Maru (Japanese: まる, born 24 May 2007) is a male Scottish Straight cat in Japan who has become popular on YouTube. Videos featuring Maru have been viewed over 535 million times, and at one point held the Guinness World Record for the most YouTube video views of an individual animal.[1][2] Maru has been described as the "most famous cat on the internet".[3]
 Maru on the cover of his book from 2009 | |
| Other name(s) | Round |
|---|---|
| Species | Felis catus |
| Breed | Scottish straight |
| Sex | Male |
| Born | 24 May 2007 Japan |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Known for | Internet celebrity cat |
History
editMaru's videos are under the account name of mugumogu. His owner is rarely seen in the videos. 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 long—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 kitten named Hana from a veterinarian. During the two-week trial period, Maru and Hana got along very well and Hana began to appear in videos on the mugumogu channel.[4]
In November 2020, Maru's owner adopted another kitten named Miri from a neighbor who had rescued her from a storm drain.[5]
Fame
editEntertainment Weekly mentioned Maru alongside Keyboard Cat and Nora in its "Notable Kitty Videos" article.[6][7] The New York Times mentioned Maru in an article about cats and dogs in the media and included pictures of the cat.[8] Maru's videos have been featured on the Fresh Step's commercial on the Fresh Step YouTube Channel.[9] Maru has also been featured in advertisements within Japan, for various products.[10] As of December 2011[update], Maru's channel is the 7th most subscribed in Japan.
In March 2017, Maru was certified as the most viewed animal on YouTube.[11] His videos have been watched a total of 535,935,278 times as of 3 July 2023.
Published media
editIn September 2009, a book and DVD entitled I am Maru (Maru Desu or まるです) was released in Japan.[12][13][14] A second book titled More Maru was released on 31 August 2011, but only in Japanese.[15]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ mugumogu (10 July 2008). "mugumogu's Channel". YouTube. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Maru - The most watched animal on YouTube - Japan Tour. YouTube.
- ^ Lewis-Kraus, Gideon (31 August 2012). "In Search of the Living, Purring, Singing Heart of the Online Cat-Industrial Complex". Wired. Vol. 20, no. 9. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
- ^ mugumogu (6 August 2013). "まるです". Sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- ^ Miri, newest edition to the family.
- ^ "Notable Kitty Videos". Entertainment Weekly. 7 August 2009. p. 39.
- ^ Svetkey, Benjamin (30 July 2009). "Cat videos! Cat videos! Cat videos! Help us grade the cat videos!". EW.com. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
- ^ Genzlinger, Neil (23 July 2010). "On Films and TV, Cats and Dogs Playing Cute". The New York Times.
- ^ freshstep. "freshstep's Channel". YouTube. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ^ "Photo of Maru WiMAX ad". Flickr. 29 May 2010.
- ^ Guinness World Records (24 March 2017), Maru - The cat from Japan that holds the record for most watched animal on YouTube, retrieved 26 March 2017
- ^ mugumogu. I am Maru. ASIN 4048951289.
- ^ mugumogu. "I am Maru 2". Tokimeki Publishing. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
- ^ mugumogu (2009). I am Maru (Maru Desu) (in Japanese). Tokimeki Publishing. ISBN 978-4-04-895128-9.
- ^ "もっと、まるです。: ｍｕｇｕｍｏｇｕ: 本". Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 26 January 2012.