science

Grape-kun

Grape-kun is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Grape-kun rather than just read about it. In short: Grape (16 April 1996 – 12 October 2017), colloquially known as Grape-kun (グレープ君, Gurēpu-kun), was a Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) at Tobu Zoo in Miyashiro, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. His attachment to a cutout of Hululu, an anthropomorphic Humboldt penguin character from the 2017 anime series Kemono Friends, earned him international fame and an online fan base.

Key takeaways

Grape-kun belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Grape-kun to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Grape-kun from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Grape (16 April 1996 – 12 October 2017), colloquially known as Grape-kun (グレープ君, Gurēpu-kun), was a Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) at Tobu Zoo in Miyashiro, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. His attachment to a cutout of Hululu, an anthropomorphic Humboldt penguin character from the 2017 anime series Kemono Friends, earned him international fame and an online fan base. Grape-kun died after a brief illness in October 2017, and was commemorated by the zoo and his fans.

Early life Grape was born at Hamura Zoo in Tokyo in 1996. He was named because of the color of the purple ring placed on his wing for identification; the suffix -kun is a Japanese honorific usually used when speaking to younger males. It is also commonly used for male pets. Along with his mate, Midori, he was transferred to Tobu Zoo in Miyashiro, Saitama, in March 2006. Midori and Grape-kun hatched a chick together, but the zoo removed the baby, citing inbreeding as the reason to separate it from its parents. The experience was difficult for the pair, and could have affected the bond between Grape-kun and Midori. Whether the loss of their chick was a factor or not, Midori left Grape-kun for a younger penguin after a decade of being together. After this occurred, all of the other penguins in Grape-kun's exhibit rejected him, and he spent most of his time isolated from the rest of the colony.

Attachment to anime character cutout In April 2017, Tobu Zoo placed 60 cutouts of characters from the popular anime series Kemono Friends around the grounds to attract visitors. Hululu, (the cutout) placed in Grape-kun's enclosure, was an anthropomorphic Humboldt penguin and was part of a campaign to help visitors learn more about the animals in the zoo. Grape-kun would stare at the Hululu cutout for hours, going as far as trying to reach it, which was placed on a tall rock. Zookeepers had to separate Grape-kun from the cutout after closing to prevent him from falling into the pool near it. Many rumors spread that this was done because he would not eat, but the zoo denied them. Media outlets described Grape-kun as having "fallen in love", and the zoo created a drink called "Loving Grape" described as a "perfect embodiment" of the penguin's relationship with his love. When the Kemono Friends promotion came to an end, the decision was made to retain the Hululu cutout in Grape-kun's enclosure. Grape-kun's devotion to the cutout earned him fame and a global fan base on the Internet. Hululu's voice actress, Ikuko Chikuta, visited Grape-kun as part of an educational event on penguins.

Death On 9 October 2017, a festival honoring Grape-kun was announced for the following month. However, these plans were cancelled the next day due to Grape-kun's health suddenly declining. The zoo announced his death on 12 October. Zoo personnel created a small shrine in his honor, and several guests visited the penguin enclosure with flowers. Social media users paid tribute through the hashtag #grapekun, and many posted illustrations of Grape-kun and Hululu. In January 2018, Tobu Zoo placed a new cutout in the penguin enclosure, featuring an illustration of Grape-kun and Hululu standing side-by-side.

Gallery

See also List of individual birds Punch (monkey)

References

External links Media related to Grape-kun at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Grape-kun

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Grape-kun claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Grape-kun before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Grape-kun ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Grape-kun

In research: Grape-kun appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Grape-kun in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Grape-kun is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1996 animal births, 2017 animal deaths, Animals exhibited in zoos, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Grape-kun outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Grape-kun in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Grape-kun means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Grape-kun out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Grape-kun in simple terms?

Why does Grape-kun matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Grape-kun?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Grape-kun.