Nekojiru

, known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist.
In 1990, she debuted in the June issue of the monthly manga anthology Garo with "Nekojiru Udon", which is now considered her definitive work. 
Works.
With the exception of "Tsunami", all Nekojiru's work has main characters drawn as cats. Even in her manga essays, "Jirujiru Travel Journal" and "Jirujiru Diary", she drew herself as a cat. But though the characters "appear" as animals, the artist chose as her setting not a forest, but rather the human world. Her manga detailing the daily life and adventures of the cats Nyāko and Nyatta are held in high esteem. The major themes of her work are a childlike zaniness, cruelty and nostalgia. And, as we know from "Dream Memo", included in the posthumously released compilation "Nekojiru Udon 3", many of her bizarre works of fantasy were based on her own dream experiences. Psychedelic mushrooms and LSD also often appear in her works.
Yamano Hajime, using the pen-name "Nekojiru-y", took over Nekojiru's world, and continues to produce new works. On his official site, one could read a free chapter of Nekojiru's manga. At the end of November 2020, however, it was announced the site would be closed for an extended length of time, and has remained down as of writing.
There have been two animated adaptations of Nekojiru's manga, both of them focusing on the family of Nyāko, Nyatta and their parents. The first of these was , a 27 × 2 minute series which aired on Japanese TV in 1999 as one segment of Asahi Television's , led by comedy duo Bakushō Mondai. The second, and more famous, at least among English speakers, is the 2001 OVA , released in English as "Cat Soup".
List of works.
Nekojiru also worked as an illustrator and character designer on other projects.
Death.
Hashiguchi died by suicide on May 10, 1998.
Shortly before her suicide, Nyāko and Nyatta, the two main characters of "Nekojiru Udon", were selected to be used by Tokyo Electric in promotional campaigns. However, the death of their creator caused that to be cancelled.
In popular culture.
The "Gothball" episode "Japan" is an homage to Nekojiru's work. Pieces of paper (LSD) with Nekojiru cat faces are seen in the episode "Goth's Trip".