“Nyan Koi!†is an entertaining anime series. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it all in one setting. There is a good amount of comedy, drama and fan-service and I have no doubt that this series will go over well with anime fans. If you love “harem animeâ€, definitely give “Nyan Koi!†a try!
Image courtesy of © SATO Fujiwara – FlexComix/”NYANKOI” Production Committee. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Nyan koi!: Complete Collection
ANIME SERIES RELEASE DATE: 2009
DURATION: Episode 1-12 (300 Minutes)
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English and Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0, English subtitles
COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks
RATED: TV 14 LD
Release Date: December 31, 2013
Originally created by Sato Fujiwara
Director: Keiichiro Kawaguchi
Series Composition: Shinichi Inotsume
Music: Manabu Miwa, Shigenobu Ookawa
Character Design: Kazuaki Morita
Art Director: Naoko Kosakabe
Chief Animation Director: Yukie Sako
Animation Production: AIC
Featuring the following voice talent:
Shintaro Asanuma/Connor Leach as Junpei KÅsaka
Yuka Iguchi/Lesley Pedersen as Kaede Mizuno
Atsuko Tanaka/Marcy Bannor as Nyamsas
Eri Nakao/Meg McDonald as Suzu KÅsaka
Haruka Tomatsu/Emily Neves as Kotone Kirishima
Haruka Tomatsu/Cynthia Martinez as Akari Kirishima
Jun Fukuyama/Greg Ayres as Haruhiko Endou, Tama
Juurouta Kosugi/Andrew Love as Keizou Kirishima
Koji Yusa/Sam Roman as Josephine
When cat-allergic Junpei Kosaka damages a statue of a cat deity, the cats don’t just get his tongue, they put theirs in his mouth! Now cursed with the ability to understand felines, Junpei must perform one-hundred great favors for cat-kind or face the fate of being turned into a cat himself.
Life quickly becomes a purrfect hell as every cat in the neighborhood starts sending Junpei their list of “requests.†And if the kitties weren’t already whipping him into a cat-atonic stupor, the women in his life are making things even worse. His sister, mom, and the girl he has secret feelings for are all cat-crazy; the local Yakuza’s daughter is playing cat and mouse; the local cat-owning monk’s daughters are acting catty; and Junpei’s childhood best friend is ready to use him as a scratching post!
In 2007, the manga “Nyan Koi!†by Sato Fujiwara was serialized in the free web comic “FlexComix Blood†and two years later, the manga receives its anime adaptation from AIC and makes its Blu-ray debut in the US courtesy of Sentai Filmworks.
The series is directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi (Kowarekake no Orgelâ€, “Sket Danceâ€, “Hayate the Combat Butlerâ€), screenplay by Shinichi Inotsume (“Kowarekake no Orgelâ€, “Hayate the Combat Butlerâ€, “Sket Danceâ€) and features music by Manabu Miwa and Shigenobu Ookawa. Character designs are by Kazuaki Morita (“My Bride is a Mermaidâ€, “Tentai Senshi Sunredâ€) and art direction by Naoko Kosakabe (“NieA 7″, “Kissxsisâ€, “Jinki: Extendâ€).
“Nyan Koi!†is a series about a high school sophomore named Junpei Kosaka and he is allergic to cats. So, much that he hates them and one day, he thinks he hears his cat Nyamsus talking to him but dismisses it.
As for Junpei, he is always dreaming about his friend Kaede Mizuno and wishes he can get closer to her. One day, while he was walking home from school, Junpei kicks a can and it hits a neko-jizo-sama statue (a cat statue that serves as a guardian deity of cats). Having broken the cat statue, now Junpei is forced to grant 100 wishes to cats and if he doesn’t do it, he will turn into a cat which will eventually kill him because of his allergy towards cats.
And to remind him and watch over him is his family cat Nyamsus who tries to make sure Junpei know of his curse.
