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Tropes shared by multiple characters
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The majority of the Minaduki catgirls fell for Kashou because he helped them with their personal issues and it's brought up that it would be hard not to fell in love in that circumstance.
- Color-Coded Characters: Each of the Catgirls have a signature color: Chocola (Red/Pink), Vanilla (Blue), Coconut (Purple), Azuki (Yellow), Maple (Orange), and Cinnamon (Green).
- Edible Theme Naming:
- The main and some minor catgirl characters are all named after common ingredients in confections: Chocola, Vanilla, Coconut, Azuki (sweet red beans), Maple, Cinnamon, Milk, Fraise (French for strawberry), and Cacao (the beans from which chocolate is made). The anime adaptation lampshades this when the girls are asked to pick a name for the new girl and start listing food they like. The settled on Cacao because of a cake she liked.
- "Shigure" is part of the names of some shaved ice desserts. "Kashou" might be ateji for "cashew". Alternately, their names sound like baking related English words - "shigure" sounds like "sugary" and "kashou" like "cashew".
- The Minaduki parents' names can also refer to desserts. Awayuki is a jelly dessert. Suhama is dough made with kinako (ground soybeans); various confections are made from it, including suhama dango.
- Beignet is a kind of French pastry.
- catboys paradise has each of the four catboys named after herbs used in cooking: Laurier (the French word for bay leaf), Fennel, Sage, and Dill.
- Happily Adopted: Taking in a Catgirl is treated as the same as an adoption In-Universe, with the catgirls being seen as part of the family, and Shigure occasionally refers to them as daughters. And the six catgirls in the Minaduki family couldn't be happier about it. Same with Milk and Fraise.
- In-Series Nickname: Several between the catgirls.
- ChocoVani for Chocola and Vanilla, Pull-may for Maple, Mon-cinna for Cinnamon, and Nuts for Coconut, all given by Azuki.
- Azu-nyan for Azuki, by Chocola.
- Nacchan for Coconut and May-chan for Maple, by Cinnamon.
- Cinnamo-chan for Cinnamon, by Chocola.
- Meido: The uniform worn by all the girls working in La Soleil.
Minaduki family
Initially, not much is said about the family itself, except that it's in the business of making traditional candy. Vol. 4 delves into it a bit.
- Theme Naming: Yes, the family appears to have its own nature-related naming theme, independent of the edible variant for all of the main characters.
- "Minaduki" ("water month") is a poetic way to refer to the sixth month of the calendar (originally of the lunisolar calendar, but now June in the Gregorian calendar).
- A shigure is a rain shower in late summer, autumn, or winter (which, amusingly enough, makes her full name a contradiction).
- Her mother's name, "Awayuki", means "light snow". As with her daughter, the full name is contradictory, unless one lives in a cold climate (or the southern hemisphere).
Kashou
Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana (OVA and TV series, Japanese); Seth Magill (TV series, English)
The protagonist. Despite being the eldest son, he aspires to be a baker, to his father's disapproval, and eventually leaves home to open a patisserie. Though he intends to go it alone, he soon discovers that Chocola and Vanilla stowed away in the moving boxes (literally, each one inside a box).
- Accidental Pornomancer: Doesn't actively pursue romantic relationships with the catgirls, but eventually ends up in a polyamorous relationship with all of them anyway. Sometimes this is on accident, and other times it's due to the circumstances he's in—or Shigure and/or his other catgirl lovers meddling. He does initially wrestle with his feelings of guilt about this, since he actively views the catgirls as his own daughters, but is too nice to say no.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Being asked one of these is why he split off from his family and opened his own store. As the eldest child of the Minaduki family, his father raised him to be a traditional Japanese candymaker and inherit the family business. The young boy couldn't do anything that distracted from learning the very strict family recipes, like having friends or even hobbies. Kashou never questioned any of this until one day, he entered a patisserie shop and saw that everyone there was happy. After he started talking to the people inside, someone asked him "Why is it that you're making these sweets?". Having no answer for this, Kashou decided to abandon the path he'd been forced to follow his whole life, and this soured the relationship he had with his father to the present day.
- Break the Haughty: Downplayed. He believed that he held an advantage against his father, whose expertise was with Japanese sweets, when it came to Western sweets. But after his father easily makes a whipped cream that is close to his mentor's flavor, something he hasn't been able to do, all he could do is leave in disgrace.
- Chick Magnet: Two catgirls fall in love with him in each of the main volumes (1, 2, and 3) for a grand total of six. There's also his younger sister Shigure, who's been madly in love with him pretty much her whole life.
- Cool Big Bro:
- He becomes this to Coconut in Vol. 2, leading to her referring to him as "Onii-chan" thereafter.
