Whimsical ‘The Cat and the Dragon’ anime drops trailer, key visual, names Takehito Koyasu to cast as Nekoryuu
Steven Reynolds 
The Cat and The Dragon gets more promo pieces
Upcoming whimsical looking fantasy anime The Cat and the Dragon has released a trailer, a sweet key visual, and has named voice actor Takehito Koyasu to its cast.
Takehito Koyasu, who you will be familiar with from such roles as Toji Fushiguro in JUJUTSU KAISEN and Shinsuke in Gintama, will be voicing one of the two protagonists — Nekoryuu, a dragon who is abandoned by his mother and then adopted by a cat who lives in a forest.
The key visual that was released today features both Nekoryuu, now grown into an adult, and the cat living in what looks like an idyllic forest.
The Dragon and The Cat trailer
Of course, as the trailer explains, dragons and cats have completely different lifespans, so Nekoryuu finds himself living in the forest for many years, as new generations of cats join his family.
But, what starts out as an adoption story morphs into a lovely fantasy in which a dragon teaches kittens how to live, and even becomes involved with humans.
The Cat and The Dragon animation details
The fantasy anime is based on the popular light novel series written by Amara and illustrated by Mai Ōkuma, and its manga adaptation.
The novel series originally started out as a short story, but became so popular, it was eventually turned into a full series that currently has eight volumes out in Japanese, and with a ninth volume releasing at the end of this month.
The Cat and The Dragon anime is being directed by Jin Koo Oh (Tonbo!), with Mitsutaka Hirota (Rent-a-Girlfriend) composing the series, and with both Rie Nishino (The Seven Deadly Sins: Imperial Wrath of the Gods) and Chiaki Kurakazu designing the adorable characters.
Studio OLM (animators of The Apothecary Diaries) is animating the series.
The original light novel describes the whimsical sounding plot of The Cat and The Dragon like this:
Hey, Uncle Feather, I want to teach a human child magic.”
Deep in the forest, a fire-breathing dragon lives with a group of magical cats. The dragon was raised by the cats in this forest. Dragons have long lifespans. The sibling cats have long since fallen asleep, and their kittens have grown up, giving birth to a new life.
The human-hating dragon, who has long protected and raised the forest cats, is called “Uncle Feather” by the cats, while the humans call him “Cat Dragon” with awe and respect.
As the forest cats grow, they leave the nest in search of their own territory. Some of them end up living with humans.
A prince sets out on an adventure with his black cat. A lazy girl living in an orphanage has a white cat who teaches her magic. One cat even becomes the poster cat for the Adventurer’s Guild.
And today in the forest, the dragon is still teaching kittens how to hunt. This is a heartwarming and mysterious story of cats, dragons, and humans.
The Cat and The Dragon anime adaptation won’t be out until July, 2026, so we still have quite a wait.
More time for even sweeter promo pieces to drop, right?
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Michelle Topham