Feline Friday is my chance to celebrate famous cats across the arts, whether their origins are in gaming, film, anime, literature or anywhere else.

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白桃 (Hakutō)

FIRST APPEARANCE: Atarashii Joushi wa Do Tennen Chapter 5 (2019)

Anime really runs the gamut in its portrayal of Japanese work culture. Sometimes, you’ve got an inspirational, collaborative atmosphere where everyone is trying their best to support one another, a la My Senpai is Annoying. In other instances, the oppression is crushing and bosses carry the lone intention of destroying your very soul, such as in Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead.

My New Boss is Goofy offers both sides, by showing the life of an employee who is starting with a new and uplifting company after years of abuse. Plus, there’s an adorable cat and an even more adorable man with cat-like eyes. So you know I’m gonna be on-board.

We first meet this tiny bundle of snowy fluff when Kentaro Momose and his boss Yusei Shirosaki are walking through the park one day. The kitten has clearly been abandoned, possessing nothing but the cardboard box he has been left in, though from his perspective, it was in fact his choice to run away.

Apparently it was the little guy’s proclivity for sharpening his claws on the couch that led to bad terms with his previous owner, and now, he has a passionate distrust for humans. Especially for this Shirosaki guy, because he is a man with the eyes of a cat, WHAT KIND OF MONSTER COULD THAT BE?

Despite this rocky start, the good natured Shirosaki takes the lonely fella home with him, dubbing him Hakutou and treating him with utter adoration. He came up with the moniker by combining his name with Momose’s (or more specifically, the kanji of their names — Japanese is kinda tricky like that). The resultant new identity translates to white peach, and thus concludes your impromptu language lesson for the day.

In short order, Hakutou does warm up to his new best friend, though it is with an air of aloofness and a stare of indifference. For you see, Hakutou’s defining trait is that he is a tsundere kitty. It’s not a notion I had ever considered before — outside of perhaps an anthropomorphised feline in Beastars — and it is a bizarre fit for a slice-of-life manga set in an office atmosphere. But you know what? It just freakin’ works, because Hakutou is the most kawaii damned thing you will ever see. He just so desperately wants to be loved.

With his Tetsuya 2-like baby blues and the lilting, therapeutic voiceover work of Hiro Shimono, he lights up the mood every time he’s on the screen. It’s like Zenitsu ASMR, if that were ever something you were desperately seeking. I won’t judge, but I might ask for a link or two if you happen to find anything.

Next time you’re discussing your favourite tsundere characters, you’ll be able to drop a bomb on all your friends. They might throw out the staples of an Asuka Langley or a Taiga Aisaka, only for you to one-up them all with the almighty tsundere kitty.

Hopefully nobody there thinks to bring up Kyo Sohma, the OG tsundere kitty, because that’ll be hard to top. It-it’s not like I wanted to win this fictional debate or anything, OK?!

We can all just revel in the knowledge that this stubborn critter ended up in the loving care of the perfect new owner. Shirosaki may not always have his head screwed on quite right, but he’s doing his best, and maybe his featherbrained demeanour was exactly what Hakutou needed to open his heart once more.