Name: It Never Changes, And It Never Should
Item: Cat's Eye (2025)
Rating: 70
Author: RandomPerson9348

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Cat's Eye (2025)

a review by RandomPerson9348

RandomPerson9348

3 months ago·Jan 30, 2026

/ 100

THE OPENING AND ENDING

The visuals to the opening of this show are horrible. No need to build up to it at all - that's it. They are some of the worst OP visuals I have ever seen and have zero cohesion to them. The editing is weak and the storyboards are average at best.
The visuals to the ending of this show are some of the greatest I have seen in any anime ever. Once more, no build up to that. There is real vision, passion and a perfect art style that grabs you from the very first frame. It tells an entire story while sticking to the near-perfect gimmick of sticking to Hitomi's hand as she goes about her double life.
Why is this so?
Well, I don't know if it is on purpose or not, so I won't pretend like I do. But it does show something that I highly believe in. This show presents itself as average because it wants to. Everything is done the way it is because Cat's Eye does not work any other way. Pairing the opening visuals with Ado's frantic, high-energy "Magic" makes it feel like they inherently misunderstood the song. The visuals for her melodic, intoxicating "Cat's Eye"? Absolute perfection. It almost makes you want to ask what went wrong the first time around. But only until you understand that nothing went wrong at all. They've just been playing the long game.

AI EX MACHINA

Ai Hisugi is this show's answer to everything ever. The near-omnipotent teenage genius who always has an invention ready to get her sisters out of trouble. It is almost comedic to the point where this show main genre should be considered comedy, and not action or drama or romance. But even more than that, the show itself is its answer to everything ever. When the characters have no way to get out of a situation, the story just makes up a way for them to be free.
In the final episode, for just a second, you think that they have been caught. That the jig is up and Toshio's going to get them. And the Cats think so too. They're scared and lost. But then...there's just a one-way mirror that stops him from seeing them. Remove the mirror? Well, Toshio closes his eyes because its his gift to them for saving his life. The show always finds a way to get them out of trouble.
And if you don't understand it, then it is infuriating. It is just the formula of a decades-old manga which could not risk ending, so found stupid ways to keep going. But when you do understand it, that formula becomes magic. Because the show is not about them getting caught at all. It is not about how they'll get out. We all know they will. What this show is really about is Hitomi struggling to keep her relationship alive because she's just that good at getting away it.

THE ROMANCE

You know that feeling when you want things to change? To really, really change? Somehow, they never do when you want them do. That is Hitomi's entire character. She cannot just let go of her mission, but she also does not want to lose her love with Toshio. And since she can literally never get caught, nothing ever will change.
Toshio always remains blinded to her truth, and Hitomi always lives in the fear that he might find out one day. And yet, day after day, they continue to go out with each other with the occasional bumps in between. There is something beautiful to that very consistency. The romance in Cat's Eye does not only fight back against who the characters are, but the very wish of the viewers to see progression.
The story knows that true progression would require that romance to stop. And it really does not want it to. Toshio continues to remain oblivious and Hitomi continues to be the greatest escape artist since D.B. Cooper because they just love each other that much. When you start realizing that, you start wishing that things should not really change at all. That as long as things are fun and entertaining, you do not need to go further.
Why not stay in the moment, find a way to fool Toshio one more time and continue the status quo if it means that he and Hitomi get another happy date?

THE OPENING AND THE ENDING, REPRISE

That brings us back to the opening and ending. Why are they so weird, then? Why does one have no effort in it at all, while the other has some of the most beautiful, meaningful and heartfelt animation this show has?
It is because the opening represents Cat's Eye, the thieves. They are corny, campy, badly written and operate on the rules of absolute plot armor. The song is loud and fun and real, but the visuals aren't. They show the version of the Cats that must be maintained to keep things fun. This is the version of the Cats that they present to everyone else.
The ending, on the other hand, represents Cat's Eye, the cafe. The full music video to the song only sells this further. It is not about the art or the guns or the escape sequences. It is about one hand belonging to one woman. She makes coffee for her boyfriend with it, writes warning notes to the police, then uses the same hand to throw grenades. It is Hitomi's reality. A farce she is holding onto with absolute precision to keep her relationship alive.

I believe I have gone on for long enough now. This show is absolutely worth watching. Because the animation being average doesn't matter. The background music being average doesn't matter. The presentation having minimal effort doesn't matter. Because being average is the point. Maintaining the status quo is exactly what Cat's Eye thrives at. Instead of asking more, try looking at what is.
Any less, and it would be unwatchable. Any more, and it would be far too high-budget to maintain this never-ending story. But as it is right now? Maybe we can allow Toshio and Hitomi to have another date before she goes to steal that painting.