Sincere thanks to long-time LiA elite patron Collectr the Editor for this commission, one that’s close to me – and Japan’s heart. I love cats and always have. So does Japan and so does anime, and it’s no exaggeration to say that could be one of the things that drew me to both. I always say that one of the first times I knew this country was for me was walking into a supermarket and seeing a cat food section twice as big as the dog food section.
That said, doing a piece on cats in anime is an overwhelming proposition. I mean there are just so damn many that it would be impossible to single them all out. So where does one draw the line? Do catgirls count, for example? I think not, because honestly that’s its own article. How about Kyou from Fruits Basket? A tough call – I mean, he is a cat in some sense (and some of the time). I think in the end it’s best to limit the scope of this to true cat anime – actual cats (OK, or cat youkai), and ones that are a major focus of the series. Even there it’s a huge pool of possibilities but at least that gives me a fighting chance.
So, let’s try and take this on. I’m going to limit it to anime for obvious reasons, and as is my usual practice with these pieces the list is in no particular order (with one exception). I’m not even setting a firm number here – “tennish” sounds right, but let’s just see how it plays out.
Bur first, a word about catgirls…
I’m going to the mat for the argument that cat and catgirl anime are different subgenres. Yes they sometimes cross over, but one is always the dominant theme. Maybe I’ll do a catgirl piece someday, but for now I’ll single out a couple – especially Outlaw Star, which is one of my foundational anime. Aisha Clan-Clan is probably my favorite catgirl of all-time (Izutsumi from Dungeon Meshi might be second). Also the one that (for me) started it all catgirl-wise, All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku. Can’t forget arguably the most famous of them all, Neko Musume from Gegege no Kitarou. We also have a fine catgirl in the current context, Nemu from Witch Watch.
But that’s another post, as I said. On to the list proper.
Chi’s Sweet Home – This is not Chi’s Sweet Home’s first appearance on a Bespoke list – it placed highly on the “Best Short Anime” one as well. Chi’s various anime incarnations vary in quality – the early hand-drawn Madhouse seasons were obviously the best. But all of them are a really good depiction of the dat-having experience. It’s a pretty comprehensive series, and even if most of it is told from the perspective of the cats, it captures the human side of the relationship really well too.
Natsume Yuujinchou (Natsume’s Book of Friends) – I did say cat youkai were eligible. Madara/Nyanko-sensei is quite simply one of the best characters in animanga, cat or otherwise. And Inoue Kazuhiko’s performance one of anime’s best ever. I admit he’s not behaving in expressly feline fashion a lot of the time, but there was just no way I couldn’t include this one.
Neko no Ongaeshi (The Cat Returns) – Ghibli has quite a way with cats, and why would you expect anything else? This 2002 film was a spinoff of Whisper of the Heart, and cats really take center stage this time. Cats and magic go hand-in-hand, and this is a fantasy that feels very connected to reality in many ways, cat-wise.
Uchuujin MuuMuu (Me and the Alien MuMu) – At the risk of being accused of recency bias, I have to include this insanely underrated gem. It’s both really good and totally cat-centric. What’s really clever here is how even though the cats are sentient aliens, they’re still recongizably (if you’re a nekozuki) catlike in subtle ways.
Kiki’s Delivery Service/Tonari no Totoro – I could have gone with a three-part Ghibli entry, but The Cat Returns is distinct enough from these two Miyazaki classics that I thought it deserved its own entry. Neither Kiki or Totoro is a “cat anime” in the strictest sense of the word. But Jiji is a hugely important character, and it’s hard to imagine anything more iconic than Totoro’s catbus.
Nyan Koi – I consider this old chestnut good rather than great, but the cat factor is off the charts. The premise (after accidentally breaking off the head of a cat deity statue, a cat-hating kid with cat allergies is cursed with the ability to understand cat language) allows for almost limitless comic exploration of the cat theme.
Doraemon – Well, he is a cat, sort of. And Doraemon is one of the most influential anime in history (though I prefer T.P. Bon myself). It’s not my thing but credit where it’s due.
Ramen Akaneko (Red Cat Ramen) – Again, not recency bias but just a really, really good show that’s strongly about cats. This time they’re running a ramen shop (I would totally be there three times a week and gain 50 pounds). As with MuuMuu the thing that really makes this special is how despite talking and being fully functional in human society, these cats are all recognizably catlike – right down to the personality traits common to their subset.
Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko (She and Her Cat) – Objectively, neither the 5-minute short from 1999 or the 4-episode remake from 2016 is great anime. But the history here is undeniable – this (the short) is Shinkai Makoto’s first directorial work. And in both forms it tackles the cat-human relationship from the feline POV in a very interesting way.
Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. (My Roommate is a Cat) – To be clear I much prefer the manga localization, “My Roommate is Sometimes on My Knees, Sometimes on My Head”. Be that as it may, this is that one exception I was talking about because make no mistake, Doukyonin wa Hiza is the #1 cat anime of all-time for me. Why? Because it comprehensively explores the feline-human relationship and does so brilliantly, but also because it has a very moving and powerful main character arc in its own right.
What especially stands out for me with this series is that it comprehensively understands why a cat is the perfect companion for someone with social anxiety or strong introversion. The relationship between a human like Subaru and their cat is just different than it with between humans and other pets. They understand the other’s need for space, and also when the other needs companionship. I have lived with a great many cats and believe me, this is completely on-point. Cats get people like me and respond accordingly. As a generalization cats are introverts (Siamese are broadly an exception), and dogs are extroverts. That’s why introverts work much better with cats, and extroverts sometimes find them frustrating.
I could go all day on honorable mentions here – Happy in Fairy Tail, Nyarth in Pokemon, good recent stuff like Tonari no Youkai-san or even Witch Watch. But I have to draw the line somewhere and that top (let me just count – yep) ten list feels right to me. I will briefly touch on Neko Hiki no Oruorane, which Collectr recommended to me when he commissioned this piece. It’s a strange little 1992 OAV about an old man (a Gandalf-lookalike) in a nameless European city who plays cats. You know, like musical instruments. He winds up taking a young cellist under his wing and teaching him the craft. Odd but charming, especially for the cast – Banjou Ginga as the old man, a very young Seki Toshihiko as the kid, and an even-younger Hayashibara Megumi as the tenor cat.
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