Humans and cats have a long history together, in both fiction and the real world. Plenty of anime characters have feline sidekicks in their corner that are always there to help them. Some are snarky and some are friendly, but loyalty is the common denominator.
Often, the cat-like sidekick isn’t a literal cat. They can be a fairy, alien, or yokai disguised as a cat. Sometimes, when they really are a cat, they could still have access to some magic that helps them talk or even take human form. And domesticated housecats aren’t the only felines either, a sidekick could take after one of the big cats, too. That said, sometimes the loyal sidekick is just a friendly cat.
11 Cardcaptor Sakura: Freeing The Clow Cards Came With A Flying Lion
Kero, or Cerberus, is named after the famous three-headed dog from Greek mythology, but leans more to the feline side of things. His usual form looks like a lion cub, but his true form is a big cat with wings.
Kero cares about Sakura and thinks of her as a friend more than a mistress. Unfortunately, he can be a bit careless and forget to tell her important things.
10 Magical Meow Meow Taruto: Taruto Has A Crush On Her Master
The audience sees Taruto as a catgirl, but humans in this series generally see her as a normal cat. While this is normal for cats in this anime, that doesn’t necessarily mean Taruto is just a housecat.
She claims, at least, to be a magical princess with magic powers. Despite this, she doesn’t have delusions of grandeur: she admires her master, Iori, to the point of actually having a crush on him.
9 Creamy Mami: Yuu Has Two Magical Cats, Nega & Posi
Not only does Yuu get the power to transform into an idol singer in this classic anime, but she also gets, not one, but two talking cats along with the deal: Nega and Posi. Originally from Feather Star, the two are tasked with watching over her as she learns to use her magical powers.
Yuu is normally the only one who can understand them and they also have some immunity when Yuu uses her magic, like when she freezes time. Ironically, Nega keeps a lot of the spells he knows from Yuu out of concern she’d misuse them.
8 Nyan Koi!: Nyamsus Is Junpei’s Main Line Of Defense Against The Cat Curse
Junpei is cursed to turn into a cat, a virtual death sentence thanks to his allergies unless he grants the wishes of 100 cats. Luckily, the family cat, Nyamsus, is able to collect wishes from the local cats, helping him get a start.
Grateful to the family, Nyamsus cares for Junpei in her own, subtle way, such as hogging the living room so that he won’t sleep there and catch a cold. She’s even implied to take an interest in his love life.
7 Ghost Stories: Amanojaku Is A Ghost Trapped In The Body Of A Cat
The kids from Ghost Stories are basically the Scooby-Doo gang except the ghosts are real and they have a talking cat instead of a dog. Technically speaking, Amanojaku is actually a ghost or spirit who was accidentally trapped inside the body of Satsuki’s cat, but he’s quickly taken on the role of the gang’s feline sidekick.
While initially bitter about the situation and snarky around the kids, he does seem to grow fond of them over time, often saving them from the more villainous ghosts and telling the kids how to put them to spiritual sleep. When Shinobu almost tricked Satsuki into casting a spell that would have erased her from existence, for example, it was Amanojaku who recognized the spell and stopped her at the last second.
6 Dragon Ball: Puar Is Fiercely Loyal To Yamcha
Puar is a floating cat-like shapeshifter in the Dragon Ball universe. One of Puar’s most notable actions was cutting off Goku’s tale during the first time he transformed into the Great Ape. Similar to Yamcha, it should be noted that Puar originally planned on betraying Goku but eventually became friends with him and his comrades for real. Either way, Puar is loyal to Yamcha and has been since his bandit days.
In an interesting bit of trivia, while often treated as female in the English versions of the series, Puar’s exact gender is actually a little unclear in the original Japanese.
5 Inuyasha: Sango Has Kiarara In Her Corner
Kirara is Sango’s faithful little nekomata, a cat yokai, who normally takes the form of a cute two-tailed kitten. She can also transform into a power sabertooth-like being who can even fly.
After working with Sango, she’s also been seen working with Kohaku and Setsuna. Defying stereotypes, she shows no ill will towards Inuyasha, despite his dog yokai heritage, even allowing him to ride on her like a steed on occasion. In turn, he also appears to have respect for her as an ally.
4 Azumanga Daioh: Mayaa Even Saves Sakaki From A Gang Of Evil Cats
Sakaki is often tortured by a local stray cat that regularly bites her. He grows more and more sadistic towards her, even once summoning other cats to attack her. It seems that, despite her love of cats, she would never have one as a friend.
While in Okinawa, however, Sakaki encounters a young Iriomote cat, Mayaa, who takes a liking to her, with him even thinking of her as his mother and somehow following her back to the suburbs. He also becomes very protective of her, which comes in handy when he’s able to scare off the biting cat and his gang.
3 Sailor Moon: Usagi Wouldn’t Be Sailor Moon Without Luna
Usagi’s adventures as Sailor Moon all start when she, depending on the manga or anime, either trips over a black cat or saves one from a bunch of naughty kids. After removing a bandage on her forehead, revealing a crescent moon, the cat reveals herself as Luna and says Usagi is destined to become the Sailor Scout of the Moon.
In addition to this, Luna is tasked with finding Sailor Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter and giving them their transformation pens. She’s also tasked with finding the mysterious Moon Princess. There are a few hiccups along the way, however, like thinking Sailor Mercury was a monster or that Sailor Mars was the Moon Princess. Little does she know that the princess is a lot closer than she thinks.
2 Sailor Moon: Before There Was Luna, There Was Artemis
Before joining up with the other Sailor Scouts, Artemis helped Minako become Sailor V and fight against the Dark Agency, working for a mysterious figure called Boss. Even before introducing themselves to Usagi and the others, it was implied they were working behind the scenes to help the Moon Princess’s identity.
While it rarely comes up in adaptations, the original manga revealed he’s actually an alien from Mau and can take on a human form. He’s implied to have something of a crush on Minako at times, but his destiny is ultimately to marry his partner Luna and have a daughter, Diana, who will be Chibiusa’s guardian.
1 Doraemon: This Robot Cat Has Been Helping Nobita For Decades
One of the most successful anime and manga series of all time tells the story of a boy and his time-traveling robot cat. Nobita is destined to become such a loser that a robotic cat, the titular Doraemon, has been sent back in time from the 22nd century in order to save him from himself, usually by giving him labor-saving devices from the future, even if Nobita usually doesn’t follow important instructions he’s given.
Doraemon might not look like a cat at first glance thanks to a rat eating off his ears. This sadly caused him to become afraid of mice, although that just means he’ll hunt them down like any good cat.
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