- He was previously this to Fraise during his stay in France. Upon his return in Vol. 4, she eventually starts referring to him as "Onii-san" again.
- The Faceless: Played with, even if there is a photo of him right here. For most of the series, his face is never shown, except in the background in a couple of inset CGs. And even then, his eyes are closed or hidden. At the end of Vol. 3, finally, we do get a good look at him, still with eyes closed. note
- Hopeless with Tech: He can use basic functions of a cellphone, but doesn't understand the point of social media and rarely uses computers anyway.
- Oblivious to Love: You'd think by the forth or fifth time it happened he'd get that another catgirl has fallen for him. Also while he is aware that his sister is overly attached to him he seems not to grasp why.
- Out of Focus: As it doesn't need to rely on him as a point-of-view character, the anime has him take a backseat to the daily antics of the catgirls. Also he barely features at all in Vol. 0 and gets no lines.
- Parental Issues: While that particular bit of backstory wasn't revealed yet, some of his lines in Vol. 1 imply that his parents didn't approve of his dream of opening a bakery. He states that he didn't plan on telling anyone in the family about where his bakery would be, basically to avoid his parents and to be independent. Later on, he recalls that they said some harsh things about it.
- Phrase Catcher: At multiple points of the game, he is called a Ero Patissier/Horny Pastry Puffer/Pervy Patissier. Usually by Vanilla.
- Pretty Boy: As seen in the image above, Kashou is a pretty good looking guy. He needs to be this in order to have six catgirls and even his own sister fall for him.
- They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason: Kashou is politely resistant about revealing just why he left the family business, and it took until Vol. 3 for him to finally reveal his reasons for doing so.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Turns out to be the main reason for his lack of core. While he is motivated to "bring smiles to everyone's faces" in regards to his baking, it's also to prove himself towards his father, who disapproved of him becoming a baker. Getting over this is what helps him find the "core" he's been searching.
- Your Tradition Is Not Mine: Kashou's conflict with his father started when he decided to become a patissier for Western sweets, when his family has long specialized in Eastern sweets.
Shigure
Voiced by: Mai Nagai (VN and OVA, credited as "Emi Sakura" in VN, Japanese); MAO (TV series, Japanese); Emily Fajardo (TV series, English)
Kashou's younger sister, who still lives with the family. After finding out where his shop is, she pays him a visit, along with the rest of the catgirls, and starts helping him out.
- Adaptational Wimp: In regards to working at La Soleil. In the Visual Novels, she's fairly competent. While in the Anime series, she's a nervous wreck with a bit of Cute Clumsy Girl.
- Animal Motifs: Cats, naturally. Despite being the only human girl among the regular cast she has adopted a number of feline mannerisms, including a cat-like smile and cat-like reactions to being petted.
- Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: It's established that the Minaduki family is rich, which allows Shigure to afford anything to cater to the catgirls. This gets most egregious in episode 6 of the anime, where she somehow sets up a large obstacle course that looks like it came from Ninja Warrior just to help Azuki and Coconut settle their differences.
- Author Avatar: Believed to be this for Sayori, the series creator.
- Big Brother Attraction: She really, really adores him, to an openly incestuous level, and never hesitates to make this fact known to all.
- Camera Fiend: You can expect Shigure to be ready to take photos (and videos) of the catgirls in almost any situation. And not just on a smartphone, either: in Vol. 3, she is seen using what looks to be a fairly good quality camera with "4K" prominently marked. This trope is more prominent in the anime.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She is very possessive of Kashou. Vol. 0 shows that the main reason she is willing to share him with their catgirls is that they are the girls she trusts the most in the world, and if they are the ones that end with him, she doesn't need to be afraid that some unknown woman will take her brother away from her.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: She dresses this way when sneaking off to France thinking that she would fit in. Kashou tells her that only makes her stick out even more.
- Ethical Slut: Post-Flanderization, as she is incredibly supportive of her brother having open sexual relationships with the family catgirls, and actively encourages them to give the Onii-san Express a try.
- Flanderization:
- She started as a reliable little sister with a crush on Kashou but she was somewhat behaved in that regard. Come Vol. 0 and Vol. 2 and she is still reliable and supportive of Kashou's relationship with the catgirls, but she gets a perverted streak a mile wide in regards to her feelings for Kashou.
- In the anime, since Kashou is Out of Focus, it's her love for the catgirls that gets this treatment, with her becoming overly affectionate with them to the point it makes them uncomfortable.
- Hopeless Suitor: She is surprisingly aware that she is this to Kashou for obvious reasons as Vol. 1 has her considering letting him go, before she decides that it would be fine if he were to get together with their catgirls, if only for her to live through them.
