Review of A Whisker Away

-this review contains mild spoilers- Now that's out of the way, this is my first review, so I'll try my best to justify my ratings. Alright, when I first saw the trailer for this movie I was fascinated with the concept of a double-life romance story. The concept of transforming into a cat reminded me a bit of The Cat Returns, a movie I enjoyed, so I decided to give this a watch. Story: 4 The plot revolves around two preteen's budding romance. Muge is a misunderstood child who struggles with her new family and life in general, retreating behind a mask to approach her crush, Hinode. Asa cat, she can spend time with him, different to how he ignores her human self. A story that on paper seems interesting and endearing. The pacing however messes with it. The movie has plot threads from the beginning when she first gets the mask, but never really explains them. The movie doesn't explore her family situation much either and just revolves sround her borderline obsession with Hinode. The climax comes late into the movie and the surreal world of cats is introduced, but never explored. Such a whimsical world is sacrificed because of the romance, it doesn't leave a good aftertaste. The resolution of the conflict feels rushed, with the threat never feeling believable or menacing. The conclusion is delivered in the *credits*, which messes up with the flow of the story.

All and all, storyline with potential that was never properly explored, no real message takeaway, and an ending that is only held together by it's idealistic romance. Yikes.

Art: 7

The art is consistent throughout the entire film. It's smooth and colorful but doesn't try anything noteworthy to make it excellent.

Sound: 6

The soundtrack is decent, but not memorable, but the ending song is a good listen.

Character: 2

My biggest annoyance with this movie is it's cast of characters. Muge is given potential to explore the concept of putting on masks but the movie never develops on that note, instead portraying Muge as an one-note character, her only motivation to do anything being Hinode. She obsesses over him the entire movie in an unhealthy manner, always pushing her feelings onto him and fantasizing about it. Hinode, the main love interest, isn't anything better. His development is superficial and revolves around Muge, despite the two of them never really developing a proper relationship. His attraction to her can be classified under exposure effect, cause the two never really have any proper chemistry despite been given multiple opportunities to. The rest of the supporting cast just serve to move the plot, the villain comes off as more of a joke than a threat, and the other side characters don't really do anything at all.
The stepmom is the only decently likable character because she's the only character that isn't a

Enjoyment: 5

I enjoyed making fun of this movie a lot.

It's never too dull, and the animation keeps it a mildly interesting watch.

Overall: 5

Not bad, not great either. They could've done so much with the cat world but it's just left there which is a huge waste.

tl;dr-

Stalker girl spends most of the movie fangirling over boy, who does absolutely nothing to make her fall in love with her, but they do anyways. Roll credits.