The Neko-jin List
By Avi Melman and Curtis Hoffmann
Converted to HTML by Rob Kelk
Notes
Neko-jin Manga
Neko-jin Anime
Neko-jin characters in specific anime
Neko-jin refers to cat-people: which is a very popular gimmick in manga. The phrase is mostly used for women (who are occasionally referred to as "kittens" normally.) This list comes from
one that had been maintained by Avi Melman back in 1991, when he was still on the net. I have tried to contact him to get permission to use his list, or to even get a more recent copy, but to no
avail. So, I will make do with this list for the time being.
Note that Avi also includes other animals/non-humans in this list. So, rather than being a strictly neko-jin list, it is something of a "Furry Humanoids" list.
If anyone else wants to add to this (horribly out of date) list, please contact me (Curtis H. Hoffmann at hoffmanc@why.net).
Note that virtually all of the entries and comments are Avi's.
Format Notes:
- Name of Book
Publication first appeared in (if known)
Publisher
Volume # (Order Number, ISBN Number)
- Additional Info
- B-Type Union
by Kouga Yun
Newtype Genki (Jan.-Apr. 1988)
Compilation Book 1 Published by Newtype 100% Comics (C0079) (ISBN4-04-852224-8)
Follow-up: Three Image Albums have been released:
B-Type Union Music Album (CD:KTCR-1120)
B-Type Union Drama Album (CD:KTCR-1121)
B-Type Union Another Music (CD:KTCR-1125)
- B-Type Union is set in an uncertain future. People of B-type blood are half-cat, and don't have much control over when they change into cats. The B-Types have average cat lifespans
(18 for males, 16 for females). The B-Types are split into two factions: The BLO (B-Type Liberation Org.) and Calico-B. The BLO is a terrorist organization. The main characters in this story are Amy
and her twin Matilda. One is shy, the other violent. Amy (?) is in love with the leader of the Calico-B's. This manga is not as popular as Kouga Yun's Earthian stories, but it's still a
neat story to look into.
- Neko de Gomen (Sorry I'm a Cat)
by Nagano Akane
Published by Shonen Magazine Comics
Six volumes out.
Volume 1: KCM1488, ISBN4-06-311488-0
Volume 2: KCM1535, ISBN4-06-311535-6
Volume 3: KCM1574, ISBN4-06-311574-7
Volume 4: KCM1600, ISBN4-06-311600-X
Volume 5: KCM1618, ISBN4-06-311618-2
Volume 6: KCM1642, ISBN4-06-311642-5
Follow-up: Neko de Gomen Image Album (King Records) (KICA26)
Featuring the voices of:
Tominaga Miina (Noa/Patlabor)
Yamaguchi Kappei (Ranma-kun/Ranma ½)
Nagai Ichirou (Happosai/Ranma ½)
- Neko de Gomen is a zany remix of The Fly, where a girl named Yayoi is put, rather unwillingly, into a transport chamber built by her father. A small cat slips in with
her, and the transport process merges the cat into Yayoi's body. The cat will only appear through Yayoi if activated by various stimuli (a mouse, catnip, a ball of yarn.) This causes some problems
with her boyfriend, Minoru, who has a terrible fear of cats. However, Yayoi has a rival for Minoru: Reiko. Reiko's father is a mad scientist (although Yayoi's isn't so sane himself.) Reiko's father
comes up with all sorts of strange devices to help Reiko get Minoru-kun. Later on, the story turns into an action/adventure theme as Yayoi is sent back in time on a quest for a life restoring golden
apple with Minoru. Finally, when her father splits Yayoi and the cat's body, he discovers that Yayoi is mentally inside the cat, and vice versa.
- Kon na PANIC
by Asagiri Yu
Published originally in Nakayoshi magazine for girls (still running?)
Book 1 published by Kodansya Comics (KCN693, ISBN4-06-178693-8) (8/6/91)
Book 2 (KCN704, ISBN4-06-178704-7) (12/6/91)
- Although classified as a girl's manga (a materialistic stereotype for the true manga art fan), this story also conforms to the "neko-jin" category. Kon na PANIC involves a 2nd
year Junior High School student named Mai. She has a crush on a sports jock named Takumi. One day while brushing her teeth, she sprouts fox ears and a bushy tail. She later learns that she is
genetically half-fox. A mysterious guy with the same problem, named Ran, explains that some time in the distant past, a fox fell in love with a farmer. She turned herself into a human, and had his
child. Then, one day, she changed back and ran away. Mai is constantly on the search to find a means for controlling her transformations. In desperate situations, she loses control completely, and
turns into a fox (in normal situations of lack of control she just sprouts the fox ears and tail.) However, what would happen if Takumi-kun found out? Would he still love her, or turn her away as a
freak?
In book 2, Kon na PANIC gets more complicated as Ran begins to show feelings towards Mai, and her secret is discovered by the wrong people.
- Geobreeders
by Akihiro Itoh
- Geobreeders is the name of a small company of were-cat hunters. The were-cats can change form as desired, and several can get into electronic equipment and control it from the inside.
It is nearly impossible to kill a were-cat, so the Geobreeders use special magic seals connected to a laptop computer to trap the were-cats into floppy disks (kind of like Ghost Busters.)
Minor were-cats are loners, and are captured simply because a customer is paying to have the annoyance removed. Geobreeders' competition comes from a special quasi-military unit called "The Hounds",
which also tracks down were-cats. However, there is a secret society within the were-cats called "Kuro Neko" (Black Cat) that is a very powerful group with as-yet unexplained dark plans against
humanity, and the Geobreeders specifically.