- Incest Subtext: Starts out as subtext and ends with just plain capitalized and bold text, as she is hopelessly in love with Kashou. However, she apparently doesn't mind him dating all of the catgirls, so long as they give her a detailed report about it afterward.
- Kimono Is Traditional: Played with. Though she wears one due to living in a traditional family and has a number of traditional mannerisms, she's too openly perverted to fit it completely.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: In the anime, her love for her brother is downplayed, and her adoration of the catgirls cranked up to compensate — for instance, the catgirls are now the object of her perversions.
- Noblewoman's Laugh: Usually comes out in connection with her Big Brother Attraction. But especially after Coconut and then Azuki become Kashou's catpanions in Vol. 2, and after both Maple and Cinnamon follow suit in Vol. 3; each time, she acts increasingly crazy.
- Nosebleed: Not visually present in the character portraits, but has a tendency to happen when Kashou shows too much brotherly affection.
- Maple and Cinnamon comment on how strong a nosebleed Shigure has after Kashou kisses her cheek in Vol. 2, and Kashou calls it "an ocean of blood".
- Almost happens several times in Vol. 4. When they end up having to share a bed, and he pets and cuddles her while dreaming about his catpanions, she comments the next morning that she "nearly turned someone else's bed into the scene from a splatter film".
- Ojou: Comes from a rich family, dresses in a kimono, uses "watakushi" to refer to herself, and has the Noblewoman's Laugh.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: As part of the (unconvincing) disguise she attempts when first visiting La Soleil, she speaks in an archaic way, and in a deeper tone than normal. But her natural accent and tone eventually starts to slip out when she needs to check if her brother accepts credit cards, and then when emotion creeps in.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: In her first visit to La Soleil, she tries to be stealthy by donning sunglasses, a hat and an overcoat... over her usual kimono, while speaking in an archaic, obviously fake manner.
- Secret-Keeper: She realizes that Kashou's mentor is his and her grandmother, but she doesn't reveal it to Kashou while they're in France.
- Shipper on Deck:
- For Kashou and the catgirls. Through the series she keeps pushing the brother to make the girls into his catpanions, and she is seen laughing a lot when it happens.
- If an Eye Catch that shows up after Maple and Cinnamon make out in Vol. 3 is any indication, she may also ship the catgirls with each other.
- I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: She gets this way with Fraise in Vol.4. She eventually gets her chance.
- Token Human: The only employee of La Soliel who isn't a catgirl (though she wears fake cat ears to stay on brand). Also the only human in the series to get a sprite until her and Kashou's parents in Vol.4.
- Vague Age: It is unknown how old Shigure is, but as the series goes on, it is made clear she is not as young as she appears to be. Vol. 4 is more specific with this, as Kashou states she run a company, and Shigure herself saying things like "when I was a child". Meaning the girl is just very short.
- Yandere: Hinted at in Vol. 0. But dropped partway through Vol. 1.note She's okay with her brother getting into relationships, as long as the other girl in question is one of her own catgirls.
Suhama
Voiced by: Daisuke Kageura (credited as "No☆boru")
Kashou's and Shigure's father. Mentioned briefly from the beginning of the series, but first seen in Vol. 4.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Has known his wife Awayuki since they were children.
- Face of a Thug: Invoked by himself when he tries to get out of taking a family portrait by saying his scary face would ruin the happy atmosphere.
- Parental Abandonment: His mother Beignet had to return to France after her brother died in order to save the family business.
- Parental Favoritism: While it is something of an Informed Attribute as we rarely see them interact he is apparently a great deal nicer to Shigure than Kashou.
- The Perfectionist: If his son's cooking isn't absolutely perfect he won't even deign to eat it.
- Tough Love: This is his parenting policy, at least with regards to Kashou. It may have encouraged him to be a better chef but it also drove a wedge between the two, leaving their relationship mostly adversarial by the beginning of the series.
Awayuki
Voiced by: Ryōko Ono (credited as "Ricca Kitami")
Kashou's and Shigure's mother. Mentioned briefly from the beginning of the series, but first seen in Vol. 4.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Has known her husband Suhama since they were children.
- Kimono Is Traditional: Well, it is a traditional family, after all.
- Ojou: Even more than her daughter. She speaks softly and unhurriedly.
- Secret-Keeper: Knew that Kashou's mentor was Beignet, who was his paternal grandmother. She was also revealed to be the one who informed her of her husband's death.
- Strong Family Resemblance: She's essentially Shigure with longer hair.
- Tranquil Fury: Kashou describes her as, "Cool and deep as the ocean," whenever she gets angry.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: She has the high class, the looks, and the fashion. Seemingly also the personality, though we have only seen a little of her, and it's been purely conversation. Aside from that, the one significant thing we know about her doing so far is supporting Kashou's business from behind the scenes.
