If you thought the story of an imposing dragon raised by a loving cat would end with just twelve episodes, you are very mistaken. After the broadcast of the final episode of its first season, the animated adaptation of The Cat and the Dragon (Neko to Ryu) officially confirmed the production of its second season, promising to bring back this beautiful and comforting proposal for the year 2027.

The announcement came with a first promotional teaser and several celebratory comments from the original author Amara, the character designer for the novels Mai Okuma, and the manga illustrator Izumi Sasaki, who shared their immense excitement to see their characters in motion once more. The first season concluded its twelve episodes under the production of the renowned studio OLM, featuring direction by Jin-Koo Oh and scripts supervised by Mitsutaka Hirota. The visual design was handled by Chiaki Kurakazu and Rie Nishino in character design, while the soundtrack was composed by Takahiro Obata with sound direction by Noriyoshi Konuma.

In the music department, the series stood out with the opening theme “Nekohi,” performed by suis of the popular group yorushika, while the ending theme “Tadaima no Basho” was handled by the group shallm. The voice cast includes legendary figures in the industry such as the prolific Takehito Koyasu voicing the imposing yet noble Nekoryu, the iconic Kikuko Inoue as the loving Mama-nyan, Fuka Izumi in the role of Shirotae, and Show Hayami as Kurobane. They are joined by recognized voices like Noriaki Sugiyama as Haibuchi, Atsumi Tanezaki in the role of Gally, Junya Enoki as Stan, Natsuki Hanae portraying Monaruka, and Tomohisa Aso as Pomupora, solidifying a luxury cast for this peculiar feline family.

Born originally as a web novel written by Amara on the site Shosetsuka ni Naro in September 2013, the work made the leap to physical format under the Takarajimasha publishing label with illustrations by Mai Okuma, achieving over 1.4 million copies in circulation. The story takes us deep into a forest where a small dragon egg becomes orphaned. Fortunately for the creature, a cat finds it and decides to adopt it as if it were one of her own offspring, raising the giant flyer as if it were a strange cat that spits fire. In gratitude for the devotion of its adoptive mother, the imposing dragon decides to stay in the forest to protect future generations of felines, being known by humans as the cat dragon and by felines as the beloved winged uncle.

What did you think of the first season’s finale and what do you expect to see in the return of this beautiful story?