"Wananeko" the Yokai Cat by Javier Jimenez

Today TOYSREVIL is excited to put a spotlight on Javier Jimenez’s newest character and resin figure; WANANEK, THE YOKAI CAT!

Standing approximately 4.8 inches (12cm) tall, the first release of this resin-made neko will happen at the Tokyo Cat Fight show on the 5th and 6th of July at the Design Festa Gallery in Harajuku, Tokyo. Coming in bagged with header card and include sticks, a very limited edition in the original colorway seen in the video and illustrations will be released along with just a few one offs, all hand painted by Javier Jimenez.

Wananeko was created and designed by Javier himself, sculpted by Cristina Ravenna and hand casted by Rafael Rodriguez Santos. The figures are also painted by Javier Jimenez. Check out more images uploaded on my dedicated Facebook album, including pictures of the sculpt's process!

"I've kept this a secret for a while, until I had everything ready...because sometimes this kind of stuff gets delayed and I wanted to make sure I had a real release date before announcing it. This is a project I really enjoyed working on...but I've also worked very hard on it and would really appreciate your help promoting it. This is very important for me and I really need to make sure this gets to people, I want to share this story with as many people as possible. I'm both excited and very scared, haha…it's like the day before a life changing exam." -shared Javier Jiménez.

THE STORY OF WANANEKO:: "This cat isn’t your ordinary cat; he’s had an incredibly sad and hard life. Upon birth, he was abandoned and forced to live alone as a street cat facing peril and danger. Despite growing incredibly strong due to his rough upbringing on the streets of Japan, he still ended up dying, and out of his hate for humans, became a Yokai.

He now takes vengeance by shape-shifting into a basket of meowing kittens on porches of the unsuspecting – only to transform back into a Yokai cat when the door is answered. He attacks whoever opens the door, and wreaks havoc on the inside of their home, delivering revenge to those who turned their eye on him when he was in need. That’s where his name comes from… “Wananeko”, which in Japanese, means “Trap Cat”."