Mighty Cat Masked Niyandar (ニャニがニャンだー ニャンダーかめん), or often known as Nyanda Kamen is a children's anime series which aired on TV Asahi from February 2000 to September 2001 in Japan. The series is about Nyago-Chan, who takes up the superhero identity of Mighty Cat Masked Niyander, the protector of his hometown Cat Town. So it's Shazam! with talking animals.
If the artstyle looks familiar to you, the series was created by Takashi Yanase, who also did Anpanman. Like Anpanman, it was written as a series of books in the late 1990s, which spanned into the anime.
Sadly, unlike its parent series, it only lasted for about 83 episodes. It gained a cult following when the episodes were uploaded online years later.
Mighty Cat Masked Niyandar provides examples of the following tropes:
- Blush Sticker: Most of the characters have this.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Niyander has to rescue others whenever someone says "help!".
- Color Wash: Most of the characters that have red colors look pinkish in the show than how they're depicted in the covers.
- Informed Species: Nyaon is a cat, but doesn't look anything like one. It's later stated that when he's untrimmed, he looks like a scruffy-looking cat.
- Pie-Eyed: Nyago-Chan gets these when he turns into Niyander.
- Quietly Performing Sister Show: Compared to the more iconic Anpanman, the show didn't have much of an impact and didn't last as long, ending with just 83 episodes.
- Reused Character Design: Because the series was done by Takashi Yanase, you'll recognize some of the characters designs from Anpanman. Funnily enough, some of the original designs were cross-pollinated to said series.
- Secret-Keeper: Nyago-Chan's Miko eventually discovers his brother's identity and becomes a superhero in the same episode.
- Villainy-Free Villain: Nyaon. He isn't a bad guy, just someone jealous of Niyander.