[Translated to English by CPM Manga. - RK]
- Tenshi no Okurimono
by Tsukasa Hojo
Published by Jump Comics
First printing 11/15/88
Codes: ISBN4-08-871268 C0279 JC871268
- Tenshi no Okurimono is a one-shot collection of original stories by Tsukasa Hojo, author of Cat's Eye and City Hunter. One of the short stories involves a
woman who faced an unfortunate accident and is reincarnated. By day, she retains her human form; but at night, she turns into a cat with human eyes. Her lover is also involved, who suffers the same
fate while going to propose to her. (Nice ending.) The art style appears to be between the Cat's Eye and City Hunter phases.
- Purple Eyes in the Dark
by Chie Shinohara
- An interesting psychic thriller story about a race of cat-people, and one woman who changes into a panther. She loses all memory and control in panther form, and goes on a killing spree. The story
later revolves around her daughter, a "trueblood", who possesses incredible psychic powers. She doesn't change into a panther, though. Her father, incidentally, is a biologist who has been
trying to find the secret ever since he met his wife (the killing panther.)
- Neko Janaimon
Formerly appeared in Young Jump
by Kentaro Yano
- Flash
artist unknown
- Appeared in Animedia. A neko-jin named Rei made a special appearance in the manga.
- What's Michael
by: Makoto Kobayashi
- Not a true neko-jin manga, as the main characters are either just cats, or just humans (several of the cats are named Michael.) Most of the stories are silly gags and joke set-ups designed to make
fun of people, and the behavior of cats. Sometimes, the cats act out adventures as if they were human.
[Translated to English by Studio Proteus and serialized in Super Manga Blast magazine - RK]
(Not easy to find them)
- Kyatsu to ninden TEYANDE!
Produced by Tatsunoko Productions (1990)
- The show was more or less neko-jin ninjas. It's not easy to find, as it isn't known well-enough in the States to be brought over. (Actually, this sounds like Samurai Pizza Cats, which
was on TV in Canada and the U.S. -- CHH)
- Wata no Kuniboshi
(Victor VHS VT6-15)
approx.: 96 minutes
- A very interesting neko-jin anime movie about how cats perceive themselves. It follows a small cat, who, to herself and the audience, appears as a small girl with cat ears and tail, and wearing a
dress. To the humans in the story, however, she appears as a normal cat. Everything has been put into two perspectives: to us, she talks; to the human characters, she meows. When the audience sees her
running down the stairs on two legs, the characters see her bounding down on all fours. She is taken in by a kind man, with a wife who is scared of cats (this gives the cat numerous misfortunes.) Nice
animation with an interesting story plot. Being from a girl's manga, it tends to lack action for those who want to see blood, guts and violence.
- Night on the Galactic Railroad
(will gather more info)
- Haven't seen this one yet, but it's definitely a qualifier. It's a movie about cats (of course), who conduct human-style business. (Run on twos, deliver mail, and such.) Will have more information
in future updates.
[Available in North America, subtitled and dubbed in English, from CPM. - RK]
- What's Michael OAV
- Technically, this one doesn't count. But, since the list is short enough without it, here it is. Personally, I'd just watch it for the cat dancing.
- Ranma ½: Shampoo
- Probably one of the best-known neko-jin (although not in the technical sense.) Shampoo was one of 144 people affected by the pools at Jusenkyo. When splashed with cold water, she turns into a
small pink cat with an attitude. Hot water, as it does for other Ranma ½ characters, changes her back.
- Urusei Yatsura: Ginger
- One of the three girls in Lum's school who tried to kill Lum, Benten, and Oyuki. The other two girls are Pepper and Sugar. Their computer is the "Salt-2". Ginger is dark-skinned in the
manga, with black hair and two bands on her cat ears. (Wideban volumes 9-12). In the TV series, Ginger is pale-skinned and blonde. Appeared in episodes 122, 152, 168, and 198.
- Outlanders: Lady Battia Rou
- Lady Battia basically spent her time with either Princess Kahm or Geobaldi. She was a formidable opponent to anyone who crossed her path, and usually showed no remorse towards anyone. The only
neko-jin fault with Battia is the lack of a tail (was she ever seen with one?)
- Outlanders: Geobaldi
- An anthropomorphic tiger who commanded a fleet which later helped Kahm against her father, Emperor Quevas of the Santovasku Empire. Geobaldi had a love affair with Lady Battia, both in the manga
and in the Outlanders OVA. Both Geobaldi and Battia appeared in the English Outlanders issues 1-29.
- Dominion: Yunipuma and Annipuma
- The two cat-ladies/androids from hell. In the original Dominion series, these two work for the notorious Buaku gang in the future, when the air is toxic. They are Buaku's best defense
against the police, and they've got the legs for the job. In the second series, No More Noise, they have been co-opted by the police, and assigned to Leona's squad. Leona is now trying to
track down a mysterious terrorist that is buzzing the city in a small bi-plane, and the puma sisters are living in a dumpster behind the station.
- Appleseed: Artemis and Fang
- More on these characters in future updates.
- To-Y: Nya
- A very cute neko-jin character, who To-Y basically has to care for. She sprouts cat ears and (sometimes) a tail when she gets playful. To-Y likes to tease her a lot, but when things gets bad,
To-Y's patience with her sometimes wears pretty thin. He hasn't done anything rash yet in the anime. Don't know about the manga, though. To-Y is a member of a rock band.
Special Neko-inhabited cases (not true neko-jin, but neko experiences)
- Orange Road OAV -- I Was a Goldfish/Cat
- Kyosuke's grandfather brings home a magic rope which can switch the souls of two people holding either end. Kyosuke gets switched with the pet goldfish, and is later transferred into Jingoro's
(the cat) body. As a cat, he is picked up by Madoka and Hikaru.
(At the end of the file, Avi promises another large update while he is on school vacation. If anyone has this update, please send it to me. -- CHH)
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