Movie Review: A Whisker Away (2020) on Netflix
A Whisker Away is a delightful anime story about Miyo, a young high schooler who gushes her affections for the boy of her dreams (Hinode) but only wins their returns when she dons the genuine disguise of a cat. The disguise is assumed when she puts on a mask given to her by a large cat who encourages her to live full in the disguise, knowing once she accepts the disguise as her true identity the mask will assume her face and the cat can assume her human identity and live the longer human life.
It turns out Hinode loves the cat, but he finds Miyo's human acts kind of strange. So he pours on the affection, feeding the cat and spending a lot of quality with it. Meanwhile, Miyo's home life isn't so swell, living with her father and step-mother, who she doesn't appreciate. It looks like life as a cat is really the ideal life for Miyo. She tells the big cat she guesses she would like to remain as a cat and he takes off with the mask, much to Miyo's surprise, and she has to chase him down to try to find it. As a result, Miyo goes missing and everyone in her life, whom she has come to assume doesn't care about her, goes searching for the missing curious girl.
As with most Japanese anime, A Whisker Away is rich in natural imagery, the story coming to life in their use of amazing lifelike art of trees and grass and flowers and clouds, and the characters and animals have a unique lifelike movement. Yet much of the story is filled with exotic fantasy elements and animals with truly fantastic abilities and attributes. This film reminds me much of the works of writer, director, producer, and artist Hayao Miyazaki, especially The Cat Returns and My Neighbor Totoro.
If you are a fan of anime, you should enjoy this film. I would rate A Whisker Away A for Great Anime.
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