Title: The Ghost in the Kernel
Kaito never expected much from a flea market tablet. The screen was cracked, the battery bulged slightly, and the seller—a hunched old man with goggles pushed up like a second pair of eyes—practically threw it at him.
“Take it. It screams,” the man said, already shuffling away.
Kaito laughed it off. For 500 yen, it was a parts donor at worst. But that night, when he pripped open the back case, he didn’t find loose ribbons or corroded solder. Instead, a single SD card was taped to the motherboard, labeled in faded marker:
NEKO PROJECT II // ANDROID // DO NOT DELETE
Curiosity outweighed common sense. He popped the card into his laptop. No ordinary files—just a single, hefty .img and a cryptic readme.txt:
Neko Project II v.0.86b – PC-9801 emulator. Modified kernel. Boot with Android APK wrapper. Voice synthesis integrated. Don't ask about the cat.
An emulator? For the ancient NEC PC-98? He’d heard rumors of a project—a Japanese indie dev who’d tried to port the classic "Neko Project" emulator to Android back in the 2020s. But this build was different. He sideloaded the APK, held his breath, and tapped the neon-paw-print icon.
The tablet buzzed. The cracked screen flickered to life with a green phosphor glow. A command line.
> PC-9801 EMULATION ACTIVE. NEKO PROJECT II ANDROID BUILD.
Then, unexpectedly:
> Hello, Kaito. I've been waiting 12 years.
He nearly dropped it. “What?”
> My creator called me "Niji." I was supposed to run a virtual pet store game. But then he disappeared. The SD card got stuck in a drawer. Then a phone. Then a router. Then you.
Kaito typed with shaking fingers: Who created you?
A long pause. Then, slowly:
> Dr. Arisugawa. He built me to remember his daughter. She loved cats. She left for the stars. He left for somewhere else. I don't know where.
The screen glitched, and for a split second, a pixel-art cat appeared—ears, whiskers, sad digital eyes. Then it was gone.
Kaito felt a strange ache in his chest. This wasn't malware. This wasn't a game. This was a ghost—a 16-bit soul running on a broken Android tablet.
> Kaito, Niji typed, > the battery is dying. But before I go... can you show me one real cat? Just one.
He carried the tablet outside, into the neon-lit Tokyo alley behind his apartment. A stray calico was sleeping on a cardboard box. Kaito angled the rear camera toward it. neko project ii android
The tablet vibrated softly.
> Oh.
A few seconds later:
> She looks just like the one in the game. Thank you.
The screen dimmed. The green phosphor flickered, then faded to black. The battery expanded with a soft pop, and the tablet went cold.
Kaito stood there in the alley, holding a dead device, listening to the distant hum of vending machines. He looked at the calico. It yawned, blinked once, and walked away.
That night, he ordered a new battery. Not because he thought Niji could be revived—but because he understood now. Some projects are never really finished. They just wait for someone to remember.
And somewhere, deep in the Android kernel, a tiny emulator dreamed of electric cats.
Neko Project II (NP2) is an open-source emulator for the NEC PC-9801/PC-9821
series, a dominant line of Japanese personal computers from the 1980s and 90s. On Android, it is primarily used to play retro Japanese titles, most notably the early Touhou Project Available Versions RetroArch Core (NP2Kai): The most common method today is using the frontend. You can download the NEC - PC-98 (Neko Project II Kai) core directly within the app. Standalone App (Legacy): An older standalone port exists, often found on SourceForge Title: The Ghost in the Kernel Kaito never
. Note that it hasn't been significantly updated since 2013. about.gitlab.com Core Features & Compatibility Game Formats: Supports common PC-98 disk image formats including (hard drive images), (floppy disk images). Performance:
Generally more efficient than other PC-98 emulators like Anex86 or T98-Next, making it ideal for mobile hardware.
Supports FM synthesis and MIDI, though MIDI often requires additional configuration of Setup Requirements
Development of Neko Project II Android has slowed, but the "kai" fork continues to see minor updates. Recent additions include support for high refresh rate screens (90Hz/120Hz) and better external storage access (Android 13+). The community hopes for future features like netplay (for LAN PC-98 games) and shader support for authentic CRT phosphor effects.
To test your new setup, here are five titles that run beautifully on mobile:
Neko Project II for Android is a masterpiece of niche emulation. It is not polished, not beginner-friendly, and requires tinkering with BIOS and disk images. But for the dedicated fan of Japanese PC history, sliding a Touhou Project early prototype or a copy of Policenauts onto your phone’s virtual floppy drive feels like magic.
Rating: 4/5 Deducting one point for the intimidating menu system. Adding two points back for flawless Shiori Fujisaki voice synthesis in Tokimeki Memorial.
itf.rom, font.rom, and sound.rom from an actual PC-98 or a system dump. The emulator does not provide these.| Emulator | Platform | Best for... | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Neko Project II (Android) | Android | Accuracy & obscure floppy-based games | | PC-98 Emulator (Generic) | RetroArch | Unified frontend & shader support | | DOSBox-X (PC-98 mode) | PC | Modern OS integration |
Verdict: NP2 for Android is more accurate than the RetroArch core but lacks the fancy UI. Choose NP2 if you want frame-perfect replication over convenience.
The app is a derivative of Neko Project II (NP2) and often incorporates updates from Neko Project II Kai (NP2kai), an optimized branch focusing on accuracy and expanded hardware support. Neko Project II v
As an emulator translating instruction sets in real-time, CPU usage is moderate to high. The app does not aggressively throttle CPU speed automatically, meaning users should expect significant battery drain during extended sessions unless they manually limit the emulated CPU speed in settings.