Japari Park is a large zoo, filled with extant, endangered, extinct, cryptids species, and some legendary creatures.

Together, they set out on an adventure to find out what kind of animal Kaban is, passing through multiple regions of Japari Park and meeting new friends along the way.

[6] Nexon initially stated that there were no plans to restart the service despite the popularity of the anime series,[7] although the company later announced that it is possible to relaunch, but no final decision has been made.

[21] Another manga series, Kemono Friends: À La Carte, which began serialization in 2017, was licensed by Yen Press in 2019.

[22] It is an anthology series, compiling stories and illustrations by various artists, with the second volume at one point being the highest selling book on Amazon Japan in August 2017.

[24] The anime television series, produced by Yaoyorozu, aired in Japan between January 10, 2017, and March 28, 2017; and was co-produced, financed and streamed simultaneously by Crunchyroll.

[28] Additional shorts have been created in collaboration with Japan Racing Association, Animelo Summer Live 2017, and Nissin Foods.

[29][30][31] Discotek Media distributed the series for Crunchyroll in North America, and produced an English dub by Sound Cadence Studios.

The anime gained additional worldwide attention in 2017 due to coverage of the unusual story of Grape-kun, a Humboldt penguin at the Saitama Tobu Zoo that developed a romantic attraction to a cardboard cutout of the character Hululu.

[41] A stage play adaptation of Kemono Friends with an original storyline ran at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX in Tokyo from 2017 June 14 to 18.

Hiroki Murakami directed the play and penned the script while some of the characters were portrayed by the same actors who voiced them in the anime series.

[45] In reference to the simplistic and repetitive nature of the show, it has been described by critical bloggers as "causing one's IQ to melt" and "lowering one's intelligence".

[46][47] Despite its low production quality, the anime series earned praise from critics and viewers in Japan due to the storyline and characters, becoming a fad in the country.

[48] Nick Creamer of Anime News Network gave the series an overall grade of B, praising the worldbuilding and criticizing the visual aspects.

[51] Hisashi, guitarist of the band Glay, was inspired to create a guitar arrangement of the opening theme song after watching episode 11.

In response to the controversy, production committee of the Kemono Friends anime announced that director Tatsuki and the animation studio Yaoyorozu had been using the Kemono Friends property on its own without consulting all concerned parties and that Yaoyorozu would not agree to a normalization in communication and withdrew from the project as a result.

[71] A September 26 Kemono Friends streaming program on Niconico Douga then featured several voice actresses from the anime publicly apologizing for the ongoing controversy, despite having little connection to the corporate decisions made.

[74][75] TV Tokyo's producer for this anime, Nobuyuki Hosoda, responded to fan questions on Twitter stating that he couldn't provide an answer based on the position that he was in.

[76][77] Concerns rose among Internet users on February 2, 2018, that the then-upcoming game, Kemono Friends Puzzle Gokko, was plagirizing artwork and setting from the first season of the anime without the consent of Tatsuki.

[80][81][82] On September 2, 2018, the second season of Kemono Friends was once again announced on their official website and casting calls were published for a new idol unit related to the show.

This apology was thought to be about Nobuyuki Hosoya,[90] a producer of both seasons of the show, and later confirmed to be about him by TV Tokyo's Yukio Kawasaki.

Consumers pointed out that no mentions were made to the fact that the "purchase benefit" listed on promotional materials failed to make mention of the fact that an additional commission was required to apply for such benefits via postal money order, leading to complaints and concerns over whether the production committee breached the "Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations" (不当景品類及び不当表示防止法).

KADOKAWA issued an apology and correction statement on June 7, 2019, on the official website of Kemono Friends 2, stating that the benefits will be free and that anyone who already paid in would be refunded.