Series 4 Episode 12

Conspiracy! Neko-Sennin’s Cat Kingdom is the 12th episode of the 1996 GeGeGe no Kitarō anime.
==Cast==
;Main
*Yōko Matsuoka as Kitarō
*Isamu Tanonaka as Medama-Oyaji
*Shigeru Chiba as Nezumi-Otoko
*Keiko Yamamoto as Sunakake-Babaa
*Kōzō Shioya as Konaki-Jijii
*Chinami Nishimura as Neko-Musume
*Naoki Tatsuta as Ittan-Momen, Nurikabe
;Recurring
*Konomi Maeda as Yūko Murakami
;Guest
*Junko Shimakata as Jirō
*Atsushi Kisaichi as Man
*Yasunori Masutani as Cat Fish Chef
*Kōji Yada as Neko-Sennin
==Synopsis==
In a ghost town, accompanies Jirō as he plans to leave his cat, Mike, here since his mother refuses him to keep him. Mike does not want to leave Jirō, who kicks him away and yells for him to leave. Mike runs into the darkness, where the two kids see eyes staring at them. These eyes belong to a group of angry cats who begin to pounce.
In the streets, Nezumi-Otoko is looking for cats, looking to make quick money as a cat exterminator. He soon sees a clowder, but is quickly attacked by them. Meanwhile, Kitarō gets a letter from Yūko about what happened to Jirō, which other people have gone missing around the abandoned town. Medama-Oyaji asks if Neko-Musume has heard rumors about this as a cat Yōkai. She denies this, but gives them a book about cat Yōkai. However when Medama-Oyaji states that it would help them take out the culprit, Neko-Musume is insulted, stating that there are not any cat Yōkai who deserve that, and storms off. In the ghost town, Yūko shows them where Jirō was attacked. The explore the area, finding cats walking on two legs and acting like humans.
Yūko finds a pet store but is filled with humans in cages. They meet the cat in charge, Daikoku-Neko, a cat Yōkai. Kitarō demands him to set the people free, but he refuses as he is doing what humans have done to cats for centuries, as they forced cats to be pets. Daikoku-Neko notes how humans keep cats as pets, but abandon them at will, while feeding the humans here, who all have abandoned a cat before. They watch as a cat parent and child come in to adopt a human as pet, Yūko asks what will happen to Jirō, which Daikoku-Neko informs them that he is about to be put on trial, and grants them permission to attend. At the trial, Daikoku-Neko shows them the court and that he is the judge. Jirō arrives and the trial begins. Daikoku-Neko asks how Jirō pleads, which the boy sadly states guilty, Daikoku-Neko call Mike to the stand. Mike nods when asked if he was abandoned and shakes his head when asked if he had any other mistreatment. Before Daikoku-Neko could announce the verdict, a rat passes by which the cats in the stand chase after. Daikoku-Neko catches it with his long arm and eats it, which Kitarō and Medama-Oyaji realize that he is actually Neko-Sennin. Jirō is then sentenced to pethood and a cat takes him away. Kitarō calls Neko-Sennin out for going to far, who reveals that he knows who the Yōkai boy is and reveals his true form. 
Neko-Sennin orders the cats to attack Kitarō's group, which they can not fight back as they are just innocent cats under his control, forcing them to retreat. They manage to hide in an abandoned building to recuperate, where the cats are looking for them. Medama-Oyaji surmises that if they take out Neko-Sennin the cats will return to normal. He remembers from the encyclopedia that Neko-Sennin will lose his powers when sealed in the Cat Pot. Sunakake-Babaa remembers that it is deep within the GeGeGe Forest's swamp, which Ittan-Momen goes off to get it. The group formulates a plan to fight Neko-Sennin without harming the cats, which they decide to lure the cats away with their favorite food; rats. They try to find rats in the building, but fail. They hear the screaming of Nezumi-Otoko, who cries to not be put on trial. In the court room, a trial undergoes with a man, who took in a stray cat but failed to properly take care of it and letting it die, and Nezumi-Otoko, a rat Yōkai attempting to catch cats, are both sentenced to death. Nezumi-Otoko runs away as they bring in a guillotine, making the cats chase after him. The rat Yōkai runs into Kitarō, who tricks him into a cage, where all the cats starts chasing after them. Now having all of the cats, Kitarō and the others trap them in a giant pipe and head off to face Neko-Sennin. 
In the court room, Kitarō and the others confront Neko-Sennin. The cat hermit attacks them with a blade, but they fight back and manages to make him drop the blade. Neko-Sennin stretches his arm to catch Kitarō. However Kitarō manages trick him into getting his arm into a knot between two columns. Ittan-Momen delivers the Cat Pot and they attack him, releasing the humans and cats from his control. Just as Kitarō is about to trap Neko-Sennin in the Cat Pot, Neko-Musume arrives and stops him. She agrees that he was wrong for kidnapping people, but that this all started because of irresponsible humans abandoning their cats, and that this will not solve the problem. The humans arrive, understanding how cats feel after being pets and apologizes. Jirō tells Neko-Sennin that he is going to take care of Mike. They free Neko-Sennin from his entanglement, who promises to not control cats again, takes the stray cats to live in the mountains with him. Once he leaves, everyone is surprised of what the court room actually looks like. Neko-Musume gives a reminder to take care of their cats. Meanwhile, Nezumi-Otoko is still trapped in the cage, asking what is going to happen to him.
==Characters in order of appearance==
==Navigation==
Category:1996 Episodes