Jan 23 2012 06:12 PM Nekogami Yaoyorozu, a show about them cats...and gods.
Anyways, the show mostly felt like one shots pieced together for the most part. There was some continuity for some episodes, but for the most part you could really jump in anywhere and still be just as informed or confused compared to if you started with episode 1. On another note, however, the show is really just cute. It's not the moe blob type cute and it's not riddled with jokes and slapstick comedy but really just cute. The major problem here is that because it wanders aimlessly for 12 episodes, it makes it very difficult to sit through. While a new "refreshing" episode after episode is nice, it doesn't really provide an incentive to continue.
Animation wise is okay from AIC Plus+, but not the best I've seen. Asobi ni Iku yo! had better quality and detail from over a year ago. This show, however, goes back to AIC Plus+'s roots with Quiz Magic Academy and GA, both of which I though had pretty poor/cheap animation. I thought art was decent though. It really gave off the laid back and childish atmosphere the show was already presenting. Made Yuzu absolutely adorable while we're at it.
Music was a strong point for this series for me. Loved the OP but even more loved the ED theme. Background music was good for some and completely forgettable elsewhere. Seiyuu was fantastic this series. Yui Horie and Haruka Tomatsu duo as Yuzu and Mayu was great and loved every moment of it.
Enjoyment? Although cute, the show, as I said before, does not provide an incentive to watch the next/future episodes. It's a fun show to kill time, but not one to be looking for comedy. If anything, it was more slice of life than anything else with a bit of supernatural mixed it. The show certainly moved at the pace of slice of life, which I think many may have overlooked.
Overall, in a year where comedy was hot and all over the place, Nekogami is the wrong place to be looking. Yuru Yuri, A Channel, and Baka Test 2 are three major titles that have a similar atmosphere yet trump this show. Shinryaku?! Ika Musume, Level E, Working'!! and to some extent Tiger & Bunny are also all viable candidates and provide better comedy relief. As a slice of life show, this show also lacked much to compare with titles like Ano Hana, Nichijou, Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, and Hanasaku Iroha, all of which also premiered and ended in the same year. At the end of the day, it's hard to tell what Nekogami Yaoyorozu was trying to be. Furthermore, trying to pass off as a comedy when it's a slice of life or vice-versa only made it more confusing as to what to really expect out of this title. Again, if you have time to kill, it's a fun watch, but definitely not a show for everyone and not something I would recommend if you haven't see the other titles mentioned above.
Preliminary Score: 6/10
Final Score: 6/10 