Minaduki catgirls
Initially all owned by Shigure (aside from Cacao), but she ends up giving Chocola and Vanilla to Kashou. Though they all consider each other siblings, only Chocola and Vanilla are blood-related.
Chocola
Voiced by: Maki Tomonaga (VN and OVA, credited as "Himari" in VN, Japanese); Yuki Yagi (TV series, Japanese); Bryn Apprill (TV series, English)
Breed: mix
Breed: mix
Vanilla's twin sister, sharing the position of youngest of the catgirls. Due to being rescued as a stray, she loves Kashou dearly, so much so that she finds a way to go with him when he moves out.
- Cool Big Sis: In the Anime series, she becomes one to Cacao even before she is adopted into the Minaduki family.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: To the point where anything Kashou is involved in with another girl, regardless of the subject, she demands to be included.
- Dark and Troubled Past: An unspecified event in her and Vanilla's past led to them being abandoned as strays while very young. Thankfully Kashou found them and took them home.
- The Ditz: Compared to the other catgirls, she tends to be slow on the uptake. Vanilla claims this trope is an integral part of her charm. It also doesn't extend to sexual matters, after her first time, as she's able to get Kashou and Coconut to admit their mutual attraction.
- Genki Girl: Most of the time Chocola has two modes; excited and very excited. This serves to mark the few times she is downbeat as O.O.C. Is Serious Business.
- Gratuitous English: While psyching herself up for the grand opening of La Soleil, she says "Are you ready?"
- Inconsistent Spelling: Her name has also been spelled "Chocolat", the French word for Chocolate (and is pronounced the same). They went with "Chocola" in the VN and OVA, perhaps to keep people from mispronouncing it.
- Irony: She is a catgirl but her behavior appears to be more similar to a dog. As Kashou notes.
- Parental Abandonment: Found on the side of the road at a young age, along with Vanilla, by Kashou and Shigure.
- Prone to Tears: Being one of the youngest, she cries more often. Both Kashou and fans find this hard to resist.
- Series Mascot: The mascot girl of NEKO WORKs.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: When she and Vanilla go on a date with Kashou to an amusement park in Vol. 1.
- Shrinking Violet: As shown in Extra she and Vanilla were this as kittens due to the trauma of their time as strays. The general kindness of Kashou, Shigure and the other catgirls quickly opened her up.
- Third-Person Person: She always refers to herself in third person.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Appropriately enough, chocolate.
- Twincest: While Chocola may not seem to be as much of a siscon as Vanilla, it's shown in Vol. 4 that she has no issues making out with her sister when she is lonely because Kashou is away.
Vanilla
Voiced by: Yuka Inokuchi (VN and OVA, credited as "Amu Nakamura" in VN, Japanese); Iori Saeki (TV series, Japanese); Natalie Hoover (TV series, English)
Breed: mix
Breed: mix
Chocola's twin sister, sharing the position of youngest of the catgirls. Despite having been rescued along with Chocola, she is more attached to the latter than to Kashou.
- Dark and Troubled Past: An unspecified event in her and Chocola's past led to them being abandoned as strays while very young. Thankfully Kashou found them and took them home.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: Subjected to this a lot.
- Gratuitous English: At times she says English words at the end of her lines such as "Let's go, go!" and "Don't worry."
- Gratuitous French: In regards to their fate as Catpanions, she states that if they're just seen as convenient, c'est la vie.
- Little Miss Snarker: Despite being one of the younger and smaller catgirls in the family, Vanilla has quite the tongue on her.
- Parental Abandonment: Found on the side of the road at a young age, along with Chocola, by Kashou and Shigure.
- Series Mascot: The other mascot girl of NEKO WORKs.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: When she and Chocola go on a date with Kashou to an amusement park in Vol. 1.
- Shrinking Violet: As shown in Extra she and Chocola were this as kittens due to the trauma of their time as strays. While she remains somewhat closed off compared to her sister she became a lot less shy as she got comfortable around everyone.
- The Stoic: She rarely shows much expression or obvious enthusiasm for anything, but still manages to come off as cute, especially on the rare occasions she does smile.
- The Trickster: Her stoic manner obfuscates her tendency toward playful (and sometimes helpful) mischief.
- After she and Chocola successfully follow Kashou into his new home, she finds an opportunity to sneak away and get word back to Shigure about its location, thus keeping him from totally isolating himself from her and the family. Though he is initially annoyed at this, Shigure helps his business to be much more successful than it would have been otherwise. Vanilla's action is undoubtedly for the best.
