In case you haven't been keeping up on the anniversary celebrations of your favorite Japanese cuteness icons, this year marks the 40th anniversary of Hello Kitty. To celebrate the occasion, Sanrio -- which has recently been pretty cagey about whether or not Hello Kitty is actually a cat -- put out a hardcover featuring artists from all over the world, with comics celebrating 40 years of adorability.

One such creator was Karl Kerschl, the artist of the upcoming Gotham Academy, who contributed a sci-fi-inspired three-page strip that is absolutely delightful. There's just one problem: The third page was rejected by Sanrio for implying that Hello Kitty is actually a cat.

 

Hello Kitty 40th Anniversary comic by Karl Kerschl
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Hello Kitty 40th Anniversary comic by Karl Kerschl
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Hello Kitty 40th Anniversary comic by Karl Kerschl
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Kerschl posted the story on his website, along with the following description:

Unfortunately, they rejected the third page of it because ‘Sanrio doesn’t want Hello Kitty associated with an actual cat in any way.’

So anyway, they just decided to use the first two pages and end it there. I’m including the third page here so you can see how it actually would have ended.

So here we go again: Which is it, Sanrio? It should not be this difficult to get an answer to a question like "is this thing a cat."

There are only two possibilities.

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