Impressive Animals

The Gorilla at *Higashiyama* Zoo Who Catches Tomatoes Like a Main Character

A video of Kiyomasa casually tossing and catching a tomato has the internet in shambles — and he's Shabaani's son.

· 4 min · Togetter

What's going on

There’s a gorilla named Kiyomasa living at Higashiyama Zoological and Botanical Gardens (a well-loved zoo and botanical garden in Nagoya) who has been going very, very viral lately. A video recently posted by a regular visitor shows him in action, and the combination of his face, his posture, and his movements is doing something to people that they genuinely were not prepared for.

The moment that really got everyone was the tomato catch: the keeper tosses one, Kiyomasa catches it, gives it a casual toss back into the air, then brings it calmly to his mouth — like a guy who just caught his keys without looking. He eats an apple with the same cool indifference. At one point he breaks into a loping, old-timey running gait that is deeply silly, and somehow even that is charming.

Then people started connecting the dots. Kiyomasa is the son of Shabaani (Shabaani: a western lowland gorilla at Higashiyama Zoo who became a pop culture phenomenon around 2015 for his strikingly handsome, almost brooding face — he inspired official calendars, merchandise, and a wave of people visiting the zoo specifically to look at him). At which point, the internet basically said: that explains everything.

Comments

Haven’t seen him in a while, and wow — the rumors were right, Kiyomasa got incredibly handsome 😍 Obviously had to buy a Kiyomasa hand towel while I was there ✨ #東山動物園 #ゴリラ #ニシゴリラ
I clicked thinking “there’s no way a gorilla can actually be handsome” and was proven completely wrong within the first second lmao
an absurdly handsome dude just came across my feed
why does gorilla bro have better facial structure than me
sir please stop being better looking than me, a human
at this point he’s not a handsome gorilla — he’s the gorilla of the handsome world
that sideways glance though lmao
giving major Dwayne Johnson vibes
super handsome but his running style is kind of goofy and I love it lol
the way he just randomly busts into that old-timey period-drama run and I completely lose it (Edo-bashiri: the distinctive same-side-limb running gait you see in Japanese historical dramas — both arms and legs on the same side swing forward together, giving it a very earnest, slightly goofy look)
the whole catching sequence is way too smooth for a gorilla, I’m dead
the tomato bit is so ridiculously cool it’s ending me
even the way he moves is sending me numb — the fact that he tosses the tomato up once before catching it properly is genuinely insane
the little move he does after catching the second one looks exactly like a baseball player adjusting their grip, it’s so cute
the way he eats that apple is pure Kimutaku (Kimutaku: the nickname of Kimura Takuya, Japan’s most iconic J-drama leading man since the ’90s — basically the human standard for effortless, brooding cool)
catching the red thing (a tomato?), giving it a little toss and readjusting his grip — that’s genuinely a human movement. if you were animating a gorilla character you’d never draw them doing that because it reads as just too human
wait Kiyomasa is the same name as my younger brother lmaoooo 🤣 also is Higashiyama Zoo just… a designated gathering place for handsome gorillas?? 🦍
so Shabaani isn’t the only handsome gorilla — there’s Kiyomasa too. Kiyomasa is ridiculously good-looking…
so there ARE handsome gorillas besides Shabaani
wait, Kiyomasa is the son of that absurdly handsome gorilla Shabaani?! well THAT explains everything 😆🦍
he’s Shabaani’s son?? I knew there was a reason he looked like that.
he’s the son of Shabaani, the legendary handsome gorilla? the bloodline does not lie
the way he tosses the tomato in the air before bringing it to his mouth is unfairly cool. I was already thinking “doesn’t his face kind of look like Shabaani?” and then — of course he’s his son……
he’s THAT guy’s kid 🦍 handsome runs in the family 🦍
Shabaani’s handsome genes are genuinely no joke
w-wait, he got SO handsome!! A few years ago when I saw him I was like “ehh, Shabaani’s still more handsome…” but NOW!! Gorillas actually get better-looking with age?!?!
his mannerisms, the way he glances around — all of it is too handsome
completely melting rn
I’ll just say it — he is completely my type
too handsome, I can’t handle it. used to go to Higashiyama Zoo all the time but haven’t been recently — maybe I’ll go back
I want to be this cool someday
the way he eats that tomato (?) is TOO cool — next time someone throws food at me I’m absolutely copying his move

My take

His face, his swagger, every little move — I didn't expect a gorilla to captivate me like this, but here we are. I'll probably be doing my best Kiyomasa impression for a while.

Comments loosely translated for tone.

Source https://togetter.com/li/2677424