, also known as Cat God, is a Japanese manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 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 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

Takamagahara

Takama-ga-hara , literally "High Heaven's Plain" but often translated as the "High Plain of Heaven," is a place in Japanese mythology. In Shinto, Takama-ga-hara is the dwelling place of the Kami. It is believed to be connected to the Earth by the bridge Ama-no uki-hashi...

 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

Bakeneko

A is, in Japanese folklore, a cat with supernatural abilities akin to those of the fox or raccoon dog. A cat may become a bakeneko in a number of ways: it may reach a certain age, be kept for a certain number of years, grow to a certain size, or be allowed to keep a long tail. In the last case,...

 when they first met.

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.

A black haired Cat God, who has also grey eyes. Sasana is Mayu's fiancé, the reason for this was because their dads 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

Shamisen

The , also called is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually "shamisen" but sometimes "jamisen" when used as a suffix . -Construction:The shamisen is a plucked stringed instrument...

. She maintains a fierce rivalry with Meiko for Mayu's love.

Meiko is a blonde "princess" with grayish-blue eyes. She is grand-daughter of the god Daikokuten

Daikokuten

In Japan, Daikokuten , literally, god of great Darkness or Blackness, is one of the Seven Gods of Fortune. Daikokuten evolved from the Hindu deity, Shiva. The name is the Chinese and Japanese equivalent of Mahakala, another name for Shiva....

 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.

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. Yoshino is scared of ghosts.

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.

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.

Manga

Nekogami Yaoyorozu began its serial

Serial (literature)

In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...

 run in July 2007 issue of Champion RED Ichigo. , the series has been republished in four compilation volumes.

Anime

In December 2010, an anime television series based on the manga was announced in Champion RED Ichigo. Produced by AIC PLUS+ under the direction of Hiroaki Sakurai

Hiroaki Sakurai

is an anime director. He is known for his work in Daa! Daa! Daa!, better known as UFO Baby. He also served as the director for the anime adaption of Cromartie High School.- References :...

, the anime series began its broadcast run on July 9, 2011 on the Japanese network AT-X

AT-X (company)

is a Japanese anime television network owned by . AT-X, Inc. was founded on June 26, 2000 as a subsidiary of TV Tokyo Medianet, which, in turn, is a subsidiary of TV Tokyo. Its headquarters are in Minato, Tokyo. AT-X network broadcasts anime via satellite and cable since December 24, 1997.AT-X is...

. The North American media website Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...

 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.
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