- When Azuki starts to go into heat, Vanilla decides to help her out, first by teasing, then by blackmailing her into confessing.
- Twincest: Vanilla is just as much of a siscon for Chocola as Shigure is a brocon for Kashou. She declares her love for her sister far more often than her feelings for Kashou, and her idea of calming her down when she is nervous is to plant a kiss on her.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Despite being the youngest of the catgirls (tied with Chocola) Vanilla has an impressive range of knowledge and quite a bit of insight into what others are feeling.
Coconut
Voiced by: Ryōko Tezuka (VN and OVA; credited as "Megumi Tateishi" in OVA, Japanese); Marin Mizutani (TV series, Japanese); Morgan Garrett (TV series, English)
Breed: Maine Coon
Breed: Maine Coon
The second-youngest of the catgirls, but physically the largest, due to her breed.
- Ambiguously Brown: Noticeably tanned in comparison to her sisters.
- Big Eater: Eats more than at least her three older siblings combined!
- Big Little Sister: Despite her size, she's the second-youngest next to Chocola and Vanilla.
- Cool Big Sis: One of the reasons she tries to be more mature and work harder in Vol. 2 is because she wants to be one to Chocola and Vanilla.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Part of her charm. However, she wants rid of that particular trait, and enlists Kashou's help. Turns out, it was a self-esteem issue from trying to grow up too fast.
- D-Cup Distress: Downplayed. She's not just entirely happy with the size of her chest, she's unhappy with her bodytype in general, as she feels that it contradicts her idea of cute which is —ironically enough— being closer to Azuki's bodytype.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: She has the most athletic build out of all the catgirls, but she has a lot of trouble keeping it under control, particularly when handling delicate stuff.
- Dumb Muscle: She's the most physically capable of the catgirls, and can be as much of a ditz as Chocola at times.
- I Am Not Pretty: Due to her quick growth due to her breed and the fact that it contradicts her idea of being cute, she is shown to feel insecure about her looks. Her family often have to tell her otherwise.
- I Got Bigger: Inverted, assuming you read the visual novels in their published order. In the first four volumes, she is very tall for a catgirl, despite still being pretty young. In Extra, we see her when she is very much a kid (or kitten, if you like), at which point she is even shorter than the eldest but diminutive Azuki. A month later, she has grown 6 cm—nearly surpassing Azuki—a fact she is not entirely happy with, as she says she wants to remain "as cute and petite as Onee-chan".
- Irony:
- She desires to be seen as cute, but is the most seductively dressed of the catgirls.
- Similar to Chocola, she is a catgirl but her behavior appears to be more similar to a dog. As Kashou notes.
- Manchild: Subverted. Due to her breed, she's literally a child in an adult's body.
- Ms. Fanservice: While all the catgirls could qualify, Coconut easily stands out. She wears much more revealing clothing than the others, and has the curviest body, complete with the largest bust among the catgirls at 93 cm.
- Shown Their Work: Maine Coon cats aren't just the largest breed in real life, but they tend to have a few dog-like characteristics.
- Vocal Evolution: Originally sounding like a typical older sister. Post-Character Development has her sound more childish.
- Wrestler in All of Us: Pulls a figure four leg lock on Azuki in their first Cat Fight.
- You Were Trying Too Hard: Turns out to be the main source of her clumsiness. She felt that she needed to "grow up" due a combination of feeling that she needs to be a good older sister to Chocola and Vanilla and her growth spurt due to being a Maine Coon. Kashou tells her to just be herself regardless of her appearance.
- Younger than She Looks: Coconut is the youngest of the original four cat girls, but because she's a Maine Coon (the largest breed of domestic cat), she's much taller and noticeably more developed than her older sisters.
Azuki
Voiced by: Mia Naruse (VN and OVA, Japanese); Shiori Izawa (TV series, Japanese); Luci Christian (TV series, English)
Breed: Munchkin
Breed: Munchkin
The eldest of the catgirls, but physically the shortest, due to her breed.
- The Ace: Really good at managing the shop's operations, including doing the finances, coordinating the other catgirls as employees, and even some aspects of baking in the kitchen.
- She also manages to decorate a shortcake like a pro, after only getting some tips from a chef.
- Big Little Sister: Despite being the oldest, Azuki is the shortest of the catgirls due to her being a munchkin breed.
- Broken Pedestal: In Extra when she was a kitten Coconut looked up to her to the point of Big Sister Worship. By the time of Vol. 1, they are constantly getting into cat fights and insulting each other. Becomes a Rebuilt Pedestal after they reconcile and Azuki manages to fix a cake Coconut failed to make.
