- A Whisker Away, Olhos de Gato
- Score: 🐱🐱🐱
- Type: Movie
- Duration: 104 minutes
- Release date: 2020
- Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Supernatural
- Cats Spotlight: Cat store owner, Kinako
Nakitai Watashi wa Neko o Kaburu
[泣きたい私は猫をかぶる]
The protagonist of the movie, Miyo Sasaki, is a school girl who is a bit over the top, her parents are divorced and she doesn't get well with her stepmother but she likes to hide her feelings and pretends that everything for her is fine and good. So she exaggerates on everything, especially with her crush, Kento Hinode, which despises her because of her attitudes. She even receives a nickname "MUGE" (which I forgot the meaning now, but I could even say that she suffers bullying from the school from everyone except her best friend).
So one day at the summer festival a fat calico cat, The Cat Store Owner (shame that he doesn't have a name), asks her if she want to realize a wish and offers a cat faced mask. After this, Miyo gains the ability to transform into a blue eyed white kitten and she uses this opportunity to approach her crush (who like cats) and start a double life as the stray cat Taro.
So, this movie is more about the couple, Miyo and the relationship with her family and Kento than about cats (the protagonist doesn't even like cats, she just acquired the mask so she could be close to her crush because her stepmom has a cat that Miyo affirms that "doesn't like her"). However it has some cute cat moments, telling the best parts without spoiling too much, the movie has a side story with the stepmom's cat, Kinako; a magic cat place, Cat Island (which remembered me the Cat Kingdom from Neko no Ongaeshi) and a really funny/cute scene at the end of the movie with the Cat store owner.
The movie isn't the best one, the animation, art and music is nothing special, but it's funny enough to pass time and even tough the cat was "villain" nothing bad happened to him so it was just a minor detail. I give it 3/5 stars and recommend to watch if you like cats.
- The Cat Returns, O Reino dos Gatos
- Score: 🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
- Type: Movie
- Duration: 75 minutes
- Release date: 2002
- Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
- Cats Spotlight: Lune, Yuki, Muta, Natarou and Neko Ou
Neko no Ongaeshi [猫の恩返し]
My favourite movie, anime, anime movie and the source of inspiration of my current site's name, I also rewatched this year (2024) on my birthday ♥. And according to Ghibli's wiki, the movie also won an award, the Excellence Prize at the 2002 Japan Media Arts Festival and was the top-grossing movie of 2002.
I like this movie so much that I couldn't recommend it more, but since the running time is so short, I don't want to tell much of its story so I wouldn't ruin the experience for anyone, so I'll keep this review short.
First, this movie is for all ages; all the family can enjoy it, even little kids and grandma (opposed to how normally anime is aimed at teenagers). Second, the anime is heartwarming and relaxing. It's that type of movie that where the conflicts are solved and everyone has a happy ending. I think that the story is reminiscent of Disney's Alice in Wonderland, minus the whole psychedelic stuff.
The art is what you can expect from Ghibli's movies; the characters are simple, but the scenery is beautiful and detailed, especially the ending and the parade scenes (the cats also have a simple character design but all of them are cute, and they don't look weird when standing on their hind legs). The OST is also good, although I don't think that it's as good as other Ghibli movies and isn't good enough to listen to on it's own; it fits the film's atmosphere well enough, and it's satisfying to listen to.
The characters are also charming in their own way. We have Haru, the high school girl protagonist who reminds me of Alice, a crow named Toto, Baron (the same cat statuette from Mimi wo Sumaseba) and a bunch of cats; all of them are cute and charming. I liked Muta the best, the fat grumpy cat (that most cats can relate to lol) and the old Neko Ou (the cat king), who is the kind of villain that no one can get irritated with.
And last, a small synopsis of the anime: Haru is a high school girl who one day saves a kitten from being hit by a truck, using her lacrosse stick that gets broken in the process. Later, she was gifted a bunch of lacrosse sticks and is greeted by a talking cat that says that she saved the prince of the Cat Kingdom, Lune, and they wanted to repay her for it (even granting her a visit to the Cat Kingdom).
My overall rating for this anime is 5 stars, and I think that if you haven't watched it already, you should go and watch it!
- Score: 🐱🐱🐱🐱
- Type: ONA
- Episodes: 13
- Duration: 2 minutes
- Release date: 2006
- Genres: Comedy, Surreal Comedy
- Cats Spotlight: Taisho, Taisho's papa, Mii-chan
Neko Ramen [猫ラーメン]
Neko Ramen is a short internet anime based on a manga of the same name. It actually has two seasons but I couldn't find the 2nd season to watch so I'll only review the 1st season here (if you know where to find it, let me know!).
The story of Neko Ramen is about a white cat called Taishou (chief) that owns a ramen restaurant, but his cooking skills are terrible so he has no customers, until one day when an unsuspecting office worker visits his shop and he ended up being the only regular customer (even though he doesn't approve of Taisho's cooking skills). The series is episodic, with each episode featuring a new thing that Taishou created to attract customers, but with some continuity between the episodes.
The music is alright, the OP is funny and it changes in each episode, but it's a shame that I couldn't find a full version. The animation has different styles between episodes, but I didn't find it that great but is acceptable for a short series.
The main point of this anime is the absurdity and how totally clueless Taishou is about running his shop. Not gonna spoil the series, but one of the best parts is that Taishou is a talking cat, he walks on his hind legs like a person but the other cats just act like normal cats lol
My verdict is that this series is that I'd recommend both for people who like cats and people who like short comedy anime.
