Kaoani
Kaoani are small, animated pixel-art emoticons that often appear as bouncing or floating figures. They originated in Japan and are also known by names such as "puffs," "anime blobs," "anikaos," or "anime emoticons."
Characteristics
Kaoani typically take the form of simple, rounded characters with expressive faces. Common designs include animals, food items such as rice balls, colorful blobs, or stylized versions of popular cartoon and anime characters. Many kaoani are animated to perform specific actions, such as dancing, cheering, or laughing.Their distinctive feature is a continuous looping animation, usually a bounce or hover effect, which gives the impression of floating or playful movement.
File formats
The most common file format for kaoani is the GIF, due to its widespread support for short, looping animations. Alternative formats, such as APNG, are also sometimes used for higher image quality and transparency support.Usage
Kaoani became popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, particularly within anime and manga fan communities online. They were frequently embedded in Internet forum signatures, blogs, early social networking profiles such as MySpace, and instant messaging software.Users employed kaoani to decorate posts, convey moods, or represent themselves visually, similar to avatars or expressive emoticons.