A Whisker Away

There's something quite wistful about the idea of leaving behind all we know from our human realm and going somewhere else. Where? For some it never really matters where, as long as it's not here. We all struggle, or will struggle, eventually, and the natural urge to want to run away to where the pastures are greener is a natural impulse. Blending that with a bit of fantasy, and a dollop of romance, and you get A Whisker Away, a delightful film that lands somewhere between the charm of The Cat Returns with the contemporary perspective of Your Name. And while it may exceed both in some ways, and fail in others, this can't take away from the absolute charm that is evoked by such a pleasant film.

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The premise is surprisingly simple. A young girl, Muge, likes Hinode. She always liked him, but it's changed recently - now she REALLY likes him. That's because, unbeknownst to him, she's been growing much closer to him as a cat. During an emotional night, when she ran away and cursed her drama-filled life, she met with a strange, Shinto, cat deity, which offered a deal: a mask that allows her to turn into a cat, where she can live a different life, and experience things from a new perspective, one not tainted by the stuff she deals with as a human. By chance, upon becoming a cat, she met with Hinode, who took her cat-self out of the rain, and had a heart-to-heart with her, expressing his feelings, and showing just how much of a total cutie he is. Now she's infatuated, not only with how great he is on the inside, but also that being a cat is her little secret method to winning him over, one that's way better than "real life."

And so the film is off! Much of the film revolves around the will-she-won't-she of Muge's feelings for Hinode, whether she'll confess to him, and what all this cat mask is about. The comparisons to A Cat Returns are basically required at this point, because the plots are so remarkably similar. The same goes for Kimi no na wa, with the strong emphasis on secret romantic connections between people who care about each other.

Where A Whisker Away shines beyond its potential inspirations is by its raw, infectious charm. You can tell the team behind the film knew they had a winning concept, and instead of trying to dive deeply into the logic of the idea, and instead of troubling itself with melodrama, it focuses on its core premise. The goal is a feel-good romp that makes you smile, and nothing more. Not to say this film isn't capable of pulling its weight either. The film's plot bounces between a number of side-characters who all have relevance, primarily to Muge (as the film is mostly focused on her perspective). The film touches on issues such as divorce, inability to be open with one another, the deep connections of friendship, bullying, the difficulties of passion projects, and the inability to connect with others without getting hurt. It's all extremely ambitious, and despite the broad array of topics the film wants to touch on, it never lets itself get bogged down in the details. This is a fantasy love-story first; the rest is secondary, and as soon as the film feels it has said enough on a topic, it leaves it be and moves on. Some might see this as the plot being a bit spacey, but for me, if the film lingered on anything longer than it did, it would have been less engaging. Again, we're here to watch two cute teens be cute together and go on a wacky adventure, not to sour the mood with the heavier subject matter.

All of this goes without even mentioning the animation and direction. Satou Junichi is a masterclass already, and it's clear he used this chance to tell a wholesome story in a very artistic way. And with a screenplay by Okada Mari, the two clearly met in the middle to make sure that the film's premise and plot doesn't overshadow the beautiful talent of the studio they were working with. Colorido is already known for some of the coolest shots of 3D/CGI animation in the business, and their skill is only growing with time. While the raw expression in the animation may not rise to the heights of Penguin Highway, the shot composition is where the film really shines. Framing is key, and allowing that animation to flow in complex shots is just showing off. When an anime can do a spinning camera shot with CG to reall bring out a feeling, it's great, but equally evocative are more simple cuts of sakuga dedicated to watching a teenage girl roll around on the ground in giddy pleasure that her crush might like her back. Character animation is particularly good; the shots of Muge's "Hinode Sunrise Attack" were super cute and the movement of bodies and skirts was a treat for the eyes. The only place where the animation struggles a bit is Muge's cat form. It's very obvious they wanted a super cute cat character design, and they succeeded, but it generally looks a bit cartoonish, especially compared to a more realistic cat in the film, Kinako. But this is really getting into opinion territory with nitpicks, once again refuses to linger on simple details like this, never letting you get complacent by inventing new ways to structure scenes and frame shots.

The music is also good. Some of the soundtrack that was meant to evoke the happy-go-lucky vibe can be a bit odd and may have a bit too much instrumentation, but the tracks dedicated to the more fantastical, Shinto-esque aspects of the film are really engaging. Not to mention that they snagged Yorushika for the two feature tracks of the song. It does feel like they had an obligatory, "Here's the scene where we focus on the cool song we licensed" scene that seems a bit unnecessary, but again, you really have to start digging around to be grumpy at these artistic choices.

Overall, if you're expecting something deep and complex, A Whisker Away isn't that. It's willing to aspire to that, and definitely wears its inspiration on its sleeves. But what makes A Whisker Away unique is that it takes those expected preconceptions of a story like this, and leans into them, letting the film have fun rather than trying to be different. Some may see this as derivative and lacking long-term vision. But I see it instead as a willingness to focus on form over function; use the clichés present in the film to produce joy and show how delightful animation truly can be when we're willing warm our chilly, cynical minds, and have a lot of fun and feel a lot of emotions. Because the only thing more pure than that is the fantastic array of emotions A Whisker Away is willing and able to evoke with a simple, earnest grace.