a (whole) different animal
ゼミ生が日頃から利用しているセブンイレブンのお話です。
How 7-Elevens Are Becoming Lifelines for Japan's Elderly
Though you’ll find some of the same offerings in a Tokyo 7-Eleven as in an American branch—coffee, doughnuts, fried chicken—Japanese convenience stores are a different animal than their U.S. counterparts.
Aside from selling Japan-specific food like bento boxes and onigiri (rice balls), convenience stores in Japan offer services that make them hubs of their communities. Customers can pay a utility bill, buy concert tickets, or make copies at a 7-Eleven or a similar retailer like Lawson or FamilyMart. In the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, convenience stores even set up emergency support centers and sent employees to aid survivors, among other good deeds.
With such a position in Japanese neighborhoods, it’s perhaps unsurprising that over the past few years convenience stores have begun catering more to the country’s aging population.
That demographic is growing. In 2016, the proportion of people in Japan over the age of 65 is a little over one in four; by 2035, the ratio is estimated to increase to one in three.
The stores have been stocking higher-quality and healthier food, as well as basic necessities like detergent, toilet paper, and light bulbs. They’ve also instituted new services such as home food delivery, and in some cases have created seating areas so that older customers can gather to socialize and practice their karaoke skills.
（以下省略）
今回取り上げる単語は、animalです。“a different animal ”と書かれております。唐突にanimalが出てきたので、どのように解釈すればよいのか分かりませんでした。
『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第五版，大修館）で調べたところ、定義の一つに「[形容詞（句）を伴って]ある種の人，物」が載っておりました。また用例として “different animal”で「全く異なるもの，別もの」という意味がありました。口語ではしばしば強意のwholeとともに用いられるそうです。
Oxford Dictionary of English (Second Edition Reserved, Oxford University Press)には、 “a particular type of person or thing”と定義されておりました。こちらの辞書には例として “First of all, it’s cable – which is a whole different animal from networks where any little thing will get them going.”が載っておりました。
これらから “a different animal”はアメリカとの違いを意味しているのだと思われます。（Gomez）
