Kanibanbani - カニバンバニ - [UMA|yokai|critter]

Kanibanbani - カニバンバニ - [UMA, yokai, Fearsome critter, Japan 2020]

• About this cryptid: "a crab/dog cryptid of local legend from Ibaraki Prefecture. – "It lives in the mountains where it prefers to remain in solitude, it lets off a musk that frightens away other creatures (including other kanibanbani of the opposite gender) if a human ever meets one, they'll catch the stink and begin to prefer isolation too, (other people will avoid them.) The time for this smell to dissipate is variable, but for some it will last for a lifetime. - Discovered by UMA researcher: @nakazawatakeshi"

The one source about it is the 2020 podcast: "オカル都構想！茨城VS岡山" – about UMA, Cryptids, Yokai & other topics of The occult! (if you can understand, check it out!!)

There is slim to no information about this one to be found elsewhere.  So i've borrowed the description from @zakures_hobby. (when i saw their Figurine of it, i was inspired to research what i could understand & then draw my take on the creature as well.)

This UMA also made a manga debute recently, it appeared in "Shirosuke and Fukuzo"  ~ The other UMA featured on that page is "ディンゴネク Dingonek" it's pretty interesting too. (an actual cryptid from Africa dating back to 1910) apparently recently, people have begun to spot them in Japan too… (more on that another time.)

Anyway...  Kanibanbani definitely gives it the air of a 'yokai' - but it also feels as if it falls pretty close to the realm of "Fearsome Critter." -rather than a 'UMA'/cryptid proper. - Takeshi also said to someone on twitter that it "likely doesn't exist" - If it does - it certainly feels similar to the 'racoonigator' while also still giving off similar vibes to Kuchibeinu. - Regardless: as with other odd critters & yokai, its too cute/striking a mental image to resist drawing my take on it.

/edit/ After writing all this out (& finishing my drawing) a couple of days passed; I asked a friend who’s more fluent than myself to transcribe part of the podcast for me to double-check my info: it seems my guess was correct!  – here's what they had to say...

"The spokesperson of this podcast was invited by Takeshi to do an investigation of “Kanibanbani” only to find out that it was simply bait to get him involved: the UMA was just a cover for investigating the existence of the 'Extinct Japanese Wolf.' – The name was something that Takeshi seems to have invented on the spot..." 

...and that's hilarious!!  Because its origin was in fact a bold-faced lie: its a lot closer in line with a modern fearsome critter than a proper yokai or a cryptid. still, most sources online insist that it could be real...

 art by samkalenky (yo thats me!) part of my cryptids/UMA series of stickers, check my shop & follow for many more!