Heartfelt Netflix Anime For Cat Lovers Is Your New Favorite
On the surface, A Whisker Away is a fun tale about cats. However, underneath, it delves deep into the struggle of finding your place in the world and learning to create your own happiness without relying on others. It may be for pre-teens and teenagers, but it contains messages that even adults could benefit from hearing.
A Whisker Away
A Whisker Away is a Japanese animated movie about a strange girl who turns herself into a cat to get affection from her crush. Over time though, it becomes harder and harder to tell who she really is.
Eighth-grader Miyo Sasaki has a strenuous living situation with her father and stepmother. She’s also not great at communicating with people, often coming across as annoying or bothersome. So when she gets a crush who doesn’t seem to like her much as a human, she decides to turn into a cat to get his affections in any way possible.
Of course, this doesn’t work out for long. Not only is she unable to help her crush out with his various problems, but she’s having a hard time remembering why being a human was so great in the first place. By the time she realizes what she’s missing out on, it might be too late to change back.
The Cast And Crew
The movie comes from Studio Colorido (Penguin Highway). Tomotaka Shibayama (Spirited Away) and Junichi Satou (Cowboy Bebop) collaborated to direct A Whisker Away. The main cast includes Natsuki Hanae (Demon Slayer), Mirai Shida (The Secret World of Arrietty), and Eri Kitamura (Angel Beats!).
The Setting
If you noticed the background setting for the anime looks incredibly realistic, there’s a good reason. The entirety of A Whisker Away takes place in Tokoname, Japan. This also happens to be where one director, Shibayama, grew up and most of the scenes are set in actual places throughout the town.
The Release
On My Anime List, A Whisker Away has an average score of 7.35. It is ranked at #2513 with a popularity ranking of #523. The movie also won the “Best Animation Work Award” from the Asian Academy Creative Awards and the “Excellent Work Award” from The 24th Japanese Media Arts Festival Animation Division.
The movie had a few struggles with release, as it was meant to hit theaters in June 2020 but was delayed due to COVID-19.
Instead, Netflix bought the movie and released it directly to the streaming site in Japan on June 18, 2020. The English version was set to premiere at the same time but was delayed until June 28. Later in the year, A Whisker Away was released in Japanese theaters and on DVD in the middle of 2021.
Stream It Now
GFR SCORE
A Whisker Away is the perfect anime to watch when you want a relaxing night at home. Thankfully, it’s available to stream on Netflix whenever you’re ready to find your new favorite anime movie. It might not be the most new or exciting film out there, but it is perfect for those who want a familiar and emotional story full of comforting trops.
