Meet Crimea's New Anime Mascot, Natalia Poklonskaya

Natalia Poklonskaya as an anime character. Image distributed online.

Natalia Poklonskaya as an anime character. Image distributed online.

Natalia Poklonskaya, the newly minted Prosecutor General appointed by the secessionist government of Crimea, has captured the hearts and minds of RuNet, and, surprisingly, Japan. A video from her March 11 press conference accepting the position has over a million views on YouTube, perhaps because of her incongruously youthful appearance (she is actually 33) combined with the seriousness of her office.

Natalia Poklonskya talking to the press. YouTube screenshot.

Natalia Poklonskya talking to the press. YouTube screenshot.

The fresh-faced, yet stern, Poklonskaya, talking to the press surrounded by microphones, served as an inspiration for Japanese and Russian fan-art. Most of the pictures are drawn in a manga (Japanese comics) style, and grotesquely over-emphasize the “cute” or “kawaii” aspects of Poklonskaya's appearance. After first appearing on the Japanese manga artist repository Pixiv [jp], the images spread through RuNet forums and imageboards, like Pikabu.ru [ru], inspiring memetic variants of their own.

Poklonskaya seemed to approve of the fan-art on a Twitter account she started on March 20:

Thank you for the support, and the art. All the drawings are wonderful:)

Of course, there is a good chance that this Twitter account is fake: in a March 19 interview [ru] Poklonskaya said she has no accounts on social networks like Twitter. If it is fake, it's in good company with the two presumably fake Twitter accounts (@sergyaksenov and @AksenovCrimea) of Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov, who also claimed [ru] that he does not use social networks. The proliferation of fakes in Russian Twitter sometimes causes implosions of hilarious absurdity — yesterday the fake Twitter of Ramzan Kadyrov asked [ru] the Poklonskaya account if it was also fake (the person tweeting said no).

Regardless of whether the real Poklonskaya approves, lets move on to the art, with the caveat that these pictures can be construed as incredibly sexist:

In the right image Poklonskaya is holding a sword with "LAW" written on it, piercing the head of a Right Sector-colored snake. The artist is likely Russian.

In the right image Poklonskaya is holding a sword with “LAW” written on it, piercing the head of a Right Sector-colored snake. The artist is likely Russian.

This style of drawing is called chibi.

This style of drawing is called chibi.

The color of the uniform is off here, but who's keeping track!

The color of the uniform is off here, but who's keeping track!

Yet another selection.

Yet another selection.

And of course, the requisite "cat-girl" treatment.

And of course, the requisite “cat-girl” treatment.

Here, Poklonskaya finds herself as a subject of a dating simulation.

Here, Poklonskaya finds herself as a subject of a dating simulation.

And in the meta-meme, she is subject to Putin's affections.

And in a meta-meme, she is subject to Putin's affections.

Finally: "VICTORY WILL BE NYA-OURS"

Finally: “VICTORY WILL BE NYA-OURS” [or “AWWWRS”]

Setting aside for the moment the objectification of a professional woman with a difficult and dangerous job, this obsession with Poklonskaya might show the need for a charismatic Crimean leader. Although, now, when they would be competing with Putin himself, perhaps being a charismatic Crimean leader isn't all it's made out to be.

20 comments

  • […] Poklonskaya muncul dan berterima kasih atas fan art yang dibuat oleh penggemarnya. Meskipun begitu, Global Voices Online menulis bahwa Poklonskaya tidak memiliki satu pun akun sosial media melalui wawancara pada tanggal […]

  • […] claiming to be Poklonskaya’s popped adult online, thanking people for a fan art. However, as Global Voices Online points out, Poklonskaya pronounced in a Mar 19 interview that she doesn’t have any amicable […]

  • […] claiming to be Poklonskaya’s popped up online, thanking people for the fan art. However, as Global Voices Online points out, Poklonskaya said in a March 19 interview that she doesn’t have any social […]

  • […] “Il viso fresco di Poklonskaja, che parla alla stampa circondata da microfoni ha ispirato i fan-art giapponesi e russi. La maggior parte delle immagini sono disegnate nello stile manga enfatizzandone grottescamente l’aspetto “simpatico” o “kawaii” di Pokhlonskaja. Dopo la prima apparizione sul repository mangaka giapponese Pixiv, le immagini si sono diffuse viralmente sui forum RuNet e imageboards, come Pikabu.ru, ispirandone varianti memetiche. ” L’11 marzo 2014, Pokhlonskaja è stata nominata Procuratore Generale della Repubblica Autonoma di Crimea e alla prima apparizione a una conferenza stampa definì i golpisti ucraini “diavoli delle ceneri”; il video venne caricato su YouTube. Non sapeva che avrebbe fatto sensazione su Internet, durante quella notte e nel lontano Giappone, dove non capendo una parola di ciò che diceva, sarebbe stata ammirata non per quello che era diventata, ma per come appariva. Infatti, il 13 marzo, il video venne ricaricato sul canale giapponese YouTubi News, ricevendo così 228000 visualizzazioni e 120 commenti nei primi quattro giorni. Il 15 marzo, il notiziario giapponese RocketNews24 postò diverse foto di Pokhlonskaja e riferì del fandom sul pubblico ministero formatosi tra i netizen giapponesi. Il 16 marzo, su Lowyat Forum venne creato un thread su Pokhlonskaja, indicandola come “nuovo procuratore sexy di Putin“, e il giorno seguente sulla pagina Facebook della comunità venne lanciata la pagina dal titolo “Natalia Poklonskaya“, con numerose foto ed illustrazioni del procuratore di Crimea. Nelle prime 20 ore, la pagina raccolse 1400 mi piace. Il 18 marzo, un thread su Pokhlonskaja fu creato nella pagina internazionale di 4chan la più importante comunità anglofona online del Giapponem con oltre 700000 messaggi al giorno emessi da circa sette milioni di visitatori quotidiani. “È assai più probabile vedere vecchi stoici con impressionanti uniformi sedersi dietro dei microfoni durante le conferenze stampa del mondo reale, piuttosto che attraenti giovani donne ai vertici militari/governativi, molto più abbondanti nel mondo degli anime. Nelle ultime stagioni ne abbiamo viste molte: Premier New JOIR Sashinami Shouko (Valvrave) Ammiraglio Ridgett (Suisei no Gargantia) Tenente/Capitano Vicecomandante in capo Amane (Majestic Prince) Direttrice Chouno Ami (Girls und Panzer) Tenente Takamura Yui (Muv-Luv Alternative)” Ma anche l’ex-premier ucraina Julija Timoshenko ebbe l’onore di esser oggetto di un anime, nel ruolo di boss mafioso:Fonti: Rabujoi Know Your Meme IBTimes Global Voices online […]

  • Trista Tabina

    Natalia Poklonskaya is just a fan art? :*

  • […] Natalia Poklonskaya, whose alternatingly cutesy and sexualized anime character was known as “Nyash Myash.” In fact, Flick the Thief even illustrated a crossover […]

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