Review of A Whisker Away
FULL THOUGHTS: https://booksequalhappiness.blogspot.com/2020/08/anime-movie-whisker-away.html "The feelings of others are a mystery to us. You shouldn't assume you have someone figured out." The story was okay, but something about it felt unoriginal. I can't pinpoint what it reminds me of, but the feelings it gave me felt familiar. I enjoyed the first half of the film. The feeling of having a hard time living your life when terrible things happen a lot was relatable. The decision to become a cat, which is free from troubles, is something probably most of us want. Running away from your problems is easier. However, the latter half made me angry. The way thestory came together felt like random scenes were just put up together, and the motivations of the characters, mainly Muge's, was terrible. There was also a lack of backstories to solidify the situation and actions of the characters. The ending felt like they just decided to finish the story in the happiest way possible without thinking about how sudden it looked.
In terms of art and music, it was okay. The characters looked normal. The main thing going for them was the sceneries. If you came here because of the cats, only Taro was likable. All others felt creepy to me, especially the merchant and Kinako.
In terms of characters, only Yori stood out. She was such a beautiful person, and I hated how she was treated. Hinode was okay, but his decisions weren't consistent, and his development wasn't outstanding. I hated Muge's motivation in life. She was too focused on Hinode to think about others and the consequences of her actions. She didn't stop to think about how others would feel about what she was doing. I got devastated about her situation, and I understand what she feels, but she didn't deal with it properly. Also, many of her actions were creepy, cringe-y, and stalker-ish. She had acknowledge her issues in the end, but everything there felt like they happened too fast.
The relationship between the lead characters felt like they were forced together. This was sad for me because I liked them in the beginning. They had potential. It would've been better to me if we saw their relationship gradually develop, or if it was just implied that their relationship would develop. Also, we should've gotten more backstories as to why Muge was in love with Hinode in the first place. We just saw her being clingy to him immediately, which made things more cringe-y. For me, there's a fine line between having someone as your motivation in life and being obsessed with them, and sadly, I feel that Muge fell into the latter.