Neco-Arc

About

Neco-Arc is a recurring character in various franchises of Japanese video game company Type-Moon. Originating in Tsukihime, Neco-Arc was later featured as a playable character in the video games Melty Blood and Fate/tiger colosseum Upper, as well as a character in the 2011 Type-Moon anime Carnival Phantasm. Interest in Neco-Arc grew in 2021 after the announcement of a Tsukihime remake and the anime Fate/Grand Carnival.

Origin

Neco-Arc is a catgirl parody of the character Arcueid Brunestud.^[1] She made her first appearance in the 2000 Type-Moon eroge visual novel, Tsukihime as a student in the "Teach Me, Ciel-sensei!" segments with Ciel after receiving a bad ending (example shown below).

Spread

After appearing in Melty Blood and Carnival Phantasm, compilations and clips of Neco-Arc saw some popularity on YouTube. For example, a clip from Melty Blood posted by EmadITA in 2009 gained over 143,000 views (shown below, left). On April 17th, 2021, YouTuber Squantisaur posted a compilation of Neco-Arc scenes in Carnival Phantasm, gaining over 123,000 views (shown below, right).

In 2021, Neco-Arc received renewed interest with the announcement and release of a Tsukihime remake titled Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon. A trailer for the remake was uploaded to YouTube on December 31st, 2020.^[2] The game was released on August 26th, 2021 in Japan for the Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4.

The game led to a surge in Neco-Arc memes on social media. On August 28th, 2021, Twitter user @Kaiserhawk posted a video featuring Neco-Arc in the Please Don't Break The Window meme, gaining over 4,200 retweets and 12,000 likes (shown below, top). On September 9th, YouTuber The Last Mimiga posted a short YouTube Poop starring Neco-Arc, gaining over 67,000 views (shown below, bottom).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External Sources