I always like to research and read about pets in anime. Cute critters are my jam. The issue I run into though is that cute critters are most people’s jam and as a result, there are TONS of them in anime. There are entire long-running series that are just collections of cute critters.
As such, to make these posts work, I need to find a way to really narrow down the field. Honestly, even just trying to pick 5 cute cats or dogs in anime is almost impossible with the myriad of equally wonderful choices available to me. So this is how I decided to do it.
First, I’m sticking to pets for this one. That means no anthropomorphized characters or shapeshifters. Also, I’m going to try to stick animals that actually exist in this world. Sadly that rules out dragons and pokemonS. Finally, I wanted to really focus in on unusual pets. This is the criterion that caused me the most trouble because how do you define “unusual”.
Obviously, cats and dogs were out. Those are pretty standard pets and although I love them I think it would be easier to create dedicated lists for each. I also decided to rule out hamsters. We don’t see them as often but hamsters seem pretty popular in Japan and it’s actually common t a least hear that a character has a hamster. Unexpectedly I ended up ruling out turtles and most birds for the same reason.
When I started to look into it, there are actually a lot of pet turtles in anime. I don’t know if it’s because they are fun to draw and easy to animate or do people in southern Japan actually keep turtles often. In any case, a lot of anime have them. Birds are a bit different. There are a few normal Parrots and Pet birds in anime but I found that fantasy/adventure anime often had characters keeping a pet bird. I would say crows are most common but there are varieties of larger birds of prey or smaller songbirds that show up frequently throughout anime. So there you have it.
Oh yeah, one last rule. I am concentrating on pets so no beasts of burden or…food sources.
Man, this was way too long a setup. On to the cute critters!

5 – Ao – Yona of the Dawn
Ao is a squirrel and Shin-Ah’s companion in Yona of the Dawn. I live in Canada and calling squirrels unusual is a bit of a stretch. There are three in my backyard right now and this is a minimum for any given time. But you know what, there aren’t that many plain, run-of-the-mill squirrels in anime. In fact, there are very few squirrel pets in fiction in general.
Sure, you might see a flying squirrel here and there for those who want to be fancy but the standard brown variety is rare to see. Also, Ao is such a quintessential squirrel. In the first meeting with Shin-ha he tried to protect her from pouring rain with a large leak and she immediately just started eating the leaf. That is endearingly accurate!

4- Clara – Princess Jellyfish
I really love Princess Jellyfish, have I ever mentioned that? Clara is Tsukimi’s pet jellyfish. The show occasionally uses her as a framing device and narrator but it’s clear that she’s actually just a normal jellyfish that lives in an aquarium. Clara is also the inciting incident of the show. The story would never have happened if Clara wasn’t around, so she gets extra points for that.
I know that people who love aquariums do keep jellyfish at times and we see them in anime a lot because they make for really nice visuals. However, this is the only time I’ve seen a jellyfish being taken care of in a personal at-home aquarium. And from what I understood in the show, it’s not easy to keep them healthy and thriving in those conditions. But Clara is certainly well taken care of.

3. Pen Pen – Neon Genesis Evangelion
As a Penguin, Pen Pen is a species we see a lot in anime but rarely as a pet. For obvious reasons. Penguins aren’t exactly well suited to apartment life and Japan’s weather can get too warm for just about anybody, let alone a poor Penguin. This is why Pen Pen lives in a freezer most of the time. I have a feeling that Misato smuggled him back illegally…
I know I said wanted to stick to existing creatures and I’m not sure that Pen Pen’s exact breed does in fact exist. The wiki says he’s a warm water penguin (already pretty rare) and he’s obviously a crested penguin. I couldn’t find any breeds with his exact colors and none of the crested penguins live in warm water. However, he also lives in a freezer so he obviously he does like cold temperatures. I figure he could be a Macaroni penguin. They are probably the most common species of penguin in the world and tend to be super hardy so he could have adapted. That’s what I’m going with. Also, penguins exist so close enough.

3. Karl – Bungo Stray Dogs
Are you wondering who Karl is? Oh wait, when I formatted this I put in a picture didn’t I? Nevermind. Karl is Poe’s pet raccoon! Much like Ao, as someone who lives in Canada, raccoons aren’t exactly exotic in these parts. You can also just go on YouTube and find tons of people with pet raccoons. They’re super cute but don’t seem very trainable.
However, have you ever seen another pet raccoon in anime? I figure this will go one of two ways. Either my readers will think “huh, she’s right it’s super unusual for animes to feature pet raccoons” or they will food my comments with examples of animes with pet raccoons. It’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned!
Honorable mentions
Nagoya – My Little Monster
One of the more off-the-wall, elements of My Little Monster is that they were all taking care of a chicken. I have often seen chickens or rabbits as school pets in animes (I have never had a school pet in any school I attended and I think it’s probably for the best), but they rarely play an important role. Nagoya is present enough to have a name, that in itself is pretty unusual.
Meat- Do it yourself
Meat the pig is another common farm animal however we don’t see them as pets very often. Especially as big city pets like in Do it Yourself. Meat is also adorable. He’s n honorable mention though because the show makes it very unclear as to whether he can also count as a food source…

