Are Japanese Animal Doughnuts the New Cronut?

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These are Japanese animal doughnuts, which according to Kotaku are called "doubutsu doonatsu" (????????) in Japanese. They are simultaneously adorable and absolutely insane, so here, without comment, the facts about animal doughnuts: animal doughnuts are the creation of a woman named Ikumi Nakao, who developed them while working at a bakery in Kansai called Floresta. Nakao has sinced moved to Kawasaki, where she opened a bakery called Animal Doughnut of Ikumimama in June. The Kawasaki bakery and select Floresta locations are the only places in the world you can get Japanese animal doughnuts.

Here is where it gets truly bonkers: after Nakao started posting photos of the doughnuts on Twitter, they obviously went viral. Since then a short anime has been produced, a clip of which you can see below, which brings the animal doughnuts to life. They dance on a spaceship/airplane thing made of pastries. One of the animal doughnuts forces the other two to go with her by sticking a baseball bat through their holes and wheeling them away. According to Kotaku, you can now purchase edible doughnutty versions of these characters in Tokyo and Osaka.

Below, 45 photos of animal doughnuts and one batshit crazy anime clip.

Video: Animal Doughnuts

· Animal Doughnut of Ikumimama [Official Site]
· Oh My Gosh, Japan's Animal Donuts Are Too Cute [Kotaku]
· Animal Doughnuts [YouTube]
· All Japan Coverage on Eater [-E-]