October 6, 2025

The Penguin Who Fell in Love With a Cardboard Cutout

Grape-kun didn’t find love in his flock—but he found it anyway.

Some animals live extraordinary lives by accident. Grape-kun, a Humboldt penguin at Tobu Zoo in Japan, wasn’t famous, dramatic, or unusually gifted. For most of his 21 years, he was just another bird in the enclosure, until he met someone who changed everything.

She was quiet. Two-dimensional. And made of cardboard.

Her name, at least in the anime she came from, was Hululu. She was part of a promotional collaboration the zoo did in 2017 with the show Kemono Friends. Staff placed character cutouts around the exhibits as decoration. The other penguins ignored them completely.

Grape-kun did not.

A breakup, a rebound, and a 2D romance

Before Hululu arrived, Grape-kun had a long-term partner named Midori-chan. They’d been together for years, but she eventually left him for a younger male. Heartbroken and suddenly single, he kept his distance from the rest of the flock.

Then one day, a life-sized anime girl version of a penguin showed up in his space. And Grape-kun promptly imprinted his entire being onto the plywood newcomer.

He stood beside her for hours, staring up at her face like she’d spoken his name. He watched her from the pool. He ignored the keepers when they tried to distract him with food. Eventually, zoo staff had to give him his own platform so he wouldn’t overheat while gazing at her in direct sunlight.

Guests started calling him Hululu’s “boyfriend.” The internet dubbed him “the anime waifu penguin.” Memes, fan art, and headlines spread across social media. People sent letters and gifts. Some saw it as comedy; others saw a reflection of something painfully familiar, devotion to someone who could never return it.

Even Hululu’s voice actress visited the zoo and left him a signed message of support. Grape-kun just kept staring lovingly at his cardboard girlfriend.

A fandom to the end

Grape-kun passed away later in 2017, at 21 years old, already elderly for a penguin. At his memorial, zoo staff placed Hululu’s cutout beside him one last time. Fans came in person and online to mourn him like a fallen idol. They brought flowers, drawings, and letters addressed to the bird who loved someone flat and fictional without irony.

Not many animals die with a fandom. Grape-kun did.

His story isn’t heroic, funny, or practical. It isn't really about penguins at all. It’s a reminder that affection doesn’t always make sense, dignity is overrated, and sometimes the heart just decides something, and that’s that.

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