Review of A Whisker Away

The story of a human who can turn into a cat, a cat world and a human world... A light-heartedly unique story on the surface, this movie is truly a honest, loveable, relatable, and enjoyable movie all around. *Spoiler-free review, although I do spoil the trailers a bit, so go watch those first if you're interested* Story: 9 The story, on the surface, seems fairly interesting. It has supernatural elements, romance elements, and tells a romance story in a somewhat unique way. I kept that in mind when I started to watch the movie. Honestly, as a person who isn't a huge fan of the supernatural, I initiallyfound the story to just be a tad bit ridiculous. However, as the movie went on, the movie became both more relatable and more enjoyable. The supernatural elements were interwoven with the romance elements, and the story becomes much more realistic as it sheds light on the characters' situations. In the end, NakiNeko is a really enjoyable story, and while it has some flaws, I really enjoyed it.

Art: 9
Not much to say here. This fits my preferred artstyle completely, and while I can't give it a 10 as it isn't like over the top amazingly good, if you've seen the trailer, you'll realize what I mean in that the artstyle is both cute and beautiful at times, and it fits the tone of the movie well. Also, the cats are incredibly cute!

Sound: 10
I would be lying if I were to say that the music isn't what drew me to the movie at first. I am a big fan of Yorushika, and the insert song "Ghost in a Flower" is one of my favorite Yorushika songs. So when I heard Yorushika would be composing the music for this movie, as well as the fact that "Ghost in a Flower" would be in the movie, I knew I had to see it. And, well, I wasn't disappointed. If you are a J-pop rock fan like me, all of the insert songs and endings in this movie are beautiful. The OST fits perfectly too; it captured really well the feelings of tension, relaxation, and sadness when it needed to, and wasn't very intrusive (which is a good thing). The sound takes a back seat most of the time, and when it is in the front, it is amazing.

Character: 9
As mentioned in the Story section, I found the story to be a bit absurd at first. And this was in part due to the characters. At the start, the characters seem to be full of personality; however, some of their personalities just didn't fully make sense. However, as the movie went on, they explained why each character acted in the way they did. This was done very gradually, and about halfway through the movie I came to the sudden realization that I had started to like the characters. The character development is subtle yet effective, and I was really invested by the end. While character development started slow, I came to really relate to the characters.

Enjoyment: 10
Overall, the movie was incredibly enjoyable. I felt invested in the romance and the supernatural elements despite not being much of a fan of the supernatural genre. The connection to animals is really well done, and I came out of the movie with a giant smile on my face. It is also one of the better interpretations of school romance, as it idealizes it enough to make an enjoyable movie, while not making it too unrealistically positive. This is really where the movie shines.

Overall: 10
I'd say that this movie isn't for everyone. But, if you're a fan of the romance genre, and think cats are cute? This is the movie for you.