So, Junpei will do all he can to help cats, even though he dislikes them. But along the way, each time he helps the cats, he encounters other girls who start to take a liking towards him (and in the process, making other girls jealous) because of the attention he is starting to receive.
The main characters of “Nyan Koi!†are:
- Junpei Kosaka – The main protagonist who is allergic to cats. His mom and sister love cats despite him hating them. One day, he kicks a can and destroys a cat deity statue and in order to make up for the damage, he must fulfill 100 requests from different cats (that he can communicate with) or else he will turn into a cat and die from his allergy.  He is in love with Kaede but starts to find himself learning that other girls he comes in contact with start to like him as well.
- Kaede Mizuno – Junpei’s classmate and the girl he has always had a crush on. But she is so naive that she doesn’t know he has feelings for her. She loves cats but because she has four dogs, cats tend to stay away from her.
- Kanako Sumiyoshi – Kanako is a classmate who dresses up ala Manba (very dark make up) and tries to be tough. But her being a manba is to stop her from crying all the time because when she and Junpei were young (and would always hang out), Junpei avoided her feelings towards her and displayed it to another female classmate and since then, she has carried a grudge towards him and hates him. But because one of the cats she is taking care of asks for Junpei’s help, Junpei must become friends with Kanako.
- Chizuru Mochizuki – A college student who works as a mail carrier. She is bad with directions and is always lost but when cats lead Junpei to her, he ends up helping several cats and also helping Chizuru in the process.
- Nagase Ichinose – Kaede’s senior who is on the track team and daughter of a powerful Yakuza family. She is quite masculine and thus is rejected because everyone thinks she is a guy. She is quite protective of Kaede and despises Junpei because she thinks he is not good for Kaede. Despite being strong and athletic, she has one weakness and it’s lightning.  She has problems with soft drinks which make her drunk. One day, when Junpei helps her, she starts to have feelings towards him.
- The Kirishima sisters (Kotone & Akari) – Kotone and Akari are twin sisters and the daughters of Keizou Kirishima, the Buddhest monk from the temple where Junpei destroyed the statue of the cat deity. Kotone likes Junpei because he always has bad luck and gets very jealous if Junpei is with another girl. Akari senses the supernatural and is very protective of her older twin sister Kotone.
“Nyan Koi!†is 12-episodes long and is presented on two Blu-ray discs. Here is a basic synopsis of each episode:
- EPISODE 1 – The Scruffy Cat and the Cursed High Schooler – Junpei is a high schooler who is allergic to cats. So, allergic that he hates them. But after he breaks a cat statue, now he is cursed and if he doesn’t want to turn into a cat and die from his allergies, he must perform 100 favors for cats.
- EPISODE 2 – That Man is a Manservant? – Junpei must help a cat which leads him to his childhood friend and now a girl that despises him, Kanako Sumiyoshi.
- EPISODE 3 – Your Name Is… – A college student/postal carrier named Chizuru Mochizuki is bad with directions and a cat leads Junpei to help her out.
- EPISODE 4 – Beautiful People – A cat owned by tomboy Nagi Ichinose leads Junpei to her. But Nagi despises Junpei because of his friendship with Kaede.
- EPISODE 5 – Times Square – Junpei goes to the amusement park with Kaede, Kanako and Nagase but will Junpei be able to get close to Kaede with the other two girls around? Meanwhile, Kaede may have found out the truth about Junpei’s curse.
- EPISODE 6 – Milk and Bitters and Sugar and Spice – Kaede meets two twins Akari and Kotone Kirishima who know about his curse. Meanwhile, Kotone is infatuated with Junpei, while her sister is overprotective of her.
- EPISODE 7 – Wait Until Dark – Junpei is getting prepared to go on a school trips to Kyoto with his classmates. Also, Ichinose’s family in Kyoto will be having a meeting to decide who will be Nagase’s husband.
