A Whisker Away

A Whisker Away

The factor of adorability in Netflix’s animated movie “A Whisker Away” is more than enough, although it is also quite troubling that its story of love which stems from naivety. Some may think that this is about puppy love delusions but no, “A Whisker Away” is all about cats.

In this film directed by Junichi Satoh and Tomotaka Shibayama, there is a girl called Miyo (Mirai Shida) who turns into a cat when she wants to be near Hinode (Natsuki Hanae), a young boy who does not reciprocate her feelings at the same level with her.

Nevertheless, she still can get close to him and observe Hinode making pottery with his grandfather by wearing a cat mask which immediately transforms herself into a white kitty with eyes as blue as glacier. Considering the cat as friendly stray one, Hinode even names the said cat after Taro-his dear old pet among other things that make Miyo blush inwardly.

As a human being Miyo has an expansive personality her classmates mockingly refer to her as “Muge,” short for “Miss Ultra Gaga and Enigmatic” and tends to show directly what she feels for Hinode although in clumsiness. For example, there is an incident where she performs what is known as Sunrise; during this act, Miyo accelerates towards him then crashes into his butt using hers.

After some time when mental boundaries between acting like one and being a cat become unclear to her, Muge jumps off school rooftop simply because two stories below there are bullies who were picking on them thus falling like such would lead to scratching oneself up despite landing exactly same way cats do It shows commitment which seems genuine but also dangerous since it might send wrong signals you should never suffocate your crush even if it means displaying boldness in expressing emotions.

The antagonist is a cat called Mask Seller who gives Miyo the ability to transform in a hurried first scene. He’s a big, chunky tabby with backflipping skills that would make him an Instagram sensation, if only he didn’t harvest the souls of cats (and people) instead. When Miyo decides she wants to stay as a cat forever with Hinode, or to escape her buried woes (like the trauma of her mother leaving her) Mask Seller lets her.

“A Whisker Away” is equal parts whimsy and romance, but it has plenty of lessons or reminders, depending on your age group to impart. For example, it teaches you that no matter how much your crush seems to like you more in cat form, you would not want to be a cat. And as its increasingly clever script works through Miyo’s immaturity by looking at her from the perspective of others who realize that her exuberance is its own mask for pain well, this movie is about as subtle with dialogue as Mask Seller himself is about being evil. So this film also has a faceless teacher talk during a throwaway class moment about how “we can’t ever really know someone’s full emotion,” just in case we miss the way the third act underlines it and puts it in bold later.

A fantastical world built out of serene settings and cute animals is most fun when it gets wacky And happily enough, “A Whisker Away” has some left-field ideas up its sleeve to make its tale feel more magical along the way. Rules? Secret pathways?

More! It’s like the movie was building its own furry cosplay mythology throughout. But things get especially weirdly wonderful when A Whisker Away introduces an actual real life cat into the mix; there are some cute jokes made about what would happen if cats took human form (like their lack of boundaries with humans, or how they’d sleep). And a trip to Cat Island later on has a startling appearance its towering existence looking contrary to the one in real life.

But what about the cat content in “A Whisker Away”? It’s good stuff! I haven’t even gotten to Kinako, a sassy household cat who has it out for Miyo in a way that is satisfyingly paid off later. Or Cat Island itself, and its supporting cast of cats. It’s just funny to see some of these puffy furry faces in larger form, even if they’re sitting at a bar and lamenting their similar life choices.

There’s something warmly playful about a movie that imagines a human and a cat truly understanding each other. And what if our feline friends really did hang on our every word?

Watch A Whisker Away For Free On Gomovies.