Ohhh, I’ve been waiting for this one: Nyaight of the Living Cat is about to be your new favorite apocalypse anime. In the year 20XX, the world is consumed by a cat-astrophic virus that turns humans into cats if they so much as come into contact with the furry felines. This nyandemic quickly takes hold and causes chaos, leaving only a few intrepid survivors who can resist the temptation to give in and pet these adorable kitties.
The opening episodes introduce us to Kunagi (Masaaki Mizunaka), a dedicated cat cafe employee with a superhuman set of skills; Kaoru (Reina Ueda), a high school student who also works at the cat cafe; her older brother and owner of the cafe, Gaku (Ryota Takeuchi); Tanishi (Hiroki Yasumoto), a cafe regular; and Tsutsumi (Yu Serizawa), Kaoru’s high school friend who’s (sadly) allergic to cats. They all have a deep love for cats, which makes things extra tricky & conflicted as they try to survive. Especially when it seems the authorities have no idea how to contain this spreading disease, either.
Told in a series of timeline jumps, we see how the nyandemic began and its initial reactions, interspersed with news reports and shots of the apocalyptic days afterward once the virus takes over; no spoilers here on who makes it out un-kittified, but nothing and no one is safe from this feline fever dream. And don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of scientifically-(un)approved breakdowns on the history of our furry former friends and how to cope with such a cat-aclysmic event.
Based on the manga Night of the Living Cat written by Hawkman and illustrated by Mecha-Roots, Nyaight of the Living Cat is a smorgasbord of hilarious yet cute action-adventure fun mixed with all the beats of an apocalyptic survival series. The animation jumps between light and dark to contrast the before and after times, while the tense score ramps up the thrill factor when the chase scenes really get going. And the cats are sooooo cute but oh so deadly (and you can totally imagine their scheming for world domination).
It’s nyaigh-on impossible not to root for the remaining humans as they try to wrap their heads around an absurd situation in a way that still feels tangibly terrifying. It’s wholly entertaining but still manages to get you invested in humanity’s future; will the remaining humans survive? Can anything (or anyone) stop the horde of fearsome felines? Only time will tell—and this series’ debut will have you fired up and ready for a whirlwind apocalyptic adventure.
Rating: A
Level of Enthusiasm: 120%