- Calling the Young Man Out: Calls out Coconut over assuming that she and Kashou were making fun of her based on only hearing parts of their conversation. After Coconut impulsively disowns both of them, she slaps her - both literally and figuratively - in response.
- Deadpan Snarker: To everyone, but especially to Kashou about Coconut. Used to cover up the fact she actually cares for her siblings, but is too embarrassed to say so.
- It Was a Gift: Her trademark hairclips that she always wears were a Christmas gift as seen in Extra.
- The Nicknamer: Although most of the catgirls use one or two nicknames each, Azuki uses them with all of her sisters, including a single name for the twins as a pair.
- Older Than They Look: She's the shortest and youngest-looking of the catgirls, but this is only because she's a Munchkin breed and she's actually the oldest.
- Sailor Fuku: Her default attire has this for a motif.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: When Kashou takes her to a fancy restaurant in Vol. 2.
- Tsundere: Seemingly a modern Harsh type. She prefers to spend her day snarking at others in the background while covertly helping all her younger sisters, but gets defensive when the latter part is brought to attention.
Maple
Voiced by: Airi Ishihara (VN and OVA; credited as Yui Oguranote , Japanese); Miku Itō (TV series, Japanese); Anastasia Muñoz (TV series, English); Jad Saxton (TV Series, English, child)
Breed: American Curl
Breed: American Curl
The second-eldest of the catgirls.
- Alliterative Name: Upon performing in the singing competition in the Anime, she is introduced as "Miss Maple Minaduki."
- Beautiful Singing Voice: She won a singing contest for a guitar for this specific reason. She's also noted to have a beautiful singing In-Universe.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mildly so. It goes with her aloof, slightly haughty personality.
- Fish out of Water: Apparently, she used to strip down completely whenever she went to the bathroom, due to being unfamiliar with human customs. Now it's just half way.
- Freudian Excuse: The reason why she uses the bathroom with the door open because Azuki has previously locked her inside, traumatizing her.
- Hair Color Dissonance: She is described as a Brown American Curl, but her hair/fur color in the game is blonde.
- Hypocritical Humor: After Kashou leaves for France, an Eye Catch shows her berating Cinnamon for creating a doll of him out of paper towels before demanding her own doll.
- Informed Flaw: Kashou mentions to Coconut, while trying to make her feel better, that Maple is rude to customers. Something that is not seen in the Visual Novels or Anime series.
- Internalized Categorism: Her resistance to singing again stems from this. The video she made with Cinnamon when they were kittens got a lot of attention (positive and negative), but every single comment about the video referred to Maple as "the catgirl" without ever mentioning her name once. Maple saw this as people only being interested in her singing because she was a catgirl, not because she was actually talented. Vol. 3 deals with her working through her personal belief that humans and her owners only value Maple for her species instead of who she is.
- Reused Character Design: Her character design appears to be based on another character from NEKO WORKs, Macaron.
- Safety in Indifference: Maple keeps up an distant demeanor with family and friends because she thinks it'll keep her from getting noticed again, and is initially dismissive of Kashou's efforts to talk with her about what's bothering her because of it.
- School Uniforms are the New Black: Maple has a schoolgirl motif with a pop idol twist going for her default attire. Her winter outfit resembles a Western version of a school uniform.
- Sick and Wrong: Her reaction to Cinnamon's more extreme or bizarre fantasies, usually expressed as a "please go away from me" kind of phrase.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Acts polite and detached to her family both on and off the clock, but this facade hides someone who is still passionate about her dreams even when she thinks a catgirl having dreams is stupid. It takes a heart-to-heart talk with Kashou to convince her to stop being so dismissive of her own feelings.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Once was an enthusiastic kitten with dreams to be a singer. However, as mentioned above, comments in regards to the video of her singing only referred to her as "the catgirl." Believing that people care more about her species instead of her talent, she decided to give up on that "kittenhood dream" and keep a distant demeanor.
Cinnamon
Voiced by: Tae Okajima (VN and OVA; credited as "Uyu Arisaka" in VN, Japanese); Yuri Noguchi (TV series, Japanese); Kristen McGuire (TV series, English)
Breed: Scottish Fold
Breed: Scottish Fold
The third-eldest of the catgirls.
- Big-Breast Pride: At 92 cm, she has the second biggest bust of the catgirls, and she's proud of that.
- Big Little Sister: She is shorter than her younger sisters Chocola and Coconut, but taller than her older sister Azuki.
- Censored for Comedy: In the 7th episode on the TV series, "House-Sitting Cats", when the girls are telling a story about three of them asking Kashou, who's a genie there, for a wish, Cinnamon's wish gets censored. For someone who isn't afraid of saying lewd things, even Azuki and Maple are squicked."I wish for...! I (bleep)!"
