Nyan Koi! - Episode 12 (Completed)

As Nyan Koi enters its final episode, the curse of the cat deity Jizou is finally catching up with Junpei after Mizuno finds out about said curse, leaving him in more than a slightly tight spot given his allergy to cats.

But what on Earth can Junpei do to reverse the accelerating transformation to which he is now subjected? While he calls upon Kotone and Akari for help, it's actually Nyamsus who comes up with a plan, and so it goes that Junpei puts on his best acting hat to try and convince Kaede about a fake curse, before having it lifted before his very eyes.


Just when it looks as though all is well, along comes Nagi to inadvertently reveal those rather fetching cat ears, plunging Junpei into even deeper levels of peril. Of course, Nyan Koi being what it is everything ends up coming up roses (well, relatively speaking at least) as Mizuno saves the day without even realising it, before all-out chaos ensues in the aftermath of Junpei's transformation back into a human. There's still no resolution in sight for any of the character's love interests, Junpei's curse is still very much active until he completes his penance, and everything is left pretty much as you'd expect for a show that seems pretty confident that it's getting a second season.

But you know what? I hope it does get a second season. I started watching Nyan Koi without really expecting anything of worth to come from it at all - In fact, truth be told I was expecting not to like it much at all. However, while this series has hardly blazed new trails or scaled new heights for its genre, it has proved to be a largely well-animated and, more importantly, occasionally hugely funny series. A lot of comedy anime tries to get by with madcap shenanigans played at a million miles an hour, but frequently Nyan Koi manages to traverse this route with genuinely good reason, not giving you time to consider that some of the gags might be a bit stupid before peppering you with the next moment that's liable to at least make you smile. This scatter-shot humour isn't consistent, but when it works it does so very well, and thankfully this series managed a high enough hit rate with its comedy to keep me entertained while also serving up a bunch of characters who you couldn't really help but like - Even Junpei was a pretty decent guy for what was effectively a male harem lead. Thus, this all combines to make Nyan Koi my surprise show of the season - It's still no classic, but for pure mindless fun it frequently hits the spot.