Heyy, long-time follower (under a different name; MasterofIntrigue) and I was really hoping that you had some insight into something; have no idea who I would ask. What is with.... I don't know how to phrase it. Like... in anime, these girls, who just... run around naked, and are sometimes just straight up cats? There seems to be no rhyme or reason when they're a cat or a naked lady, but... like... why? What is this? Why have I seen this more than one place? It very deeply confuses me.
Generally when I see character nude in anime there's some give reason, like a magical girl transformation or turning into an angel, or something...so I'm not sure what you mean
It's possible you're talking about scenes where someone's "inner self" represented as naked/ This is generally to show it's the character's true self without any coverings or earthly attachments, that they're completely vulnerable and innocent, like Ami's inner self in this part of Sailor Moon:
It can also be a simple of somone being "born again" again, completely vulnerable and leaving everything they knew behind, like Anthy and Utena at the end of the Utena movie:
Basically, like in a lot of art, nudity in anime isn't always neccesarily meant to be sexualized, but to be symbolic of purity or vulnerability.
Of course sometimes it is just for fanservice. You can usually tell which is which.
The cat thing, I'm not sure if you're referring the catgirl like:
In which case said character is a cat all the time because she's a mutant or something
or ladies wearing cat ears like
If a character just has animal ears and there's no explanation (and it's not a fantastical setting) It's likely meant to be a fashion accessory. They just put them on as part of their outfit. It's a "cute" thing- as you can see, the girl above works in a maid cafe and is into moe culture. She wears the ears to increase her cute factor. They're not real.
If you're referring to characters randomly gaining catlike features during conversations and then reverting back like this:
It is again, a "cute" thing and as far as I can tell, generally used for characters who have a personality similar to a cat's: mischevious, skittish, adorable. It's just a cute little tic for characters to have.
The catperson in the second picture is a young boy, so it's not just limited to female characters .
I mean, it's possible I haven't watched the right anime, but I've never seen a full on catgirl not in a fantastical setting, but it's possible they do randomly show up in some anime that caters to fetishes without regard for logic, since catgirl is a fetish