Crimean prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya's viral video inspires fan art

by Sunnie Huang Posted: March 20, 2014 2:29 PM Last Updated: March 20, 2014 4:39 PM

Categories: Community

View the story "Crimean prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya's viral video inspires fan art " on StorifyCrimean prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya's viral video inspires fan art Storified by CBC News Community· Thu, Mar 20 2014 12:18:17Natalia PoklonskayaAnomonny

While tensions continue to run high in Crimea since Russianforces took control of the strategic Black Sea peninsula some two weeks ago, internetfascination with the region's newly appointed prosecutor has suddenly spiked, spawningnumerous fan pages and an onslaught of anime-style fan art.

A Youtube video of a press conference given by NataliaPoklonskaya on the day she assumed office was viewed almost a million timesafter it was posted on March 11.

Poklonskaya, 33, called the current government officials inUkraine illegitimate and described the uprising in the country as an "anti-constitutioncoup and an armed seizure of power," according to Voice of Russia, theRussian government's international radio broadcaster.

"I tell the truth and I'm not afraid of this truth," shesaid, according to Voice of Russia's transcription. "I am no criminal, I don'tpropagate Nazism, unlike certain regime functionaries in Kyiv."

The March 11 video doesn't have any subtitles. Here is a version of the video with English subtitles. The accuracy of the subtitles cannot be immediately verified.
Natalia Poklonskaya's speech with english subtitlesIJUIFh-TTpqxP93zr8E3aA

The lack of subtitles didn't stop netizens from quickly becoming infatuated with the woman behind the microphones.

A tweet in Japanese, which simply read "Crimea's NewAttorney General oh oh oh..." with a link to the unsubtitled version of the press conference video, wasretweeted more than 9,000 times, according to gaming blog Kotaku.

An onslaught of Japanese anime-style fan art ensued.

Nataliaaaa34-samanatalia poklonskayanautes1944Artists have posted dozens of illustrations of Poklonskaya to online art forums like diviantArt and Pixiv.

Since there appeared to be no Japanese translation of the press conference video when it first went viral, the fan art treatment doesn't seem to be political. Instead, it is likely that fans are inspired by the similarities between Poklonskaya's physical characteristics and those of traditional anime characters.
Natalia PoklonskayaItachjNatalia PonyskayaDANMAKUMANMany admirers use the word "kawaii", which means cute in Japanese, to describe Poklonskaya.
Prosecutor of the Republic of CrimeaFerrabraA Facebook fan page created for Poklonskaya on March 17 received 1,000 fans in less than 24 hours. Four days later, a whopping 13,000 people have liked the page.
Wow! We just hit 1,000 fans! Thank you all, it's good to see so many love our Crimean angel.Anime fan art of our favourite Crimean angel.Poklonskaya even received her own reddit page, which is quickly filling up with anything users can scour on the internet of her.
ImgurNot everyone is amused.

Reddit user myusernameranoutofsp found Poklonskaya fever -- a term used on reddit -- "pretty creepy."

"This subreddit, thefacebook page, I'm not sure it's a healthy way to respond to one attractiveperson popping up on the news."

Reddit user kraakmark worries that the Poklonskaya meme could function as political propaganda for Russia supporters in the controversial Crimea crisis.

"The situation in Ukraine is creepy, why pick her specifically to give the speech? Putting a pretty face on something bad to make it more appetizing is creepy."

Others find the trend more than a little sexist.

"I guess it's could be considered flattering, but it's alsokinda degrading, too," user GunFlame commented after Kotaku's blog, adding thatthere would be little fanfare if Poklonskaya's current position is held by a man.

What do you think of the internet fame of NataliaPoklonskaya's internet fame? Weigh in below.

Tags: Ukraine, World

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