__"Hinode Sunrise is when the sun rises above the horizon and warms my soul." - Miyo Sasaki
__

Netflix has truly premiered yet another masterpiece, following Violet Evergarden. As always, they have produced an anime with an art style that portrays the story in ways others could not. It is truly one of the pieces that would be listed as one of the best produced in this season.

Story: 7/10

The story began at a festival in which Miyo Sasaki obtained a mask capable of morphing her into a cat, while fully retaining her understanding of human speech and other sorts of ability a human would wield. Miyo as her cat persona, Taro, would then find herself getting closer to Kento Hidone, a shy boy incapable of sharing his thoughts with others. In terms of the genre romance, it is certainly one of the very best released thus far, showing us why the love between the two characters was very true as they journey through the story. However, near the end, the anime took a full turn into seemingly a full-on fantasy realm of a world which placed the anime off of that mysterious vibe it offered. In the end, it shows the human problems we have in our daily life more bizarrely.

Sound: 8/10
Amazingly, the main theme of this entire anime was sung by the talented Yorushika. The rest of the soundtrack offered a nostalgic feeling to the entire anime, though the style of the song it picked seemed to lack a certain "clarity" close enough to truly depict the story as it is.

Art: 9.5/10
The entire anime has shown us how simplicity in art can change an entire view of a story. For some reason, it just did offer quite a nostalgic feeling to it. The character design was rather unique, and the background seemed to always fit the atmosphere of the story's progression. It was able to depict the feeling of confusion, sadness, or even perhaps even ambiguous.
It is also quite notable as to how they first portrayed the people around Miyo as a scarecrow when she ignored and thought of them as simply a pester. Quite a wild but a perfect representation of her feelings.

Character 8/10
The characters had a visible development as we watched Miyo and Kento slowly deal with their weaknesses, and eventually understanding their true feelings for each other. They also have a detailed backstory to them enough to make them feel almost real. Both of the characters can be relatable to many people in how Miyo is a girl who ignores her problem in hopes that it does not come into her mind again, and Kento is a boy who is just simply shy and unable to speak up for himself. They were comedic at times but never too silly to the point where it breaks their character.
My only issue is the lack of involvement of Yoriko Fukase during the entire chase for Miyo on the floating island. She was genuinely one of Miyo's most important friend, and including her in the chase would have made more sense instead of leaving her out. The antagonist of the story just seemed to be too generic, there was not a reason for them to pester the main characters other than "just because."

Enjoyment 6/10
Watching the entire anime was certainly quite the trip for me, and I enjoyed most of it. However, near the end, the story took such a turn that it made it feel out of place. I also disliked the fact that they shew the aftermath of the event through the end credits, and made it feel rather incomplete. I would have personally wished for perhaps a few scenes to finish off the anime rather than the sketches at the credits.

Concluding thoughts
I think that generally, the anime has just shown us daily issues we might face with the slight dibble of magic. I was mostly satisfied with how well thought out the story was, and how easily digestible it is. It did a great job in not only showing a love story of two characters, but also gave us a brighter view of our daily problems.