is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written and illustrated by

Yumiko Ōshima is a Japanese manga artist and is associated with the Year 24 group that heavily influenced the development of shōjo manga in the 1970s. Career She made her debut as a professional manga artist in 1968 with the short story "Paula no Namida" ...

. It was adapted into a

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

film in 2008. It was further adapted into a

Japanese television drama , also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thriller ...

broadcast by WOWOW. Season 1 of the drama aired in the fall of 2014 and Season 2 aired in the summer of 2016.

Characters

*Asako Oshima (played by

Kyōko Koizumi (born February 4, 1966) is a Japanese singer and actress. She is signed to Victor Entertainment. Career In 1981, Kyoko Koizumi participated and won the Star Tanjo! programme and released her 1st single in March 1982. She gained her first num ...

in the film and by

Rie Miyazawa is a Japanese actress and former teen idol. She is regarded as one of Japan's top actresses, and her accolades include six Japan Academy Film Prizes and three Kinema Junpo Awards Miyazawa began her career as a child model, seeing wide exposure ...

in the TV series) *Naomi (played by

Juri Ueno is a Japanese actress. She first gained recognition in the 2005 film ''Swing Girls'' where she was a recipient of Newcomer of the Year prize at the Japanese Academy Awards. Ueno achieved mainstream success for playing the titular role in the live ...

) *Seiji Sawamura (played by

Ryo Kase is a Japanese actor. Early life Kase was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture. He moved to Bellevue, Washington in the United States soon after his birth, due to his father's job being transferred. He's father Yutaka Kase was former chairman a ...

) *Mamoru (played by Naojiro Hayashi) *Tatsuya (played by

Tatsuya Isaka is a Japanese actor. He played Ichigo Kurosaki in the rock musical '' Bleach''. Television dramas * ''Gokusen'' (2002) (Guest star) * '' Water Boys'' (2003) * '' Genseishin Justiriser'' (2004–2005) * ''Tumbling (Film)'' (2010) Stage * Roc ...

) *Ça Va (played by

Suzuka Ohgo is a Japanese actress. Biography Ohgo was born in Zama, Kanagawa. She began acting in 2000 when she was seven, then joined Sunflower (Himawari), a theatrical company. She debuted with the company at the Meiji-za in '' Story of a National Thief ...

) *Taisuke Yamamoto (played by

Asei Kobayashi was a Japanese composer. He was also a lyricist, actor, and ''multi-tarento''. He could also sing songs and advertisement songs. Kobayashi was represented by Astro Music. He was the director of the Japan Songwriters Association (J-scat). Kobaya ...

) *Asako's mother (played by

Chieko Matsubara is a Japanese actress from Nagoya, Spotted at a beauty contest sponsored by the Nikkatsu studio, Matsubara made her debut in 1961 at age 16 in ''Yoru no chōsensha''. Matsubara won popularity and became one of the representative actresses of th ...

) *Kyoko (played by

Ai Takabe is a former Japanese actress and seiyū, voice actress. She is best known for starring as Fumiyo Nabekura in television series ''Guren Onna'' and voicing Agiri Goshiki in anime television series ''Kill Me Baby''. Career Ai Takabe won the Gravur ...

) *Erika (played by Elisa Yanagi) *Michiko (played by

Kazuko Kurosawa is a Japanese costume designer. She won the 2008 Genie Award for Best Achievement in Costume Design. She is the daughter of famous filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and actress Yōko Yaguchi, her son is actor Takayuki Kato. She is married to the son of a ...

) *Sakie (played by Tomoko Murakami) *Kanako (played by

Miyuki Oshima Miyuki is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Miyuki can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *, "beautiful fortune" or "beautiful happiness" *, "deep snow" *, "beautiful snow" *, "beautiful reason for history" ...

) *Umezu (played by

Kazuo Umezu is a Japanese manga artist, musician and actor. He is among the most famous authors of horror manga and has been vital for its development since the 1960s. Life Umezu was born in Kōya, Wakayama Prefecture, but raised in the mountainous Go ...

) *Paul Weinberg (played by

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until ...

) * Karin Uno, Koichi Masuno, and additional actors

Reception

''Gou-Gou Datte Neko De Aru (Cher Gou-Gou…mon petit chat, mon petit ami)'' won the Short Award Prize at the 12th

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Current ...

in 2008.

References

External links

* * 2014 Japanese television series debuts Television series about cats Manga adapted into films Wowow original programming Films directed by Isshin Inudo Japanese drama films {{Japan-tv-prog-stub