For decades, people have been telling different stories about how they believe the world will end, with one of the most commercialized being the age-old zombie apocalypse tale. The horror comes from the concept of humanity losing themselves and becoming undead monstrosities – but what if instead of becoming mindless hordes of shambling corpses, the end of the world was more feline? As announced during Crunchyroll’s industry panel at CCXP 2024 in Brazil, one of the streaming services’ upcoming releases is Nyaight of the Living Cat, a terrifyingly cuddly anime that takes place in a world dominated by cats.
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Nyaight of the Living Cats was originally announced on February 22, 2024, which, funnily enough, happens to be National Cat Day in Japan. The anime is adapted from the original manga Night of the Living Cat by Hawkman and Mecha-Roots and takes place in a world where a mysterious virus that turns people into cats has ravaged mankind and dismantled society.
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The main protagonist of the series, Kunagi, is a huge cat person, but is forced to fight his urge to cuddle with the cats he encounters so that he doesn’t turn into one. The premise is absolutely bizarre and exudes the same energy as a horror comedy from the ’70s-80s, which absolutely makes it a series to look out for going into 2025.
Nyaight of the Living Cat’s Production Team Is a J-Horror Dream
Not only does Nyaight of the Living Cat have the perfect setup to be a comedy horror masterpiece, but the team in charge of the anime at OLM is more than qualified. The executive director for the upcoming series is Takashi Miike – the same twisted creative mind behind iconic J-Horror films like Audition, Ichi the Killer, and One Missed Call. Having that kind of star power behind a project like this is more than just a little promising.
Kamiya Tomohiro, who previously worked on key animation for Sing a Bit of Harmony, will be debuting his directing talents by taking on the role of series director with scripts from Irie Shingo, who previously worked on Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. As of writing, there’s been no official release date given for the series, only a release window of 2025. Crunchyroll has secured streaming rights for Western anime fans, with Sony Pictures Entertainment distributing the series in Asia and Japan.
