Nekogami Yaoyorozu

Nekogami Yaoyorozu
Cover of the first manga volume
猫神やおよろず
Genre	Comedy, Fantasy
Manga
Written by	FLIPFLOPs
Published by	Akita Shoten
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Champion Red Ichigo
Original run	July 2007 – ongoing
Volumes	4
TV anime
Directed by	Hiroaki Sakurai
Written by	Touko Machida
Studio	AIC PLUS+
Network	AT-X, Chiba TV, Sun TV, Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, TV Saitama
Original run	July 9, 2011 – September 24, 2011
Anime and Manga Portal

Nekogami Yaoyorozu (猫神やおよろず^?), also known as Cat God, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by FLIPFLOPs about a cat goddess that lives in an antique shop. In 2011, it was adapted into an anime television series by AIC PLUS+.

Plot

Nekogami Yaoyorozu is a story about a Cat God named Mayu who has been stripped of her rank and powers and banished from Takamagahara to live on Earth for illegal gambling. She ends up living in an antique shop called Yaoyorozudou with a girl called Yuzu. The story revolves around the various antics the two get up to as they meet with various other gods and creatures from Japanese Mythology.

Characters

Mayu (繭, Mayu^?)

Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu

Mayu is a diminutive Cat God (Nekogami) who has the power to find lost items using a magical scroll. Mayu is a really lazy Cat God, who likes to relax at home, play video games and of course sleep and eat (mostly seafood) much like a real cat. She also likes to tease everybody, and does anything for her games. She also has a gambling addiction which got her kicked out Takamagahara and stripped of her divine powers by her mother. Despite that she is very competent as a Cat God when she needs to be and is genuinely caring of others both her friends and of things there besides resulting her in being well-loved by the people of her town. Mayu has orange-yellow hair, brown eyes and cat ears. She has two tails causing Yuzu to confuse her for a Bakeneko when they first met.

Yuzu Komiya (古宮柚子, Komiya Yuzu^?)

Voiced by: Yui Horie

Yuzu is the owner of Yaoyorozudou a Japanese antique shop she inherited from her father, and she lives together with Mayu. She has lavender colored hair and green eyes and always wears a white apron. Yuzu is very positive and all the gods like her. Yuzu rarely gets angry, but when she does she gets a little scary. Even though Yuzu doesn't like Mayu's annoying attitude, she still cares about her. The two met when the the ghost of her dead cat Kotetsu convinced Mayu to help Yuzu with her grief over his death. She possesses no mystical power but has an incredible natural talent for discerning the quality and authenticity of antique Japanese items considered world-class.

Sasana Shōsōin (正倉院笹鳴, Shousouin Sasana^?)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano

A black haired Cat God, who has also grey eyes. Sasana is Mayu's fiancé, the reason for this was because of their dad' just thought Sasana and Mayu would make a good 'couple' without considering the other child's gender. Sasana is usually happy, but when she's close to Mayu she's really happy, calling her 'Mayu-sama' and talking always about that she is ready for marriage. She wields a magical wooden sword called Swordfish which transforms from the pick of a Shamisen. She maintains a fierce rivalry with Meiko for Mayu's love.

Meiko (メイ子, Meiko^?)

Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu

Meiko is a blonde "princess" with grayish-blue eyes. She is grand-daughter of the god Daikokuten and wields his magical golden hammer which is not only extremely powerful but can also create gold coins like in legend. Just like Sasana, she likes Mayu a lot, and the reason is due to their past. When Meiko had no friends Mayu invited her to play with her and Sasana, but she refused. But Mayu told her that she could come anytime she wanted to, and that left a strong impression on Meiko. Meiko also has a very dramatic personality, and she blushes a lot too.

Yoshino (芳乃, Yoshino^?)

Voiced by: MAKO

A minor goddess of Cherry Blossoms she has pink pigtails and is easily the weakest and clumsiest of all the main characters. Her portfolio only allows her to control the blossoming of cherry trees and she is generally useless in combat for no-want of effort. She joined Mayu's circle of friends after accidentally mailing a special jar of magical ash used to make cherry trees bloom which Mayu threw away not knowing what it was. Mayu then helped Yoshino find it again and bolstered her self-confidence.

Gonta (ゴン太, Gonta^?)

Voiced by: Yuuko Sanpei

A young Fox God in charge of caring for the town's wealth and prosperity. He has a major crush on Yuzu and is something of pervert spending much of his time daydreaming about her. Due to being extremely headstrong he is also willing to go as far as fighting typhoons in futility for his infatuation but is incapable of expressing his feelings even when circumstances don't conspire to thwart him. He enjoys antagonizing Mayu mostly out of jealousy over her closeness to Yuzu and his belief that Mayu is impending him.

Shamo (しゃも, Shamo^?)

Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki

A God of Poverty and a traveling performance auditor for the gods. She made friends with Yuzu (the latter not knowing Shamo was a Poverty God) through whom she came to conclusion that while chaotic and disorganized the town's gods were sufficiently competent and hangs out with them a lot.

