Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1 review: An action-packed premiere about cat pandemic you need to watch

Produced by Studio OLM, Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1 was screened in advance at the Crunchyroll Stage at Anime Expo 2025 on July 3, 2025. Packed with action and impressive animation quality, the episode saw the iconic moments from author Hawkman and illustrator Mecha-Roots' eponymous manga series come alive.

The episode introduced viewers to an apocalyptic world, overrun by a "cat pandemic," where humans turned into cats whenever they came into contact with those feline creatures. The premiere saw the male protagonist, Kunagi, and his friends in action, as they desperately sought shelter from cats, afraid they might join the feline horde next.

OLM Studio has done an impressive job of portraying the "cat pandemic" with a complex layer of "cuteness" acting as the episode's core. The premise stems from this contradiction and yields a fascinating result. Undoubtedly, the first episode marks the title as one of the underrated gems of the Summer 2025 anime lineup.

Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1 review: OLM's production complements the entertaining narrative

A horde of cats, as seen in the anime (Image via OLM)

The advanced premiere of Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1 marked a rollicking start to an intriguing series, based on author Hawkman and illustrator Mecha-Roots' eponymous manga series. The episode juxtaposed contradictory elements to tell the tale of a world infested by a unique virus that turned humans into cats. At the surface level, cats can be said to be the source of endorphin with their cute gestures and adorable "meows."

Yet, what if those same feline creatures become the source of a deadly virus that threatens humanity? Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1 explored this concept and showcased an action-packed narrative, with the male protagonist, Kunagi, and his friends escaping from cats to save their humanity.

From a narrative perspective, Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1 covered chapter 1 and around 42-43 pages of chapter 2 from Hawkman and Mecha-Roots' manga series. The episode's narrative remained almost identical to the manga, explaining the cause of the pandemic's sudden outbreak and portraying Kunagi's personality.

Kunagi, as seen in the anime (Image via OLM)

Kunagi was introduced as a man who couldn't recollect his past due to amnesia. However, he had a deep knowledge of cats. As a cat lover, Kunagi found himself in an existential crisis because he couldn't pet those feline creatures. The episode also saw Kunagi work part-time at a cat cafe, run by his "saviors," Kaoru and Gaku.

Everything changed when one of the cafe's customers transformed into a cat after petting one. Following that, Kunagi witnessed the "nyandemic" outside, as people slowly turned into feline creatures. Akin to a zombie apocalypse, the world was overrun by "cats."

Credit must be given to Studio OLM for how they portrayed the events from the manga. With rock music playing in the background, the studio marvelously depicted the cat apocalypse scenario. While it's hard to tell an entire show's production based on a single episode, OLM has done exceedingly well to produce the premiere.

Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1 review: An overall criticism of animation and OLM's production

A cat, as seen in the anime (Image via OLM)

From the animation perspective, Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1 was stellar, to say the least. Although the studio has used CGI to animate the cats' movements, they never seemed jarring. Rather, the subtle usage of CGI enhanced the premiere's charm and helped showcase the natural movements of the feline creatures.

However, CGI wasn't used all the time. For instance, during the cat cafe scenes, some cats moved like they would in a traditional anime. Director Tomohiro Kamitani has done a fabulous job overseeing the production, which truly shone in the first episode. Takao Maki's character designs for Kunagi, Gaku and Kaoru were excellent.

Likewise, the animators have done well to illustrate different breeds of cats. Series composer Shingo Iris has also meticulously staged the events for the adaptation. Special credit has to be given to the sound director and the music composer, Koji Endo. Bringing rock music to depict a "cat pandemic" was an excellent choice.

The world becomes affected by the Nyandemic (Image via OLM)

Furthermore, the character movements looked fine in Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1. Every frame appeared crisp and sharp, without any jarring effects. Although the episode didn't have a "smooth" animation, it was nonetheless effective in portraying the events.

At the same time, Masaaki Mizunaka did a fantastic job as the voice actor of Kunagi. Likewise, Reina Ueda and Ryota Gaku have done well to voice Kaoru and Gaku, respectively. Lastly, the opening and the ending theme for Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1 were the chef's kiss, providing an X-factor to the premiere.

Conclusion

Nyaight of the Living Cat episode 1 was an entertaining premiere, focusing on the "nyandemic" caused by cats. The episode also revealed many interesting facts about the feline creatures and showed their different breeds. With OLM's decent production, the premiere has solidly set the series in motion.