- I, Tsushima
- Score: 🐱🐱🐱
- Type: TV Short and ONA
- Episodes: 12 (TV), 94 (ONA)
- Duration: 2 minutes
- Release date: 2021
- Genres: Comedy, Surreal Comedy, Slice of Life
- Cats Spotlight: Tsushima, Ouji
Ore, Tsushima [俺、つしま]
Ore, Tsushima is a short anime based on a manga of the same name. It has an ONA and a TV Short version, and both were released in the same year. The main difference between the two versions is the animation, in the ONA it's CGI and the cats look a bit weird,while in the TV version the art is simpler.
The story is about an old retiree lady that is called Ojii-chan by her cats (grandpa) and her daily life with them, featuring mainly Tsushima. She has blue skin, a weird head, doesn't wear any clothing and it's never explained why, other people in the anime have a normal appearance so I didn't get the joke. Ojii-chan has five cats: Tsushima, a proud and snob talking fat cat and former stray that was adopted by Ojii-chan; Zun Nee-san, an elder bossy female cat that is living with Ojii-chan for the longest time (she also controls everyone in the house lol); Chaa, an easily scared cat that is always aware of his surroundings; Osamu a rather aggressive lone wolf cat that apparently doesn't live with Ojii-chan but visits her and Ouji, Ojii-chan late cat, that only appeared in an episode.
The story is weird, even though the synopsis says that Tsushima is a weird talking cat, all cats in both series talk. Each episode has its own history, but most of them are really weird (that weirdest that I can remember is when Chaa allowed Ojii-chan to sniff his butt (???)). The cats are also weird, first of them, they talk, then they seem egotistical and bossy sometimes, they don't act in cat-like way either (probably because they can talk lol) and Ojii-chan is annoying most of the time. The cat which I liked best is Tsushima, probably because he is the protagonist and because he is the only one that even though he looks egoistical, he cares about Ojii-chan and the other cats.
The animation is alright, simple in the internet version and more elaborate in the TV version, the cats in CGI look a bit weird, but they also look funny and cute at the same time (only Ojii-chan design that is weird and kind of gross). The music is almost non-existent except for some instrumental bits.
I've watched cat's short anime for a while now, and this is the first one that I didn't like. It had some episodes that I liked and I watched it until the end, but it was a bit difficult to finish the ONA because of the quantity of episodes and I wouldn't watch it again. But it isn't a bad series, the cats aren't portrayed in a bad way and it's a comedy, so maybe someone might like the jokes better than I did it, so I'd still recommend it.
- Kiki's Delivery Service, O Serviço de Entregas da Kiki
- Score: 🐱🐱🐱🐱
- Type: Movie
- Duration: 103 minutes
- Release date: 1989
- Genres: Family, Fantasy, Slice of Life
- Cats Spotlight: Jiji
Majo no Takkyuubin [魔女の宅急便]
Kiki's Delivery Service is a movie by Studio Ghibli adapted from a novel of the same name. The story is about a young witch that, as a rite of passage of witches, sets off to live and survive on her own in a town without them. Though the protagonist of this story is Kiki, her familiar black cat, Jiji, is a great supporting character and he acts more than a companion to her, but he is also a helper and friend, since he can talk.
The story is really sweet and great for all ages (like all the movies of the studio) and loved by many. I really like this movie, though it isn't one of my favourites, since I didn't like the romance aspect much (it isn't really a spoiler because the boy appears in the beginning of the movie). As for the cat part, Jiji is important until about half of the movie, then he starts living his own life independently of Kiki (the reason is spoiler, but it's another part that didn't went go in the movie).
The art is pretty with simple characters and detailed backgrounds, the soundtrack is involving and great enough to make you want to listen to it on its own and the characters are charming, most of them. In summmary, nothing new talking about Ghibli's movies.
I think that this movie has a good portrayal of a fictional cat, even though he isn't the protagonist and a great relationship between pet and owner (it also doesn't feature the generic "dogs vs cats" cliche, even though a dog appears in a scene). So, I recommend it.
- Night on the Galactic Railroad, Viagem Noturna no Trem da Via Láctea
- Score: 🐱🐱🐱🐱
- Type: Movie
- Duration: 113 minutes
- Release date: 1985
- Genres: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
- Cats Spotlight: Giovanni, Campanella
Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru
[銀河鉄道の夜]
Night on the Galactic Railroad is a movie adapted from the famous Japanese novel, of the same name, by Kenji Miyazawa. But the movie is different from the novel in the fact the everyone in the movie is an anthropomorphic cat (except for a few human characters that appear in a scene). For this reason, the story is also different from the others on this page since it isn't originally about cats but the cat appearance is a stylistic choice instead.
The story is about Giovanni a solitary boy who is bullied by his schoolmates and only has one friend, Campanella. Giovanni's mother is sickly in bed and his father is away in another country/city (also the reason he is bullied because his father said that he would come back and give him an otter-skin coat, but it never happens), so he and his sister help at home doing part-time jobs. One night, Giovanni ends up, with Campanella, in a steam train crossing the Milky Way.
The plot is philosophical and has many metaphors along the story, the music is good and fits well with the theme, the animation is pretty and charming (I could compare it to a Ghibli movie). The only negative point is that the movie has a slow pacing but this doesn't ruin it.
The main point of this movie is how the humanoid cats look, they look really cute and even Campanella's moustached father is funny. In summary, I recommend it.
