Nekopara - Episode 3 - Chocola Vanilla Intro

Shigure introduces the cat girls of La Soleil every episode so far, making sure Chocola, Vanilla, and the rest are in their maid waitress outfits.

The little stray kitten likes to stray. Azuki and Coconut go straight at each other first thing in the morning. Oh, so that's where she was. She found the warm spot on the toilet because Maple goes to the bathroom so much.

Aw. Chocola is preoccupied with the stray kitten. I see lots of jokes coming because of her absent-mindedness. Vanilla likes her clumsy sister. Nori no Tsukudani (nori seaweed boiled in soy sauce) is not supposed to be spread on toast, but apparently Chocola likes it. Vanilla breaks the 4th wall.

First nori on bread instead of rice and now Chocola can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. Chocola is worried about the stray kitten, but Vanilla is more worried about Chocola. She just put her uniform on backwards!

Azuki is calling the stray kitten "Sugarcane," but nobody likes her doing that. Maple doesn't like the name, so she's searching on "Oooglo" for baby kitten names. And naturally Cinnamon must go crazy over have babies. She's got such a dirty mind! Just how long is Cinnamon going to think about sex here? She's insatiable!

That kitten is so good at disappearing! She's also a feral cat. Eating on the floor with no hands.

Azuki insists on this "Sugarcane" name, but nobody is buying it. Coconut is fired up because she gets to be a big sister now. I just realized that with all the cat characters, almost all the girls will have a fang and will do the snout smile at some point. :-3 Aww. Coconut is disappointed in herself because she's still a kitten and wants to play with paper rolls and ribbon.

Azuki shows how being a competent big sister is done. Oh ho. Coconut has better reach than Azuki, though.

Meanwhile, back at the Minaduki household, stray kitten gets hungry after seeing an aquarium on TV. Maple is so fancy for afternoon tea. Stray kitten would prefer the dried sardines she shared with Chocola. Stray Kitten just wants to eat something. She doesn't need this tea lesson. Cinnamon doesn't care either. Uh oh. Stray Kitten is going to start thinking about Chocola now.

Shigure was able to match that orange ribbon on the Stray's cap for her little overalls. That's attention to detail. Cinnamon shouldn't be teaching the Stray how to "play house" at her age. Jump rope might be too advanced for a kitten her age. Aw. The Stray wishes she could hug Chocola.

The eye catches give excellent plot summary for the first half of Nekopara's episode.

Aw. Chocola is trying to be strong in not admitting she misses the little stray. Vanilla noticed her sister's struggles. Uh oh. The stray has gone missing again! Panic! She's really missing. Coconut! Don't do it! And all the cats are down from silver vine (matatabi) overdose. Cats have a similar response to catnip, which is found in the West, while silver vine is found in China and Japan.

Chocola got the call and zoom! But not yet. Kashou and Vanilla understand Chocola's feelings and they let her go look for the Stray. Huh. This hat-and-overalls combo is popular with the kitten set. Shigure must have been following fashion trends. Predictably, Chocola finds the kitten where they first met. This quiet stray kitten seems smart. Man, that's amazing how she just appears out of nowhere. I loved the animation on Chocola's face as it progressed through many emotions. Nekopara is giving us shades of healing anime here too. Aw. The Stray needed to comfort Chocola by holding her hand. This is good stuff. Officially sisters.

And so, we learn that Kashou never had a problem with taking care of one more cat. He just said that one comment after he opened the shop and wanted to discourage the other cat girls from sneaking in through parcel service. Well, now that the stray has transferred over to La Soleil, she should be getting a better name than Sugarcane. We'll just have to wait for the next dramatic development when we discover her origins and the drama that entails, but for now we have a toddler cat living with Chocola and Vanilla.


The awesome artist kaguyuzu shows Maple brushing Cinnamon's hair in the end card.