(Jmovie Anime Review) A Whisker Away (Netflix)

Original Title : Nakitai Watashi wa Neko o Kaburu (泣きたい私は猫をかぶる

Known as: Wanting to Cry, I Pretend to be A Cat

Director: Junichi Sato, Tomotaka Shibayama

Writer: Mari Okada

Produced by: Studio Colorido, Toho Animation, Twin Engine

Broadcast: Netflix, June 18, 2020

Voice actors:

Shida Mirai - Sasaki Miyo/ Muge

Hanae Matsuki - Kento Hinode

Kitamura Eri - Kinako

I'm so lucky to have watched this movie as soon as it's released in Netflix. Well, for your information, I just subscribed this channel for the past 3 months. 😂

When I read some synopsis about this movie, they mostly talked about a girl who is in love with her classmate, but does not get any notice. To get attention from him, she turns to be a cat. Oh, it's a love story of teenagers, I guess, it's as simple as that. Therefore, I invited my 8 year old niece to watch it with me. However, the storyline is not as simple as what the synopsis said.

Sasaki Miyu or Muge is desperate to see her parent's separation. Her mother is a bit reckless to abandon her so she lives together with her father. Her father just married a younger woman who lives together with them. Miyu always thinks that she doesn't get any attention from either her birth mother or father.

At school, she has a crush on Hinode Kento, a quiet boy who never gives her attention. No matter how Miyu tries to capture his heart, she always ends up cheering herself.

One day, she visits a summer festival, and finds a cat mask seller who sells cat mask. Never has she thought that she could make use of the mask to escape from her family desperation, more importantly, she could get closer to Hinode!

Miyu with her cat mask

Somehow, Miyu's pose reminds me of Gin 😊😊😊

The cat mask has a magical power to turn someone into a cat whenever she wants to. Every night, Miyu wanders around Hinode's house only to get close to him. Hinode is apparently fond of cats, and he named Miyu cat as Taro. Taro is always there for Hinode, something that Miyu human cannot do. Little has Miyu known about Hinode at home. Apparently, Hinode has some family problems, dealing about his future study and other stuff. That's why, Hinode seems to care less about his surroundings since he's occupied with his own problems. Miyu's attention to him is like wind blows.

Miyu realizes that she gets lucky to be a cat; she could wander around without being noticed, she could escape from home when she feels uncomfortable at home, and most of all, Hinode loves her as a cat. That's why, when the cat seller comes to her, without a doubt she told him that she wants to be a cat forever. What happens next is creepy as hell, her human face falls off. And the mask seller took it away. He said that, when the time comes, Miyu only has a little time to get back as human!

Well, I remember when I was a kid, every time I felt angry to my mom or my sisters, I always wanted to escape from my house. I even had a plan to stay at my friends' house to see whether my parents or my siblings would look for me, or would feel lost when I was not around. 😂😂. I think, Miyu trying to escape from reality is a common feeling for teenagers, not to mention having parents' separation. The idea of being a cat might be because Japanese people are fond of cats. I found a lot movies and dramas having a cat as the theme.

Miyu pretending to be fine in front of her friends but turns to be uncomfortable around her own family is kind of torturing herself. It’s only time when it’s going to explode. The explosion happens when she finally decides to be a cat forever since she thinks that she’s not a happy human, but at least she can be a happy cat around Hinode.  Hinode, on the other hand, pretends to be the one with the biggest problems ever that he cares less of Miyu’s attention. Have you seen such people around you? A lot! Not to mention people who try to get public attention in social media. What we can do is, don’t ever measure your problems with others. When Hinode finds out about Miyu, how would he feel?

This movie is really hilarious, especially if you watch it together with your kids or nieces. But there were time I should tell them that there is what we call as parents’ separation and that there would be someone strange living with you. My nieces really love Taro but despise the mask seller. Well, who wouldn’t love the cute Taro with its sparkling eyes? Who wouldn’t despise the big greedy cat like The Mask Seller? I think the idea of knowing each others’ problems is delivered well. Don’t judge others like the way they behave.

Last but not least, I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves anime especially cats and slight teen romance.

A Whisker Away trailer

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