Night of the Living Cat

Lore & Background

The manga Night of the Living Cat began serialization in Mag Garden's Monthly Comic Garden on October 5, 2020. Written by Hawkman and illustrated by Mecha-Roots, its first tankōbon volume was released on May 10, 2021, and as of August 7, 2026, eight volumes have been collected. The series was licensed for English release in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. The story follows protagonist Kunagi, who must resist the urge to cuddle cats to avoid transforming into one due to a mysterious virus.

Reader's Guide

An anime television series adaptation was announced on February 22, 2024 (National Cat Day), produced by OLM with Slow Curve and Sony Pictures Television handling planning and production. Directed by Tomohiro Kamitani with Takashi Miike as chief director, the series aired from July 8 to September 23, 2025, on TV Tokyo and BS TV Tokyo. The opening theme is "Cat City" by The Yellow Monkey, and the ending theme is "Matatabi" by Wanima. The series was streamed by Crunchyroll in multiple regions, with SPT handling Asia-Pacific distribution. The manga was nominated for the seventh Next Manga Award in the Best Printed Manga category in 2021.

Did You Know?

• The anime adaptation was announced on National Cat Day (February 22, 2024).
• The opening theme song is "Cat City" performed by The Yellow Monkey.
• The series features an insert song titled "Nyaight of the Living Cat" performed by Kōji Endō, featuring Marty Friedman and Heidi Shepherd.
• The English voice cast includes Jason Douglas as Kunagi and Maria Delilah as Kaoru.

The Premise: A World Where Cuddling Is Fatal

A mysterious virus has swept through the world, turning an everyday act of affection into a life-threatening danger. In this bizarre setting, anyone who cuddles with a cat is transformed into one themselves. The protagonist, Kunagi, finds himself trapped in this absurd predicament, forced to suppress his natural desire to snuggle with felines simply to remain human. What makes the premise so compelling is its inversion of something universally gentle—petting a cat—into a survival mechanism. Kunagi's daily existence becomes a constant internal battle against one of the most comforting impulses a person can have. The world he inhabits is described as both bizarre and chaotic, suggesting a society that has had to reorganize around this new biological reality. The manga's title itself, rendered in Japanese as Nyaito obu za Ribingu Kyatto, plays on the English phrase while adding a distinctly feline flavor through the "nya" sound, grounding the story firmly in its Japanese origins while maintaining a tongue-in-cheek, almost parody-like energy that carries through the entire narrative.

Manga Publication & Creative Team

Night of the Living Cat was created by writer Hawkman and artist Mecha-Roots, and found its home in Mag Garden's Monthly Comic Garden, where serialization began on October 5, 2020. The series quickly gained enough momentum to be collected into tankōbon volumes, with the first volume hitting shelves on May 10, 2021. By August 7, 2026, eight volumes had been released, indicating a steady and sustained run. The manga's early critical recognition came in 2021, when it received a nomination for the seventh Next Manga Award in the Best Printed Manga category—a notable acknowledgment for a title still in its first year of publication. For English-speaking readers, Seven Seas Entertainment secured the North American licensing rights, bringing the series to a broader international audience. The partnership between Hawkman's writing and Mecha-Roots' illustrations gives the manga a distinct visual and narrative identity, while its placement in a monthly magazine format suggests a deliberate pacing that allows each chapter to breathe and develop its comedic and dramatic beats at a measured pace.

Anime Adaptation & Production

The anime adaptation was announced on February 22, 2024—a date that coincides with National Cat Day, a fitting choice for a series built entirely around feline transformation. Production fell to OLM, with Slow Curve and Sony Pictures Television overseeing planning and production. The creative leadership was notably stacked: Tomohiro Kamitani directed the series, while the acclaimed Takashi Miike served as chief director. Shingo Irie handled the series scripts, Takao Maki designed the characters, and Kōji Endō composed the score, with veteran voice actor Shigeru Chiba providing narration. The series aired from July 8 to September 23, 2025, on TV Tokyo and BS TV Tokyo. Musically, the opening theme "Cat City" was performed by The Yellow Monkey, the ending "Matatabi" by Wanima, and an insert song titled "Nyaight of the Living Cat" featured Endō alongside Marty Friedman and Heidi Shepherd. For global streaming, Crunchyroll carried the series across the Americas, UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Oceania, and CIS regions, while SPT managed distribution in Asia-Pacific.

Cast & Voice Ensemble

The anime assembled a substantial Japanese and English voice cast to bring its ensemble of characters to life. Kunagi is voiced by Masaaki Mizunaka in Japanese and Jason Douglas in English, while his companion Kaoru receives voices from Reina Ueda and Maria Delilah respectively. The supporting cast includes Arata (Reiji Kawashima), Tsutsumi (Yū Serizawa), Ren (Subaru Kimura / Nick Huber), Masaki (Yoshiki Nakajima / Reagan Murdock), and Gaku (Ryōta Takeuchi / Ben Bryant). The character Tanishi is particularly notable in the English dub, where Lew Temple voices the human form while Sara Ragsdale provides the cat's voice. Other cast members include Tomoko Miyadera as Grandma, Kazuyuki Okitsu as Keisuke, Atsumi Tanezaki as Suō, Satoshi Tsuruoka as Mitsuru, and Hiroshi Naka as Kōji. The Gunslinger is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa, and the Cat Language Translating Machine—a device central to the premise—is given voice by Tesshō Genda. The Last Samurai role remained uncast at the time of the source material.