WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 23 of Fire Force, "Firecat," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Fire Force's Tamaki Kotatsu's third-generation ability, Nekomata, gives her a high heat resistance in addition to cat-twin-tails and fiery features to match. However, Tamaki herself isn't exactly a catty character -- in any sense of the term. Unlike other anime catgirls, Tamaki doesn't meow, make cat puns or even make paw gestures. But there is one thing that is definitely cat-like about her -- her running style.
While Tamaki can and does run normally, the usual upright, two-legged human run is not her go-to when she needs a burst of speed; instead she elects to get down on all fours and move her hands in unison, one slightly in front of the other, opposite her legs, which do the same -- exactly like a real cat.
While running, she even "retracts" her claws by running on her knuckles, just as a real cat would. While real cats have the advantage of the retracted finger-bones curling up away from the ground, the fact that Tamaki exhibits no discomfort while running like this means it's actually part of her abilities.
Season 2, Episode 23, "Firecat" revolves around Tamaki "training" with Hinata and Hikage of the Seventh Division by playing a not-so-friendly game of tag. During the game, once Tamaki realizes that the children ought to be regarded as anything but and actually gets serious. She starts to extend her "claws" for an extra boost of speed, again like an actual cat, as any cat-owner who's heard their kitten scrabbling against the hardwood will tell you. In the wild, by extending their claws, cats essentially give themselves cleats, increasing traction with the ground and their speed.
Thanks to her human proportions, the cat Tamaki actually resembles the most is a cheetah, with its elongated, flexible spine. Her proportions allow her to stretch out and contract much more than most cats, covering more ground in less steps. Also, much like Tamaki's human fingernails, Cheetahs can't retract their claws, having been built entirely for speed. Much like how the cheetah's claws help it keep its footing, the traction increase Tamaki gets by running with her "claws" out gives her allows her to even run along walls. As Tamaki embraces her powers throughout the episode, she begins to run with her claws out more and more in order to out-speed the fox twins.
Likewise, as the race forces Tamaki to confront her past and question her motivations for joining the Special Fire Force to begin with, motivations revealed through flashbacks during the chase, she begins to come to terms with her catty powers, and runs steadily faster as she becomes comfortable with them. This is visually represented by a new, firey cat facemask that begins to form over her right eye. When she finally decides to stand her ground and fight rather than run, her feline transformation is complete, and she gets literal claws of fire.
While she hasn't used those claws for her running stance yet, when she does, we're certain that the extra traction will help her not only to run along walls, but up them as well, increasing both her mobility and attack damage, just like any ol' feline.
