Review of A Whisker Away

To start off with, this anime has a lot of potentials to be a really good movie. However, at where it is right now the anime feel like a comedy show that isn't even funny. The things that I feel like the anime have done well: - The story does have a backbone to it, and isn't like some other show where the story doesn't even make sense. - The soundtracks are not bad, it does go with the movie well for its context. - The art still is simple, butlikable for a romance movie.

Things that I don't like about the movie:
- There is no depth to going into the character problems, or anything related to them. If any, they are just being hinted at or tried to show the viewer, but completely fails to explain the meaning behind it for the viewer.
- Side character seems to have no actual connection to the story, they seem to just there to be there. It doesn't really feel like they are even characters, they are more like objects just being used to let the story goes. The only exception to this Kaoru (the stepmom), as we were allowed to barely explore her character trait from Kinako.
- The way this movie chose to tell the story is a mess, we were thrown in a scene where supposedly we are able to see the story is about, but the movie decided to completely throw the idea out of the window and never mention it again. We don't get to have the context of what was going in her life, or what is the problems that she is going through. The relationship between Sasaki and Hinode is the same mess, out of nowhere we learned that Sasaki like Hinode, and she likes him because supposedly she met him at the festival as a cat and something happen? We never get to know what happened or why it happened. And even in the story, suddenly Hinode befriend with her after being very cold to her (we don't even get to know why he is cold to her), because he sees her in his side? (Idk I am very confused whether it's that or just because she dropped her lunchbox) And somehow not so long after, her proposal (way too quickly) has problems and he suddenly hates her, even though it clearly isn't her fault. And he goes home and thinks about it and suddenly he thinks he loves her? (It's a wild ride that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, I don't even know when he is in which state tbh) It doesn't feel like there are any struggles in the characters' decisions even though there supposed to be. And that's only for the romance relationship between the two of them, not counting their family and or even the world at the end. Like Kinako who only appear like once or twice, and then suddenly is someone who actually crucial to the story.

*Spoiler from now on*
- There are no clarification of what actually happen in story, like why did Sasaki fall in love with Hinode, why did Sasaki's mom leave her, who is the Mask Seller (is he a god, or is his deal is like a devil's deal), what is the cat world (is it like a spirit world or is it a world that exist on top of the human world), what is with the festival (why will they turned into cat permanently on that day, what is the sacred tree), why does Hinode only turned into a half cat instead of an actual cat? There so are so many questions that are not only unanswered, it seem to be forgotten completely from the story. I am fine with questions that are left unanswered, but questions that are forgotten is a smart move, as it seem to have no significant and just seem to be there for the sake of being there.
- A lot of the soundtrack seem out of place in the scene. While I like the soundtrack because they are not bad soundtrack, the scene that they are in make no scene. An example for this is when Sasaki's mom having an argument with Kaoru, the music make it sound like a comedy scene instead of a drama scene where they need to decide how to help for Sasaki while she went missing.

Overall:
I gave it 3/10. 1 For everything they have done well, 1 for effort, and 1 for it just exist.