- Character Catchphrase: She often complements her lecherous fantasies with some variation of "Cinnamon is gonna drool/become wet!".
- Everyone Has Standards:
- While she may be a Lovable Sex Maniac who's Too Kinky to Torture, she doesn't want it without love.
- She has no problem acting pervy in public, but draws the line when it's directly in front of kids. When she is guilt tripped into doing so by a little girl, she feels humiliated.
- Flanderization: Her perversion in the anime is exaggerated to the point that every other scene has her expressing that she's getting wet.
- Freudian Excuse: She says that the reason why she's a pervert is because she and Maple made out when they were kittens before the latter insisted they stop, which left her hanging.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Downplayed, as the others do like her, but Cinnamon's perversion is treated realistically as the rest of her family express their annoyance with her. In Vol. 3, Shigure admits to Kashou that she finds her perversion a bother with Kashou admitting that she would be a good catgirl if they could find some way to "flip that switch inside of her." Shigure later states that even their parents have become fed-up with her antics. At one point, Azuki outright calls her a disgrace to the family (Though not directly to her).
- Hidden Depths: With being one of the two main heroines in Vol. 3 it's to be expected:
- She feels that the only good thing about her is her body (Specifically her breasts). When Kashou buys her a new keyboard, she offers to pay him back by offering her breasts to use as pillows.
- It is hinted that she has feelings for Kashou as early as the second act* and wants to become one of his catpanions. It's to the point where she even tells him that she would be fine being the least loved of his catpanions, believing that he wouldn't want to be with someone who was in heat all the time, as long as she becomes one.
- The Immodest Orgasm: During one of her fantasies in Vol. 0.
- I Resemble That Remark!:
- Is in disbelief when the announcer at the Neko Witches stage show refers to her as a "slightly-bothered looking catgirl" when selecting her to be pretend kidnapped. But she ends up drooling over the whole thing.
- In the Anime series, she complains about being portrayed as a pervert in the stories the catgirls share. In the next story? Adds a perverted element to her character with the excuse that it's not actually her.
- Ironic Name: Despite her cute and gentle demeanor, her mind is so dirty for someone whose name is related to a cinnamon roll.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: So obsessed that she can interpret anything as innuendo and start fantasizing.
- In Vol. 3, when talking about how they used to experiment with kissing when they were kittens, she claims this is due to Maple insisting they stop, causing her to seek other outlets for her feelings.
- While helping Vanilla study for her bell exam, she immediately picks up on the sexuality of flower biology and starts drooling over it.
- On one occasion, due to a series of mishaps while she and others are examining something new on a toilet, she winds up tangled in toilet paper, which manages to turn her on.
- She gets pretend kidnapped for a children's stage show, where she's tied up. All innocent fun... except this is Cinnamon, who starts drooling over the whole thing. And before that, she notices the theme park has a carousel, notices the word is similar to "arousal" and comments on how lewd the name is.
- Lampshaded by Maple in the Anime after Cinnamon describes her working at a music store as if she was working in a brothel:"How do you manage to make everything sound so raunchy when it isn't?"
- Magical Girl: Cinnamon has this motif going on for her attire. According to her sisters, she did a magical girl performance video in the past. She is not happy when they bring it up, not so much for herself personally but more so for Maple's sake, as she was upset by the comments people left for Maple.
- Nosebleed: Implied to happen during all of her fantasies.
- Perverted Drooling: About just about anything, and in the majority of instances where she has focus. So much so that, "Cinnamon is gonna drool!" has become her catchphrase by Vol. 3. In Japanese, the word is "uruotchau", i.e. "going to become wet", which has a more directly sexual connotation.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Her uniform at La Solei includes her wearing a pair of white tights. However, she's actually anything but proper, being a Lovable Sex Maniac with more than a few kinks.
- Sibling Incest: Subverted since she and Maple aren't blood related, but Vol. 3 reveals that the two were very close when they were kittens and used to regularly kiss each other. Remembering this in the present day makes them do it again.
- The Tease: In Vol. 3, most of her interactions with Kashou involves teasing him in one way or another.
- Too Kinky to Torture:
- Hinted at in one scene, wherein she's been tied up on stage (in a totally innocent way, mind you) and starts to fantasize about being tortured.
- In another scene, she experiences discomfort because she's outgrown her bra, but says she could enjoy that if Kashou ordered her to keep wearing it.
Cacao
Voiced by: Yuka Morishima (Japanese), Tabitha Ray (English)
Breed: ???
Breed: ???
Appears only in the TV series. Chocola encounters her while out on an errand. Having neither a bell nor, apparently, a master, she follows Chocola home out of hunger.
- Canon Foreigner: She doesn't appear in the original visual novel series.