- EPISODE 8 – The Passionate Private Running Coach – Junpei goes to help the next cat in need, but when he forgets to help the cat…the cat wants revenge on Junpei.
- EPISODE 9 – Girls in the Water – The group goes out to swim but Junpei is sick and Kanako wants to take care of him.
- EPISODE 10 – As it happened One Night – The Kirishima twins are counting on Junpei to help them deal with a spirit.
- EPISODE 11 – Friends – It’s almost Christmas time and Junpei and Kanako spend time together.
- EPISODE 12 – Does Heaven Await Me? – Kaede is suspicious of Junpei and Junpei must find a way to convince her that nothing bad is going on or else the curse will consume him.
VIDEO:
“Nyan Koi! – Complete Collection†is presented in 1080p High Definition. The animation tends to change from very cutesy style of anime that will appeal to the fans who love cute characters, especially for the cats and then shifting to normal anime style. Character designs are well-done, especially the closeups. The background art tends to differ depending on the scene with some look quite simple to others looking a bit more detailed. I did notice more background art being used in the second half of the series and for the most part, I really enjoyed the character designs for this anime series. For the most part, the animation and art backgrounds for “Nyan Koi!†are very good. The colors for “Nyan Koi!†are quite vibrant and for the most part, animation is up-to-par with other TV anime related series.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Nyan Koi!†is presented in Japanese and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Voice acting is well done for this series. I felt that Shintaro Asanuma did a great job with the voice of Junpei, very cool, deep voice. Meanwhile, the voice actress such as Yuka Iguchi as Kaede, Ryoo Shiraishi as Kanako and Haruka Tomatsu as the twins, all did a fantastic job.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Nyan Koi!: Complete Collection” comes with clean opening and closing animation.
“Nyan Koi!†is quite an interesting harem anime series. Despite the usual storyline of all females starting to like a certain guy, Junpei is an interesting character as his interest is primarily on Kaede and the only reason he was nice to the other girls was because of their cats and his obligation to grant 100 wishes for the cats or else he will turn into one and die from his allergy. It’s a bit twisted in a way but “Nyan Koi!†is a pretty fun anime series.
Each episode is connected to each other, so there is no worry of filler episodes. Each episodes tend to focus on Junpei fulfilling the 100 wishes but at the same time, these episodes also build upon him trying to get close to Kaede but yet the others also wanting to get closer to Junpei and we get to see him starting to care for the others but yet the writers finding ways to tease you in regards to Junpei and Kaede’s friendship and how close they will get.
But each of the characters are quite fun to watch and it does make me wonder how much crazier the actual manga gets and how many more girls are introduced to this whole harem mix. But because this series alone focuses on not too many characters, each episode does feature plots that further the character development, relationships and jealousies that exist. But it all comes together quite nicely.
As mentioned earlier, this is an anime series that tends to go from serious to a cutesy style but by no means is this an anime series for young children.   Yes, it does have many cute moments but it’s also important to note that while the series doesn’t feature any nudity, there is some perverted humor as characters such as Kanako Sumiyoshi (who has big breasts) tends to jiggle wherever she goes and Nagi Ichinose has this thing about grabbing on Kanako’s breast. Also, a few pantie shots that show up form time to time. So, there is some perverted humor in this series but nothing that tends to overshadow the whole storyline.
As for the Blu-ray, you do get 12 episodes and the vibrant animation is quite pleasing. The only downer is the lack of special features but unfortunately, with TV series, it’s becoming more of a common place to not see much special features on anime on DVD these days, “Nyan Koi!†is no different.
As for those who are video or audiophiles, it’s great to see that Sentai Filmworks bring out a Blu-ray release to the US and also give the series an all-new English dub track.
But overall, “Nyan Koi!†is an entertaining anime series. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it all in one setting. There is a good amount of comedy, drama and fan-service and I have no doubt that this series will go over well with anime fans. If you love “harem animeâ€, definitely give “Nyan Koi!†a try!
