My Roommate Is a Cat
My Roommate Is a Cat is a Japanese manga series written by Minatsuki and illustrated by Asu Futatsuya, serialized online via Flex Comix's Comic Polaris website since June 2015. It has been collected in twelve tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Zero-G aired from January to March 2019.
Characters
;Subaru Mikazuki;Haru
;Atsushi Kawase
;Nana Ōkami
;Hiroto Yasaka
;Yūgo Ōkami
;Hachi
;Roku
;Tarō
;Nagisa Yasaka
;Tora-nee-san
;Haru Akimoto
;Natsuko Akimoto
;Kuro
;Hayato Yasaka
;Narumi Yasaka
;Misora Yasaka
;Sonoko Tanabe
;Kazuhiro Mikazuki & Saho Mikazuki
Media
Manga
The series has been licensed in English by Lezhin Comics.Anime
The anime adaption aired from January 9 to March 27, 2019, on AT-X, ABC, Tokyo MX and BS11. The series is animated by Zero-G and directed by Kaoru Suzuki, with Deku Akao handled the series composition, and Masaru Kitao designed the characters. Schrödinger's Cat and Kotringo performed the series' opening theme song "Unknown World", while Yoshino Nanjō performed the series' ending theme song "Kimi no Tonari Watashi no Basho". The series ran for 12 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the series, while Funimation produced the English dub. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the dub was moved to Crunchyroll.| Title | Original air date |
Reception
Anime News Network had five editors review the first episode of the anime: James Beckett found the first half with Subaru the weakest part, but praised the second half when moving from the cat's perspective; Theron Martin praised the "technical merits" of the premiere for showcasing a "more balanced and natural portrayal" of the cat and its point of view; Paul Jensen was critical of Subaru's introduction and a lack of "emotional drama" in his arc, but was hopeful of his growing development in the series and his adventures being retold from the cat's perspective, calling it "an enjoyable slice of life story" that will grab viewers outside of its core audience; Rebecca Silverman wrote that: "I'm not sure it will be able to sustain itself, but if a pet's ever made a difference in your life, this is worth checking out." The fifth reviewer, Nick Creamer, felt that Subaru's story contained "superfluous" interactions with other people, "insubstantial" humor and "purely functional" animation but gave praise to the cat's retelling of the events, concluding that: "In the end, My Roommate is a Cat is too lukewarm in its comedy and limited in its aesthetics to really grab me, but still offers a fairly reasonable premiere. If you're a big fan of all things cat, maybe give this one a try."Silverman reviewed the complete anime series in 2020 and gave it an A− grade. While finding the flashbacks "a bit heavy-handed" when depicting both characters' lives before they met, she praised the accurate portrayal of cat behavior and the respectful exploration of both Subaru and Haru's anxiety problems, concluding that: "My Roommate is a Cat is definitely a cat person show, but it's also one for anybody who's anxious or understands the comfort of having an animal to make the world less scary. It has its heavy moments, but that just means that when things get lighter, we can really feel like maybe it'll all be okay." Stig Høgset, writing for THEM Anime Reviews, also praised the series for capturing "general kitty behavior" that's similar to Sketchbook ~full color's~ and utilizing a "restrained tone" when portraying its human and animal cast throughout the episodes, concluding that: "here is a certain delightfulness to the antics of the characters in this show, including the animals, and that's why you should give My Roommate is a Cat a go." The series was nominated for Best Comedy at the 4th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, but lost to Kaguya-sama: Love Is War.