Little Tora, The Abandoned Cat is the first in the trio of Tora-chan shorts and perhaps the one with the deepest and most memorable story. I think this particular short works as a great accompaniment to such works as Grave of the Fireflies or a feature film like Come and See. The story is one about the consequences of the war and a reflection of how social order had collapsed due to the incredible calamity and casualties as a result of the unbridled total warfare. You had children losing parents on a large scale and being abandoned to rot on streets and in train stations andleft to beg at markets. At this period, society in general was being encouraged to adopt these "lost generations" and help them out in a time of need.

Familial conflict due to common tribalistic tendencies in humans was common too. The hostile little girl was a representative of this particular strain of thought. The sudden appearance of a stranger in the family, a feeling of jealousy and the undeserved fear that one's own place in this familial hierarchy might be upturned was a root of a lot of conflict. While the story tried to portray a glorious moral picture and a happy end, reality was a bit more cruel in such times of uncertainty and strife.