“You really seem to love me when I’m Taro.” - Miyo Sasaki Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu, or A Whisker Away is a movie with the main theme of cats. Yes, many cats, a lot of cats. A light romance content with the supernatural matter involved, resulting in a perfect combination of the movie. Story - 9/10 The story starts off pretty quickly, so watching a trailer at least once is recommended. The storytelling begins with Miyo’s family, Miyo’s relationship with her friends, and how she got a mask that allows her to transform into a cat. The overall concept can be understood within 10 minutes orless, giving you time to enjoy the whole movie instead of making you try to understand what’s going on. The whole concept is interesting and unique, making A Whisker Away became a must-watch. The movie also maintains the proportion of the supernatural element and the daily life element at the appropriate level, being not too heavy on one side. Lastly, I would say that the story contains both sad and happy moments, leading to a satisfying conclusion.
Animation - 10/10
Eye-friendly, tender, and cute, these 3 words describe the art perfectly. While not being as vibrant as Your Name or Tenki no Ko, instead, A Whisker Away shows its own charm of art in the usage of colors. The art matches and creates the tender mood and tone of the movie, and when combined with such high-quality scenery art, a score of 10 is obtained easily.
Sound - 8/10
The overall soundtracks are pretty standard. During my 104-minute watch, I noticed nothing outstanding, also nothing has bugged me. While A Whisker Away may not have the best soundtrack, it has the perfect ending songs, perfectly matched my music taste. Yes, 2 ending songs, both are sweet and lovely, and both performed by Yorushika. The 2nd song is kind of a surprise since the song hasn’t been released before.
Characters - 8/10
A 104-minute length might not be enough to introduce supporting characters fully, but it was able to introduce audiences the main characters to its fullest.
Miyo Sasaki and Kento Hinode, these 2 main characters are the star of the show. Miyo, or nicknamed as Muge, is introduced as an energetic girl, having a crush on Hinode, which is literally a normal guy. Miyo is being ignored and not being liked back by Hinode is not her only problem. While handling this matter, both Miyo and Hinode also have their own personal problems to deal with. Thus by not understanding each other may lead to hurting one another without knowing. This is how characters have completed the story and bringing the potential to the movie.
Enjoyment - 9/10
A Whisker Away is cute, being a unique watch, not many shows have animals as their main theme, and this movie is a success. What I enjoyed the most is the art and the theme song, which are totally charming and beautiful, matching the sweet and tender mood of the story. Overall, this movie left me an impression. My 104-minute watch is well spent.
Recommendations
If you are looking for a unique movie with a light supernatural element, romance, and eye-friendly art, then I recommend this anime, or even if you just love cats. Enjoy!
Not Recommended
"Wow, a work from Junichi Satou (Aria, Tamayura) and Mari Okada (MSG:IBO, AnoHana, Lupin III: Mine Fujiko), must be great!" These were my initial thoughts about this movie before watching it until my hopes were shattered when I actually got to watch this movie. Story 3/10 A super clingy, full of energy girl Miyo Sasaki, nicknamed "Muge" who's in love with her classmate Kento Hinode, her indefatigable tries to get the attention of her crush were in vain so she thought of becoming a cat to get close to her crush which later turned out to be a deadly mistake because she had to throw her humanityif she wanted to continue being a cat. The premise sounds normal but it's later butchered by it's own progress due to ambiguous and unexplained actions and sequences.
Art and Animation 6/10
The art was the best thing about this movie something that was granted to come in a work directed by Junichi Satou, the background art really reminded me of Tamayura. The animation was so-so, keeping in mind that it was done by the same studio that made Penguin Highway, a movie which excels in both art and animation. Sad too see that they downgraded the visuals rather than improving it.
Sound 5/10
Couple of OSTs here and there, nothing to great and worth memorable. It had no opening song and the ending song was mediocre as well.
Character 2/10
The characters were written lively, they felt alive. But that solely couldn't make them good or likable. Really disliked the main girl "Muge", really energetic, someone who'd just go and want to become a cat forever because she got rejected once despite her awfully clingy behavior and without even thinking about the consequences that were to come with it (e.g. leaving behind her close friend, and her parents who try their best to take care of her). And then there's her close friend who really should be the MC of this movie but her name is forgettable that even I don't remember even tho I just finished watching this movie, same can be said for Hinode's friend. Hinode, the male MC gives of serious furry vibes and likes to be kissed by a cat, he's a typical edgy teenage boy who'd try to do anything for his love even brawl with a giant cat, maybe that's because he's a furry.
Enjoyment 3/10
You know what I enjoyed in this movie? The background scenery.
Overall it's nothing more than a 3, a big disappointment coming from names such as Mari Okada and Junichi Satou. Tho it made me realize how much I love Tamayura, maybe I might do a rewatch.