Media

Manga

Nekogami Yaoyorozu began its serial run in July 2007 issue of Champion RED Ichigo. As of March 19, 2011 (2011 -03-19)^[update], the series has been republished in four compilation volumes.^[1]

Audio dramas

Anime

In December 2010, an anime television series based on the manga was announced in Champion RED Ichigo.^[2] Produced by AIC PLUS+ under the direction of Hiroaki Sakurai, the anime series began its broadcast run on July 9, 2011 on the Japanese network AT-X. The North American media website Crunchyroll is simulcasting the series under the title Cat God to audiences worldwide via internet streaming except for Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau, Taiwan, Andorra, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, and Switzerland.^[3]

No.	Title	Original airdate[4]
01	"The God of Poverty's Inspect+"[5] "Binbōgami Insupekuto+" (貧乏神インスペクト＋)	July 9, 2011
Shamo a God of Poverty is predicted to arrive in the town Mayu and her friends live in prompting them to form a coalition of otherwise rival gods in order to track down and stop the poverty god before disaster strikes.
02	"Sakura Front Overture"[5] "Sakura Furonto Ōbāchua" (桜フロントオーバーチュア)	July 16, 2011
Yoshino a minor goddess of cherry blossoms accidentally mails the jar of magical ash needed for the cherry blossoms to bloom to Mayu who throws it away not knowing what it is prompting a frantic search before the cherry blossom deadline passes.
03	"Desperate Deadline"[5] "Sute Hachi Deddorain" (捨て鉢デッドライン)	July 23, 2011
Yukina Kamo a powerful onmyoji and popular manga artist runs into a bind when her manga assistants who are also her shikigami go on strike and run away prompting Mayu to render assistance in getting them back before Yukina's deadline.
04	"Memory Halation Summer"[5] "Omoide Harēshon Samā" (思い出ハレーションサマー)	July 30, 2011
Urara, a Nightmare Eater enters Yaoyorozudou to find it's old owner, Makitarou, but she finds Yuzu his daughter instead. She enters into Mayu's dreams, but find's them so boring that she enters into Yuzu's dreams, causing her to see a nightmare about her tragic past.
05	"Typhoon God Overrun"[5] "Gufū-shin Ōbāran" (颶風神オーバーラン)	August 6, 2011
After winning tickets and hoping to see Yuzu in a bikini Gonta ends up inviting everyone to a beach-side resort just as a typhoon rolls in. Undaunted Gonta attempts to battle the typhoon god controlling it.
06	"Recollection of the Antiquity"[6] "Tsuioku Antikiti" (追憶アンティキティ)	August 13, 2011
While visiting Yuzu's old antiques teacher with Mayu the three end up reminiscing about the one time a sleazy antique dealer tried to swindle Yuzu allowing her to show of her natural talent for the first time by outwitting him.
07	"September Thriller Night"[6] "Nezameduki Surirānaito" (寝覚月スリラーナイト)	August 20, 2011
While staying over a Gonta's shrine to help with a festival the girls end up telling lousy ghost stories to each other before bed.
08	"Mukoubuchi Dice Roll"[6] "Mukou Buchi Daisurōru" (むこうぶちダイスロール)	August 27, 2011
After losing her precious video game to Gonta's mother Shizuha in a game of dice Mayu sneaks into Gonta's shrine with Yuzu's help and tries to steal it back and ends up challenging Shizuha again after discovering that she regularly cheats.
09	"Rainy Rainy"[6] "Reinī Reinī" (レイニーレイニー)	September 3, 2011
Mayu recounts the story of how she got exiled from Takamagahara to Yoshino over dinner and ends up telling her how she met Yuzu by helping the ghost of Yuzu's cat Kotetsu.
10	"Stray Cat On The Earth"[7] "Mayoineko Onjiāsu" (迷い猫オンジアース)	September 10, 2011
Due to a misunderstanding Amane the apprentice Guardian Cat of the Moon's magical memory storehouses travels to Earth to confront her successor Mayu.
11	"Doraneko Ran-afutā"[7] (どら猫ランアフター)	September 17, 2011
After spending a day with Mayu Amane learns a few valuable lessons about compassion and temperance from the wayward Cat God.
12	"Kien Shukuen Kontenshon"[7] (奇縁宿縁コンテンション)	September 24, 2011
Mayu is captured by her mother in order to attend an arranged marriage between Mayu and the second most important god Tsukiyomi the Moon God. Everyone mounts a rescue.

Reception

References

1. ^ "Profile & Works" (in Japanese). FLIPFLOPs. Akita Shoten. http://www.flipflops.jp/profile. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
2. ^ "Nekogami Yaoyorozu Comedy Manga Gets TV Anime". Anime News Network. December 1, 2010. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-12-01/nekogami-yaoyorozu-manga-gets-tv-anime. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
3. ^ "Crunchyroll Streams Nekogami Yaoyorozu, Usagi Drop, R-15". Anime News Network. July 6, 2011. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-07-06/crunchyroll-streams-nekogami-yaoyorozu-usagi-drop. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
4. ^ "猫神やおよろずu" (in Japanese). Syoboi. http://cal.syoboi.jp/tid/2206/time. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} "猫神やおよろず" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/605PT28RZ. Retrieved July 12, 2011. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} "猫神やおよろず" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/60qOJGTcv. Retrieved August 10, 2011. 
7. ^ ^{a b c} "猫神やおよろず" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/627JxM4YX. Retrieved October 2, 2011. 

External links

• Nekogami Yaoyorozu (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia