Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Who knew cuddling a kitty could mean doom? From the looks of the first episode, you need to be a fan of two things to be able to enjoy the anime ‘Nyaight of the Living Cat’:

  1. Apocalyptic tales
  2. Cats!

Based on a manga written by Hawkman and illustrated by Mecha-Roots, the anime version is directed by Tomohiro Kamitani.

The plot’s wildly hilarious and mildly horrifying: a global pandemic, dubbed the ‘Nyandemic’ (died laughing when I read that), caused by a virus found in cats, begins to turn human beings into felines if they come in contact with cats. Set somewhere in the future, ’20XX’ according to the creators, ‘Nyaight of the Living’ unfolds in a world where 90% of humans are said to own pet cats, which makes the spread of ‘Nyandemic’ super easy.

Episode one opens with a tense scene of three friends running for their lives, reminding me of ‘Ghostbusters’, as two of them wear big backpacks that loos like proton packs. packs. Protagonist Kunagi (voiced by Masaaki Mizunaka) loves cats, so ‘Nyaight of the Living‘ comically explores how the cat-lover reluctantly fights the creatures he loves to survive the Nyandemic. He is accompanied by high school student Kaoru (Reina Ueda) – stern, strong, constantly reminding Kunagi they no longer live in a world where they can pet, stroke, cuddle, or go soft on cats. Do that, and you’re dead as a human!

Flashbacks in the second half serve to explain the connection between Kunagi and Kaoru, who, funnily enough, used to work in a cat café together. The animation is pretty simple, the designs doesn’t stand out like other animated shows currently airing (think ‘Dan Da Dan’ or the hyped ‘Lord of Mysteries’), but it has an engaging late-2010s nostalgia to it. The cats are all cute, so the show blends horror and humor well.

Overall, the opening edition is pretty fun. In fact, if you do love cats, you’ll have a blast watching it, it’s wild, comedic, and pure fun.

Watch ‘Nyaight of the Living Cat’ on CrunchyRoll.

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