

This is the prosaically named Nekomusume from very long running anime franchise ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 / GeGeGe no Kitarou; the number indicates the season, and a movie version is also pictured.
The season start dates are as follows:
1. 1968
2. 1971
3. 1985
4. 1996
5. 2007
The direction character design has taken should leave no one in any doubt that we are now in the age of moe, and that successful titles had better be prepared to conform to the current aesthetic.
Nobody could blame enterprises and creators for responding to so clearly expressed market demands, but we must wonder at the state of mainstream (and of course even more so otaku) anime fandom for such visual styles to be preferred so overwhelmingly.
In this case the original was unlikely to missed, but in the case of A Certain Magical Index many consider the pre-moe version superior…
Next evolution:


She seems to also be getting progressivly less wicked.
i dont mind everything to get "moe te fied" heh.
A few episodes in the first year of the 2007 version had renditions that actually outdid the second image, and came close to the first.
I think it's just the overall quality of the animation/design improving, going from the "doraemon" kinda drawing to the more "modern" kinda drawing...
Definitely true. For the new gen, I personally prefer Nekomusume's character design in Hakaba Kitarou than in the latest Gegege remake. But that's just me.
Isn't the last picture from the anime "Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku"?
yes.
"Nuku Nuku"'s japanese title is
"万能文化猫娘 / Banno Bunka Nekomusume".
yes, but it was completely separated anime from Gegege no Kitaro, as Nukunuku made by Yuzo Takada..
I wonder what will surpass moe :O
Wow, what a face lift.
Evolution.
Now everybody is jumping into the moe bandwagon
well if you watch Hakaba kitaro the neko musume is actually a cute girl that turns into a youkai. Thus actually she IS a moe girl
First new rendition made me cream my pants. Good, Japan, you're looking kinda cool.
long live moe!
Moe = Sales
i don't mind things getting "moefied" but we will sure miss the oldskul artworks
i like moe so i dont mind.
moe makes money so it must be good.
For me, moe = boring; every moe character starts to look the same other than hair or eye color.
Agreed.
I like artier styles.
I wonder if its time they moefied Doraemon...
Hey, didn't they Moefied Mcdonald's already?
It took 29 years for her to have the MOE transformation complete..
Ah Youkai lolis. They make being eaten sound cool.
I'm sorry, but the image labeled #! is just creepy. #3 isn't too bad, and #4 and #5 seem to be pretty nice.
Live action version is so very cute...