Up first in the new season of anime for me is this comedy series about cats, and I do love cats. Added to this is a main male lead that is allergic to and hates cats but is forced to listen to them and help them when he drags himself into some trouble and you have quite a generic yet funny series. I think the best part about it must be Nyamsas and her pwnage of Junpei though. This is from the raw by the way.

 

Meet Nyamsas, the family cat of the Kosaka family and Junpei’s biggest daily nemesis. Nyamsas always has the kind of face that puts people off, and it only helps that much more when Tanaka Atsuko voices her as a big well-fed cat that despises Junpei and is the queen of the neighborhood cats. Really, Tanaka did a great job as Nyamsas so far, it was really awesome to hear her pwning Junpei left and right, instead of her recent roles as Claudette in Queen’s Blade and Eleanor Varrot in Valkyria Chronicles (which were more serious compared to this).
 

The OP is Nyanderful! by Sakakibara Yui, who is also in the show as a cat. Yui-nyan finally nyans~! The OP was fine, but did not really catch my attention; it tried hard to be cute I guess, but that was about it. Then again I would listen to it just for Yui-nyan. The OP animation, as was the first part of the episode, did show a dream of Junpei and his dream girl Mizuno Kaede, and both dreams are spoiled by cats (Nyamsas in the episode).

The animation had so much nekomimi, but these 3 above are the ones that caught my attention. The first two look cute as sisters, nicely done. I am guessing they are Kirishima Kotone and Akari, both voiced by Tomatsu Haruka, and they have not yet appeared. Neither has the other girl above, whom based on appearances alone (and what hints they give of her behavior in the OP and ED animations) I really like already. Manga readers do tell me her name (character name) so I can ID her and know which seiyuu voices her. According to Jenn she is Sumiyoshi Kanako though she cannot be sure. Kanako is unfortunately (not that I did not expect it) voiced by Shiraishi Ryoko (Ayasaki Hayate in Hayate no Gotoku! series, and recently Someya Mako in Saki), which kind of fits her if Kanako gets a deeper voice akin to Hayate’s.
 

Oh I lul’ed at how Nyamsas stayed so cool through all this and played along at the end with biting the fish.

The way this scene was done with complete computer lockon and warnings was hilarious. Anyway Junpei is shown here reminiscing about how he kicked a can into a basket full of them right beside a shrine for this cat god – the can rolled around the rim and flew out right into the shrine, knocking the cat god’s stone head off. Junpei later learns that he has now been cursed, which was the reason for him being now able to understand cats.
 

No idea what his name is, but he is the local shrine keeper and is completely gay for an old man. Voiced by Kosugi Juurouta (not listed but his voice is recognizable, he was Tama in Hayate no Gotoku series most recently), this gay has quite the personality, and probably holds a side job or something (later on).
 

My god he had that many scrolls and even went back to the history of the Edo period for that one cat god. Even changed his clothes!

Tanaka’s “Oya, ma~” was so damn awesome here especially when Junpei got pwned in the background. Unfortunately I could not catch what Tama (the other cat) was saying, though it was about his master the shrine keeper. Tama is voiced by Fukuyama Jun, who also voices one of Junpei’s classmates (listen closely to the non-punk-hairstyle dude earlier on).
 

So Tama fills in the background for the curse. Junpei has pissed off the cat god and he must now fulfill 100 wishes of cats before the curse can be lifted. In exchange, he can understand cats. If he fails, he will be turned into a cat himself. Simple enough. Junpei initially does not believe them but he has a vision of changing into a cat, which makes it all the more lulz.
 

A 1.5m radius DMZ LOL. His minimum safety range of close contact with cats. Anyway the next day Tama and Nyamsas bring two kittens to see Junpei, with their wish being to ask him to somehow remove or stop the person who has been going around harassing cats by giving them too much attention. Junpei of course refuses.
 

And his sister walks in to him getting pwned by cats. Awesome.

Mizuno Kaede is his dream girl and here she is shown helping him with some groceries that his mother and sister asked him to help buy. Of course, Junpei is always shy around her and does not really know her well despite liking her, which leads to some interesting scenes.
 

Like how she enjoys aneki manga…female warriors anyone? This of course leaves Junpei speechless.

While caught up in a chat with the sudden appearance of Tama and Nyamsas, Mizuno bumps into a yakuza and spills his drink over his clothes. Funny foreign Japanese there, but I was going to be further surprised.
 

OMG I laughed so hard when Nyamsas kicked Tama and all those flowers and the yakuza thing with the word “marriage”. She was saying how this should be a men’s fight; obviously Junpei does not think that way. At least until the yakuza threatens Mizuno and he steps forward to protect her, despite knowing he will probably be chopped. However the yakuza runs away almost immediately, much to his surprise. Junpei also finds his face familiar.
 

And it happens to be none other than the shrine keeper, who for some reason does not want his identity to be known. I wonder what he said during this part about himself. Nyamsas and Tama, who followed him, are then interrupted by the kittens who run to them for help, for the person is back again.
 

So it turns out Mizuno is really into cats, unlike Junpei. She has a lure ready for cats and catches them while they are looking at the food she provides, then proceeds to cuddle and fondle them like no other. Apparently her house is full of dogs so she cannot keep any cats at home, and she intends to provide as much affection for the cats (which she seemingly loves way more) outside. And of course, this means she is also the person harassing the cats in the neighborhood, and both Tama and Nyamsas want Junpei to do something about it…by telling her off. But how could Junpei do that?
 

CAT DANGER RANGE RADAR COMPLETE WITH BEEP RETURN FROM CAT LOL

CATS IN UR DMZ BEEPING UR RADAR

Since Junpei was going nowhere trying to tell Mizuno to stop her affectionate ways, Nyamsas and Tama take the easiest way out – make Junpei rage.
 

RAGE QUIT

Plan worked effectively. It also leaves Junpei in absolute despair, though it does solve the problem for the cats.

Yes, wake up Junpei. You have 99 more wishes to go before your curse is lifted!

As I mentioned earlier the ED was slightly better for me, though both songs really sound generic. Done by Imai Asami (for some reason her name sounds really familiar but none of her songs are in my archive), the ED was of a slightly softer tone than the OP. The ED animation was fine, and on the cute side, with some more stills of the main characters, though without nekomimis this time round.
 

The preview is actually a short segment between Junpei and Mizuno talking about the dogs she owns, but instead of the usual small and furry ones Junpei was expecting she actually keeps a horde of big dogs. No real preview was given for the next episode.
 

General Impressions

Really nice comedy despite the probably generic jokes by now. I like the cats, I like the way Junpei gets pwned by Nyamsas, I like Nyamsas, and I like the cat theme. Definitely finishing this series this season for the comedy and cats. And oh, I can already see Shin jumping all over the Kirishima twins once he watches this. For me, I am going for that nekomimi big-boo- eh, nice looking mature girl that drags Junpei all around. I will not be blogging this though, by the way.

Related posts:

1. Summer Anime Impressions
2. Autumn Anime Impressions Part 1
3. Hyakko – Final Impressions
4. Autumn Anime Impressions Part 2
5. Fall 2009 OP/ED Impressions [Part 1]