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New Yuyake Dandan Short by Last Exile's Murata Spoofs Japanese Sayings

The official website for the Yuyake Dandan series of anime shorts began streaming a new episode titled "Neko mo Arukeba" (If the Cats Walk as Well) on Monday.

Text: If the cats walk as well...
Nanami: Kotobuki, so you're here today.
Kotobuki: Oh, Nanami. You came...
Nanami: Hey, hey. So, you know there's a saying, "As wide as a cat's forehead," right?
Kotobuki: What's this all of a sudden?
Nanami: What do they mean by "cat's forehead"?
Kotobuki: Huh??
Nanami: Huh? What?
Kotobuki: OK, well the saying means, "My home is small, but it's fun."
Nanami: Wait, where?
Kotobuki: In the first place, I hate that saying.
Nanami: Why?
Kotobuki: If you're talking about something that's small, there are plenty of other things!
Nanami: Hm, well yeah...
Kotobuki: Also, you know the saying "Coins before cats" (Pearls before swine), right?
Nanami: Mm-hmm.
Kotobuki: Yeah, well if you do the same thing to dogs or horses, you get the exact same result. No one's gonna get happy over those coins.
Nanami: Well, there are a lot of negative sayings including cats...
Nanami: Also, the word "nekobaba"? (embezzlement, lit. cat dung) Oh, and just so you know... We cats can bump into poles too if we walk (a reference to the saying "Inu mo arukeba bo ni ataru," literally meaning "If the dog walks, it may bump into a pole." The saying means, "good luck may come unexpectedly.")
Nanami: What about the saying, "So busy I'd even ask for a cat to lend a hand?"
Kotobuki: I'm not lending one. If you make a statement like, "Oh no, I'm so busy that well, I guess you'll have to do," then no cat is going to help you out.
Nanami: Ooh, that kinda sounds like a saying. "People that can't even get a cat to lend a hand."
Kotobuki: That person is seriously pitiful...
Nanami: OK, why don't we head home soon? There isn't even a single cat left around here (another Japanese saying).
Kotobuki: ...Huh? Wait, I'm here!

109 Cinemas is producing the shorts to screen alongside trailers and other promotional videos at its theaters. The anime will run before feature film screenings in all 109 Cinemas theaters. A new anime short will screen every month.

The shorts are set on a stairway where the sunset can be enjoyed near Tokyo's JR Nippori Station. The story centers on the female high school student Nanami and the mysterious cat Kotobuki. In a nostalgic atmosphere, they have strange conversations and relax as the sun sets. Foul language and Kotobuki's peculiar, grandfatherly Edo dialect intersperse their conversations. Kotobuki has an extensive knowledge in certain fields and lives in his own world.

Nanami doesn't understand everything he says, but her varied interests and current curiosity with Kotobuki keep her lingering by his side.

New voice actress Akane Shiba was chosen in an audition for the role of Nanami. Veteran voice actor Kouichi Yamadera (Dragon Ball Z, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell) plays Kotobuki.

Hideki Futamura (Limit Cycle, Halo Legends, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) is directing the anime short at Victor Studio 501, and Range Murata designed the characters. Bunō Fujisawa is writing the script, and Akemi Imano (CLAMP in Wonderland 2) is serving as art director. Flying Dog's Shiro Sasaki (Space Dandy, Last Exile, Btooom!) is in charge of planning, and Takurō Iga is composing the music.

In addition to his artbooks and manga, Murata created the character designs for anime such as Blue Submarine No. 6 and Last Exile. Murata provided artwork for the new Attack on Titan novel Attack on Titan: Harsh Mistress of the City (Kakuzetsu Toshi no Jōō) in August 2014, which Vertical licensed and will publish next fall. He released some of his dōjinshi (self-published) works on iOS devices, including his first art book as an iPad app in English. Murata was voted "Best Artist of the Year" in the 2006 Seiun Awards.