review: a whisker away

In this anime movie, a teenage girl finds that becoming a cat helps her learn empathy and agency

By Naylii Sophea

I was very excited when I heard that this anime is going to be on Netflix, I remembered when I accidentally watching its trailer 3 months ago and to be honest, I almost forgot about it until I saw the notification on Netflix. Basically what makes this anime more interesting was due to the fact that a high level of whimsy is guaranteed from a story about a girl who gains the ability to turn into a cat, mostly for the sake of getting closer to her crush. But A Whisker Away isn’t just interested in romance. The film, directed by Junichi Sato and Tomotaka Shibayama, is also a coming-of-age story, as the characters learn how to communicate with each other and reckon with emotional pain.

A short synopsis for this anime, Miyo (Mirai Shida) is known to her high school classmates as Muge, short for “Miss Ultra Gaga and Enigmatic.” She certainly lives up to that nickname. When she spots her crush, Hinode (Natsuki Hanae), the world becomes pink, and all other people become scarecrows. Rather than just calling out to him to say hello, she flings herself at him rear-first, butt-bumping him in a move she calls the “Hinode Sunrise Attack.” Though he does his best to ignore her, she’s undeterred, swooning over the few words he does toss her way.

That behavior accounts for “ultra” and “gaga,” but not “enigmatic.” Her classmates have tacked the descriptor on because she shares so little of her home life. Her complications there are clear from the film’s beginning, as Miyo experiences a dream (or is it a flashback?) of her younger self wandering among anthropomorphic cat people. Abruptly, the scene shifts to Miyo’s present-day self arguing with and fleeing her mother, who won’t stop asking Miyo about her father’s marriage to a new woman. Miyo’s reticence and frustration are a stark contrast to her bubbliness at school, raising the question of how much of the Muge personality is real, and how much is an act to help Miyo cope with her fracturing family.

Taking on a new life as a cat seems like a perfect opportunity, and it’s granted to Miyo by a mask salesman who appears as she wishes aloud that she could escape her life. On top of that, Hinode actually seems to like her when she’s in feline form. Dubbing her “Taro,” he pets, feeds and confides in her. As it turns out, Hinode is having some trouble at home, too.

Though Hinode and Miyo’s romance drives most of the film, it’s also the least interesting thing about A Whisker Away. Beginning with the fact that Miyo’s conduct toward Hinode could constitute harassment (at one point, she even asks him to record a voice memo for her, saying it’ll give her amazing dreams), their relationship feels thin, especially in comparison to the more nuanced portrayals of their respective home lives. The film takes a subtler approach to show Miyo’s feelings about her stepmother and mother, revealing them mostly in passing moments, such as how polite Miyo is to her stepmother while ending or escaping their conversations as quickly as possible.

The theme of trying to escape sad feelings becomes more complicated when Miyo loses her human face after a particularly bad day and is told that unless she retrieves it soon, she’ll remain a cat forever. In other words, her transformations aren’t a harmless recourse, and the effects ripple out to her family and friends, and to Hinode, too.

The summery animation in this anime helps to keep the story from feeling too grim and bored with a dreamy haze of action and softness of the character. So if you want to know more about this anime, don't forget to watch it and feel free to share with us your favorite anime so that we can binge-watching together! :)