Let’s keep the spooky waifu train going. We celebrated vampire girls last week, and now we move on to the black cats of anime. Cat girls are a hallmark of anime, and it’s about time to talk about them. Black cats are considered unlucky for some reason. Halloween sees them allied with witches and other dark forces. We cultured otaku fear no darkness if it means getting the fair neko waifu.
1. Luna (Sailor Moon)
Luna is a mystical cat from the far future. She resided in the Moon Palace, the capital of the Moon Kingdom. Luna is an adviser to Sailor Moon and the rest of her Inner Senshi as they take down villains. Like her ruler, Luna retains her transformation ability, which turns her into a humanoid being. She’s still just a cat girl, though.
Naoko Takeuchi wrote and illustrated Sailor Moon from December 28th, 1991, to February 3rd, 1997. Kodansha published all eighteen volumes in the pages of Nakayoshi.
2. Yoruichi Shihoin (Bleach)
We can’t have a list of black cat girls without the lovely tanned fighter Yoruichi. She’s first introduced as a deep-voiced black cat. The truth was revealed when Yoruichi changed into her regular human form, with only smoke to obscure her feminine features. Her ultimate form grants her cat ears and tail made of lightning, staying true to her black cat girl nature.
If you want to appreciate Yoruichi’s beauty in person, J-List can help you. The Yoruichi Shihouin 1/7 G.E.M. Series Figure is now available for purchase. She looks perfect, even during a battle to save the world.
Tite Kubo wrote and illustrated this series from August 7th, 2001, to August 22nd, 2016. Shueisha published all 74 volumes by that point.
3. Himari Noihara (Omamori Himari)
Himari is technically a bakeneko, a type of cat demon. However, she’s still a black cat girl, and this is still her month. Himari is also a samurai girl sworn to protect Yuto from enemies. She takes her duty very seriously, to the point where she is willing to become a full demon to defend Yuto. This is also because she loves him very much, making Yuto the luckiest person in the world.
Milan Matra first released the original manga series on June 9th, 2006. Fujimi Shobo and Kadokawa Shoten released all thirteen volumes in Dragon Comics Age and Kadokawa Comics Dragon Jr., respectively.
4. Blair (Soul Eater)
Blair is a cat witch, also making her a black cat girl. Maka mistook her as a regular witch and sought to kill her and allow Soul to eat her soul. Of course, she was wrong and set herself and Soul back to square one. Blair took the whole thing in stride and became a firm ally. Blair’s signature spell is Pumpkin Cannon, which more than earns her a place on this list. Her fight with the mouse witch Mizune is the stuff of legends. It’s two sexy witches in revealing outfits groping one another. Atsushi Ohkubo was trying to give Kentaro Yabuki a run for his money.
Tsubaki took center stage in the legendary manga series written and illustrated by Atsushi Ohkubo. Square Enix published the series from May 12th, 2004, to August 12th, 2013, in 25 volumes.
5. Rem Galleu (How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord / Isekai Maou to Shokan Shojo no Dorei Majutsu)
Rem is a sexy black cat girl frequently seen with the equally sexy elf girl Shera L. Greenwood. They summon Takuma Sakamoto to their world, which acts like the MMORPG Cross Reverie. They plan to enslave him, but his magic ring with the gift of Magic Reflection enslaves them instead. Rem still becomes a great adventurer, and she’s happy to be one of Demon Lord Diablo / Takuma’s wives.
Joe has written extensive episode reviews for the original season and How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Ω.
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord first enslaved the fans as a light novel series written by Yukiya Murasaki and illustrated by Takahiro Tsurusaki. Kodansha began publishing the series on December 2nd, 2014, and it continues with fourteen volumes available.
6. Cyan Hijirikawa (Show by Rock!!)
Cyan starts off as a human but ends up as a cat girl. She’s drawn into the world of a rhythm game she had been playing after receiving the “Strawberry Heart” item. As a music lover, Cyan was quite happy to be in Midi City, even if she now had cat ears and a tail. Her Strawberry Heart allowed her to play a song that defeated a monster. Cyan’s performance then earned her a place in the animal girl band Plasmagica.
Joe has written extensive episode reviews for Show by Rock!!.
Show by Rock!! was a mobile rhythm video game developed and published by Geechs (and later Edia) in collaboration with Sanrio. Though services were discontinued in 2022, the series lives on in anime and manga.
7. Chocola (Nekopara)
Chocola and her twin sister Vanilla were found on the side of a road by Kashou and Shigure. They were little more than kitten girls at the time. These two abandoned cat girls were given a new home and quickly warmed up to Kashou. Sometime later, when Kashou announced that he would leave home to start his own pâtisserie. Chocola could not bear being separated from him, so she and Vanilla stowed away in boxes delivered right to him. The two then became his maids to work at his shop.
Joe has written extensive episode reviews for Nekopara.
NEKO WORKs developed this eroge series and released the first volume on December 29th, 2014. The most recent one, the fourth in the series, was released on November 27th, 2020.
8. Durel (Cat Planet Cuties / Asobi ni Iku Yo!)
Durel is one of the Catians, or cat girls, who came to Earth to learn more about its inhabitants. She’s the doctor of this alien cat girl expedition who opposes the Dogisians, or dog girls. Durel is usually calm and calculating but is not above having a more playful side. For instance, she likes wearing tight swimsuits and happily uses feminine wiles while negotiating with government officials. Durel is still an excellent doctor, though, as she immediately has a solution to any medical issue that might come up.
This tale of cat girls and dog girls was created by Okina Kamino and Eizo Hoden (and later Nishieda) from October 25th, 2003, to February 25th, 2015. Media Factory published all twenty volumes in MF Bunko J.
9. Persia (Gate / Gate: Thus the Japanese Self-Defense Force Fought in Their Land)
Gate has more than just sexy dark elves in its fantasy setting. What’s better than a maid? A black cat girl maid. Persia is an incredibly skilled and loyal maid. While she is more than capable of keeping a household running, she is not above using violence to ensure the safety of her employers. Persia also shares mutual feelings for JSDF soldier Takeo Kurata.
Joe has written extensive episode reviews for Gate.
Gate is a novel series by Takumi Yanai, a real-life former JSDF soldier. Arcadia published all ten volumes between April 2006 and June 2009.
10. Felicia Hardy / Black Cat (Marvel Mangaverse)
We couldn’t have a black cat girl appreciation article without someone named Black Cat. This iteration of Spider-Man’s Best Girl (depending on the Spider-Man version) comes from the Western-made Marvel Mangaverse. Felicia was likely already a thief well before she met Peter Parker of the Spider Clan. Her attempt to steal a Shadow Clan amulet ended poorly. Daredevil had been nearby, hunting members of the Shadow Clan to avenge his girlfriend’s death. The Shadow Clan was after Felicia to take their amulet back, and she was caught in the middle. Daredevil ended her life, only for Kingpin to resurrect her as a cyborg agent. This wouldn’t stop her from helping Peter and Mary Jane when they need it. In fact, she seemed happy to help MJ with some mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Ben Dunn helped to create the Marvel Mangaverse between 2000 and 2002.
What do you make of our list of black cat girls? Did you find new favorites to prowl around with? Who would you like to see on a similar list? Let us know in the comments below.
