A Whisker Away (Jun'ichi Satô / Tomotaka Shibayama; written by Mari Okada) [Archive]

Philip J. Fry

06-19-2020, 02:38 AM

https://i.imgur.com/pIJ06ha.png

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXc9DVfLTGo

IMDb (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11958344/) / wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Whisker_Away) / RT (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_whisker_away) / Metacritic (https://www.metacritic.com/movie/a-whisker-away)

Official website (https://nakineko-movie.com/) / On Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/mx-en/title/81281872)

Philip J. Fry

06-20-2020, 01:28 AM

This was really good. This is the story of Muge, a super energetic and exuberant girl (who sometimes borders into obnoxious territory) who has a not so subtle crush on this quiet guy (Hinode) and to win his heart, she turns into a cat to spy him and on a superficial level, it has all the marks of other familiar anime romantic comedies with fantastic elements, specially when the film fully leans into said elements, culminating with a chase in a fantastical world and a sketchy magical cat. However, what separates this film from the usual fare is the the attention to our leads, finding several ways to deconstruct them, Muge in particular.

She is a girl who, thanks to a difficult divorce between her parents and subsequent bullying that left her as an outcast, constantly presents a cheerful facade to hide deep feelings of depression and self hatred, preferring to often indulge in fantasies between her and Hinode instead of facing her issues head on and when this facade breaks, it hits (there's a particular scene involving a letter and a confession in the middle of the film that's both very relatable and downright devastating). It also makes it difficult for her to express her affection towards Hinode in healthy ways and leaves the guy at times mostly confused about said affection all the while he spends most of his time quietly brooding because he cannot tell his parents he wants to be a potter (and they are closing their workshop).

All of this is presented with the usual high-quality animation present on most modern anime movies, featuring great use of color and painstakingly detailed backgrounds, precise framing and expressive characters. And the cat world is so much fun to watch.

Final thoughts: On equal turns wacky, fantastical, melancholic and honest, A Whisker Away is a raw and sometimes emotionally brutal, but ultimately rewarding film and one of the better animated films of the year so far.