1. Raijinmaru – World Trigger
Let’s face it, Raijinmaru is probably the reason why I decided to write this post at all. Where else am I going to see a frekkin capybara? And such a regal one at that. Raijinmaru certainly s a princess.
Raijinmaru is a pet capybara. She doesn’t talk or does wacky antics. In fact, she pretty much only does things a capybara would, and as they are a social, laid-back, and very calm species that tend to be friendly to everyone, that’s how Raijinmaru is as well. She basically naps and eats and just hangs around.
And yet everyone loves her. I’m not just talking about the characters on the show. The fans love Raijinmaru. I do too. She really makes you want to go out and get a capybara which is legal in Canada, just sayin…
There you go. My very selective list of adorable and unusual anime pets. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have a Capybara please let me know all about it!
I think Dorei-ku had a few pet humans
Pffth – humans are not unusual!
I haven’t seen many snakes as pets in anime. Though it could be because the snakes or snake-theme characters serve as villains.
That’s true.
IRL as an educated animal caretaker and lover I am anti-exotics for so, so many reasons. Which leaves us to enjoy exotic pets in anime as no one gets hurt there as long as no one gets any ideas they should have such a pet in RL. Kind of like how food in Potterverse doesn’t have calories, exotic pets in anime don’t have the issues they would in RL. 😀 I have to put that in, since in my younger days (oh, tell the truth, NOW) I always wanted a pet alligator. And in MLP Pinkie Pie has an alligator named Gummy. And I want him. BAD. I know that’s not even (really) anime but it’s a measure of my desire for Gummy that he was my first thought. I got a big kick out of Nagoya. Having had chickens, I was actually surprised at how much of a personality and friend they can be even if you really do think you’re keeping them just for the eggs. I miss my chickens (and their eggs).
But how did you miss Momo from Samurai Champloo? He impressed me throughout with how well they portrayed his movement, and who doesn’t need an attack flying squirrel to bite the bad guys?
As for capybaras – there are pet capybaras here in the U.S. although they may be outlawed now at least in some states because they are also now an invasive species in Florida living and breeding in the wild just like their fellow South Americans, Burmese Pythons and Anacondas. That said, I hear they really are adorable and I can certainly see it. Sort of a really BIG guinea pig, and I do love guinea pigs. Speaking of pigs – actual pigs – , they are becoming more popular as pets, even in the city. The first pet pigs were smallish varieties, but now clever souls have bred them down to truly miniature piggies who make perfectly nice pets – since they are smarter than your average dog. They can even play video games! Yes, okay, I wanted a pig when the only ones were huge 400 pounders at maturity. Look, I started at 10 with horses weighing 1000 lbs and up, whats a piggie to that? (snicker)
I see some people keep Tanuki as pets as well…
Oh man pigs are amazing. But there’s little ethical way to keep them up here. You would be surprised how many flying squirrels are in anime and manga
Surprised and delighted
I would be indeed. I wonder how good they are as pets IRL? I suppose they require a bit of special care, but I’d think they would be quite nervous and also need a good deal of proper entertainment. A flying squirrel would also really have to have an enormous play area so they could glide a bit. I’m sticking with Gummy. LOL. I would love a piggie so much… I’m infamous for my pets living better than I do and it’s true. Right now it’s all I can do to keep 13 goldfish happy…
Awe! These are all such cute pets! I know what you mean about raccoons being somewhat common pets in North America. My grandma had a pet raccoon when she was a little girl. Evidently, it was very playful and gentle.
They’re like puppies…and a bit like rats. Rat puppies
The, uh, seal-looking thing from Girls Bravo. As I recall, it smokes cigarettes and hustles mahjong in one episode.
https://www.absoluteanime.com/girls_bravo/ebi
Ooh, I forgot about Raijinmaru and I feel bad about it. Great pet! Good for the number one spot.
I’d also say Jon from the Vampire Dies in No Time should fit on a list like this. Armadillos are pretty rare pets (maybe too much anthropomorphised for the list? I could see that).
And I believe one antagonist in Lance’n’masques had a pangolin that used to sleep curled around her neck? Cute art, but not that good a show, and not a prominent role for the pet, so not really a candidate for the list, though, except for the rarity.
OMG how could I forget Jon! Jon is tied for no 1!
I understand. Afterall, I forgot about Raijinmaru! (I still shake my head at myself.)
Also: “Have you ever seen another pet raccoon in anime?” I have. There’s an anime in the World Masterpiece Series based on an autobiographical novel from America: Araiguma Raskaru. Rascal is the co-protagonist of the show. Seen it way back in the late seventies/early eighties, though. I don’t remember pet raccoons since then.