When it comes to giving authenticity to outrageous comedy, some production teams prefer to ditch pre-recorded sound effects and get hands-on in the studio. The anime of Yani Neko has caught viewers’ attention not just for its irreverent premise, but for the unusual methods its cast of seiyuus used to record several of the series’ most everyday bodily noises.

Voice actress Yuko Natsuyoshi, who plays feline protagonist Sato Yaniko, revealed she preferred not to use typical audio libraries for scatological scenes. Instead, the actress herself produced the character’s fart sounds using her mouth directly into the microphone. To boot, to fully embody a die-hard smoker, the actress bought packs of real cigarettes before recording sessions to practice holding them without lighting them.

Veteran voice actor Tetsu Inada, who voices the protagonist’s landlord, also didn’t hold back in terms of physical commitment. Inada confessed that for one particular scene, he preferred to give himself a real slap on the rear to achieve the exact sound impact required by the script. With over three decades of impeccable career in the anime industry, the actor admitted with laughter that he had never been asked to perform a similar technique in his entire career, highlighting the level of freedom and chaos experienced during production.

Based on the original manga created by Nyan Nyan Factory in 2023, Yani Neko is a wild everyday comedy set in a world where humans coexist with anthropomorphic beings. The story follows Sato Yaniko, a 21-year-old cat girl whose only priority in life is smoking tobacco while dragging through a lazy existence with no money and no responsibilities in a messy apartment. Accompanied by equally lazy and disorganized neighbors, the work stands out for its crude humor, everyday vices, and the protagonist’s famous line claiming she has never done anything wrong.

With this level of commitment from the cast to record such absurd live effects, do you think handmade sound effects give comedies a unique touch, or do you prefer traditional audio work?