was transferred to the Tobu Zoo in Japan alongside his mate, Midori. The two soon had a chick together. However, fearing that keeping the chick in the exhibit would encourage inbreeding, the zoo decided to remove the chick and place it in an area away from the couple.


No one knows whether the removal of the chick was the cause of Grape-kun and Midori’s split, but it certainly couldn’t have helped. In any event, the couple broke up, a move that tore Grape-kun apart — other penguins cast him away, and he’d spend his days alone, wandering the exhibit with no one to comfort him. What’s worse, Midori suddenly started hooking up with a younger penguin.



Grape-kun’s misery continued until one day, the zoo decided to incorporate his exhibit into a promotion. In April 2017, the zoo decided to place 60 cutouts of characters from the anime series Kemono Friends around the zoo. As one of the characters in the anime, Hululu, is an anthropomorphized penguin, the zoo felt it right to install a cutout of Hululu in Grape-kun’s exhibit.



Grape-kun was immediately transfixed. He would jump to try to reach the cutout; he would miss meals in order to spend more time looking at the cutout. Soon, the zoo and media outlets caught on to what was happening and began to celebrate it. Hululu’s voice actor visited the exhibit and took a picture with Grape-kun, and over time, the story of the lovestruck penguin reached around the world, and people online began posting tributes to Grape-kun and his anime waifu.



Sadly, though, this whole saga began when Grape-kun was already fairly old. Soon, the penguin passed away, leaving behind Hululu to watch over the exhibit all on her lonesome.




However, it wouldn’t stay that way for long. While the original Hululu cutout is no longer in the enclosure, it’s been replaced by a new version of the anime figure. This time, she’s standing next to Grape-kun — with a big smile on her face.