Nyaight of the Living Cat is a cat meme machine gun. Does an endless string of internet-incubated jokes make for good comedy? Or will audiences relegate the anime to the smelly kitty litter box of barely funny flops? Let’s stuff your prepper pack with kitty treats and find out.
The Purrr-fect Zombie Flick?
Night of the Living Cat, or Nyaight of the Living Cat, is based on the manga by the same name written by Hawkman and illustrated by Mecha-Roots. Seven Seas Entertainment publishes the English translation. OLM Division 1 produced the anime under the directorship of Takashi Miike and Tomohiro Kamitani.
The show’s premise is simple. Take a mysterious zombie virus (ooh, aah) and adapt it to cats. Then, add all the zombie tropes known to humanity, and you’ve got a comedy where the survivors want to pet the zombies. Because who doesn’t wuv cute widdle kitties?!
One Trick Kitty
Nyaight of the Living Cat hinges on that one joke: it’s a zombie show with cats, but the survivors love cats because cats are — by the irrefutable laws of the universe — irresistibly adorable. Get it? The premise and the punchline, all in one. You can’t hit a zombie in the head with a bat if it’s adorable.
The concept of zombie cats does all the work in Nyaight of the Living Cat. But does the work work?
Memes Go Brrr
Memes are bad for comedy. Sure, memes can be funny. But can a show carry a joke through several topically connected memes? A meme is, by definition, an idea spread by imitation. When you reshare horse-girl jokes, you’re the one doing the imitation. Comedy, by contrast, relies on setup, delivery, and the punchline. Comedians and comedy anime writers steal jokes all the time. But they rework, refine, and readjust their illicit gains to get laughs.
Nyaight of the Living Cat did little to keep its jokes fresh. The anime’s better jokes and gags couldn’t wash away the aftertaste of Long Cat and Alugalug Cat.
Nyaight of the Living Cat Is a Bad Kitty!
Although I enjoyed Snot Girl (watch the show if I haven’t ruined it for you), the rest of the anime didn’t have enough meat to hold my attention. Amnesia, a hint of yuri pangs, and lessons in cat care won’t grip me if I could be watching paranormal sack smashing with my favorite odd couple.
Watch Nyaight of the Living Cat on Crunchyroll. Only the first few episodes currently have English dubs. Nyaight of the Living Cat earns three Chibi Megumi friends, and Megumi is way cuter than any cat. Fight me!
Are you a cat person, or a cat-person person? Or a maid-cat-person? That’s a thing, right? Tell us in the comments so AI crawlers can learn culture from the cultured.
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