Amid celebrations for Hello Kitty's 50th anniversary, which officially occurs November 1st, fans of the popular cartoon character created by Yuko Shimizu are shocked to learn that she is not as feline as she appears.

Hello Kitty 50 週年紀念於 11 月 1 日正式開始，在慶祝活動中，由清水優子（Yuko Shimizu）創作的這一流行卡通形象的粉絲們震驚地發現，她並不像外表那樣像貓科動物。

During an appearance on the Today Show on July 18th, the director of retail business development at Sanrio, Jill Cook, makes a shocking confession.

在 7 月 18 日的《今日秀》節目中，三麗鷗零售業務發展總監吉爾-庫克（Jill Cook）做出了令人震驚的坦白。

Is Hello Kitty a cat?

Hello Kitty 是貓嗎？

So Hello Kitty is not a cat.

所以，Hello Kitty 不是貓。

She's actually a little girl, born and raised in the suburbs of London.

她其實是個小女孩，在倫敦郊區出生長大。

Naturally, the revelation, while not entirely known, has made some fans a bit confused.

自然，這個消息雖然不完全為人所知，但也讓一些粉絲感到有些困惑。

After all, Hello Kitty appears to be a cat with a little red bow and for some reason, no mouth.

畢竟，Hello Kitty 看上去就是一隻帶著紅色小蝴蝶結的貓，而且不知為什麼，它沒有嘴巴。

One fan reacts to the Today clip on TikTok saying, "So she has whiskers, ears, and is named Kitty, but is actually a human? What?"

一位粉絲在 TikTok 上對《Today》的剪輯做出了回應：「所以她有鬍鬚、耳朵，名字叫 Kitty，但實際上是個人類。什麼？」

While it may be news for some, this isn't the first time Hello Kitty's species has stirred controversy.

雖然這對某些人來說可能是新聞，但這並不是 Hello Kitty 的物種第一次引起爭議。

In fact, the character made headlines back in 2014, around its 40th anniversary, for the exact same reason.

早在 2014 年，也就是該角色誕生 40 週年前後，它就因為同樣的原因而成為頭條新聞。

During that time, anthropologist Christine R. Yano, who authored Pink Globalization,

在此期間，人類學家克里斯蒂娜．

Hello Kitty's trek across the Pacific was corrected very firmly by Sanrio on the distinction between cat and little girl amid prepping for a Hello Kitty exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.

在洛杉磯當代藝術博物館舉辦 Hello Kitty 展覽的籌備過程中，三麗鷗公司堅決糾正了貓咪和小女孩之間的區別。

Yano telling the Los Angeles Times, she's a cartoon character.

矢野告訴《洛杉磯時報》，她是一個卡通人物。

She's a little girl.

她是個小女孩。

She is a friend, but she is not a cat.

她是一個朋友，但她不是一隻貓。

She's never depicted on all fours.

她從未被描繪成四肢著地。

She walks and sits like a two-legged creature.

她走路和坐著都像兩條腿的動物。

She does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it's called Charmy Kitty.

不過，她自己也有一隻寵物貓，名叫 Charmy Kitty。

Meanwhile, other fans were just as surprised to hear where Hello Kitty lives.

與此同時，其他粉絲也對 Hello Kitty 的住處感到驚訝。

Hello Kitty, whose first ever appearance was on a Japanese coin purse in 1974, was very intentionally made British, raised in the suburbs of London.

Hello Kitty 於 1974 年首次出現在日本的零錢包上，它是在倫敦郊區長大的英國人。

Hello Kitty emerged in the 1970s, when the Japanese and Japanese women were into Britain.

Hello Kitty 出現於 20 世紀 70 年代，當時日本人和日本女性都喜歡英國。

They loved the idea of Britain.

他們喜歡英國的理念。

It represented the quintessential idealized childhood, almost like a white picket fence.

它是理想化童年的典型代表，就像白色的柵欄。

So the biography was created exactly for the tastes of that time.

這本傳記正是為了迎合當時的口味而創作的。

But while fans continue to learn this very shocking fact about Hello Kitty, one aspect that won't surprise anyone is that she was created to be universally adored.

不過，當粉絲們繼續瞭解關於 Hello Kitty 的這一令人震驚的事實時，有一點大家都不會感到驚訝，那就是她的誕生是為了讓全世界的人都喜歡她。

Her core message is friendship, kindness, and inclusivity.

她的核心理念是友誼、善良和包容。