- Crash-Into Hello: How she meets Chiyo.
- Hidden Depths: She doesn't usually say much, and is very soft-spoken when she does talk. That being said, she's also very intelligent and thoughtful of others, and has better kinetic vision than any of the other Minaduki catgirls.
- Nerves of Steel: It's possible it's due to not knowing what a hypodermic needle is for, but she's the only one who doesn't freak out when Shigure shows one during the girls' kinetic vision test.
- No Name Given: For a while, neither the series nor the official web site
gave a name. In fact, she didn't have one. Based on a Twitter poll, it appeared that she would be called "Macaron". However, in the end, they named her "Cacao", based on a cake she enjoyed. - Parental Abandonment: Apparently. She is found all alone and has no bell, and when asked about her master, she has no answer, suggesting she was abandoned before even learning the concept. Her situation reminds Chocola of how she and Vanilla had been abandoned in a box.
- The Quiet One: She seems mute at first, but does actually speak on the rare occasions when she feels the need to.
- Token Mini-Moe: By far the youngest, next to the other Minaduki catgirls. Possibly even younger than Milk (who never appeared in the anime works).
Other catgirls
Milk
Voiced by: Mai Nagai (credited as "Emi Sakura") in Vols. 1 and 2; Yukari Minegishi (credited as "Airi Himekawa") in Vol. 4
Breed: unknown
Breed: unknown
Appears only in the VNs. The young adopted daughter of a takoyaki vendor. She has appeared in Vols. 1, 2 and 4.
- I Got Bigger: By Vol. 4 she has grown to nearly be as tall as Coconut.
- No Name Given: Known only as "Food Stand Cat" when she appears the first time, in Vol. 1, she finally gives her name in Vol. 2.note
- Speech Impediment: The mild version that children often have.
- Token Mini-Moe: She's the youngest and smallest catgirl in the VN series and Vanilla and Chocola adore her from the moment they meet her. Subverted in Vol. 4 where she is nearly as tall as Coconut to the point of being nearly unrecognizable.
Fraise
Voiced by: Nozomi Yamamoto (credited as "Momo Hayama")
Breed: Chinchilla Persian
Breed: Chinchilla Persian
Appearing in Nekoparaiten (an upcoming mobile spinoff) and Vol. 4. Beignet is her owner.
- A Day in the Limelight: Becomes one of the two main heroines in NEKOPARA After as the story focuses on her moving in with Kashou.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Subverted. She recognized Kashou from the start. But decided to keep quiet as she saw he was focused on other things.
- Meaningful Name: Named herself after the dessert Kashou made for her when she was a kitten: Macaron à la fraise.
- Tears of Joy: Upon eating Kashou's Macoron à la fraise, the dessert she had longed to have once more.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We never learn what happened to her original owner as her initial stay with Beignet was meant to be temporary.
Minor characters
Beignet
Voiced by: Ako Himekawa
Kashou's confectionery teacher and Fraise's owner.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: More like "Family or Idol" in this case, as after her brother's death, she had to chose to either return to France to save what was left of the family business while abandoning her husband and young son, or to stay in Japan with her new family and let said business be lost completely. She ultimately chose to return to France with her husband's encouragement.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: She is Kashou and Shigure's paternal grandmother.
- Meaningful Name: The reason she named her cake shop La Soleil was because her son, Suhama, compared her to the sun.
- Missing Mom: She is one. She fell in love with a Japanese man and had a child, but left her family to return to France to continue running the family's shop after her brother died.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Turns out many in the Minaduki family did not approve of her husband marrying a foreigner so there was no effort to keep in touch with her. Upon her husband's death, she wasn't even allowed to attend his funeral.
- Walking Spoiler: Her backstory turns her into this.
Chiyo
Voiced by: Kaede Hondo (Japanese), Leah Clark (English)
Appears only in the TV series. A young girl Cacao encounters while wandering around and befriends after a little adventure they have.
- Canon Foreigner: Appears only in the anime.
- Crash-Into Hello: By the kitten Cacao, as their first meeting.
Chiyo's mother
Voiced by: Shoko Yuzuki (Japanese), Marissa Lenti (English)
Appears only in the TV series. Visits La Soleil often to buy things, bringing Chiyo along.
- Canon Foreigner: Appears only in the anime.
Top-tier Kickstarter reward characters
Momo, voicednote by Eriko Matsui
Macchiato
Xiang Cao
Kuri
Created just for the OVA: 1 for the $10,000 tier (1 was the limit) and voiced by Eriko Matsui, and 3 (out of a limit of 10) for the $9,000 tier with nothing to say.- One-Shot Character: Each one appears for just a few seconds.
