Neko no Ongaeshi (The Cat Returns)

High school student Haru Yoshioka is bored with the monotony of life. One day, she saves Prince Lune of the Cat Kingdom from being run over by a truck. As a token of gratitude, the Cat King sends her "presents" and invites her to the Cat Kingdom to become Lune's wife. Haru's inability to properly communicate with the cats leads to the misunderstanding that she has accepted the proposal.

As Haru ponders on ways to escape the predicament, a mysterious voice instructs her to search for the Cat Bureau. However, not long after she finally arrives at the bureau, a horde of cats swarms in and forcibly takes her to the Cat Kingdom, along with a member of the Cat Bureau. Concerned for their safety, owner of the Cat Bureau, Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, follows close behind.

The more Haru immerses herself in the activities of the Cat Kingdom, the more cat-like she becomes. To her dismay, she soon learns that, unless she can find her true self, she may become a cat permanently. Haru's adventures in the world of cats lead her down a path to self-discovery, allowing her to return as a more confident person.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

The Cat Returns is a spin-off of the movie Whisper of the Heart, and although some characters are crossed over, the stories in the two films are not related. Studio Ghibli began work on the movie as the 20 minute "Cat Project" in 1999 for a theme park in Japan. Although the theme park canceled the project, the 20 minute short film turned into a 45 minute project, and then a feature length film.

The movie was the second Studio Ghibli film to be directed by someone other than Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata. It won an Excellence Prize at the 2002 Japan Media Arts Festival. It also won the Feature Film Award in the 7th Animation Kobe Awards in 2002.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Baron: Neko no Danshaku
Parent story:	Mimi wo Sumaseba

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Baron Humbert von Gikkingen

Main

Hakamada, Yoshihiko
Japanese

Yoshioka, Haru

Main

Ikewaki, Chizuru
Japanese

Moon, Renaldo

Supporting

Watanabe, Tetsu
Japanese

Yuki

Supporting

Maeda, Aki
Japanese

Prince Lune

Supporting

Yamada, Takayuki
Japanese

Cat King

Supporting

Tanba, Tetsurou
Japanese

Natoru

Supporting

Hamada, Mari
Japanese

Toto

Supporting

Hiromi

Supporting

Satou, Hitomi
Japanese

Natori

Supporting

Satoi, Kenta
Japanese

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Staff

Suzuki, Toshio

Producer

Ishii, Tomohiko

Assistant Producer

Morita, Hiroyuki

Director, Storyboard

Yoshida, Reiko

Script

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Opening Theme

No opening themes have been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding an opening theme here.

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Ending Theme

"Kaze ni naru" by Ayano Tsuji

Reviews

Nov 2, 2023

bboy_OatsnRice

Recommended

Knowing the magnitude and reputation of Ghibli's track record I was expecting something deep, nuanced, and filled with double meanings that’d make a second viewing experience necessary (I actually saw this film twice now and plan on a third at some point soon). But to my surprise this was a very light hearted and fun adventure romp. Think of an Alice in Wonderland, but where everyone is a cat and there’s no scary acid trip montage at the end. The film follows Haru, a highschool student, who one day saves a cat from a speeding car. It just so happens that this cat is a ... prince and feels indebted to pay her back. Through various mishaps thereafter, Haru finds herself stuck in the land of cats(and a few dogs) about to be wedded to the prince (and or his father) and it’s up to gentleman (fake) cat Baron and his crew to return Haru back to her world before she stays a cat forever.

The story is fun, cute, and unique. And while the general premise is nothing too wild to write home about, it’s how the film uses it to show off the interesting world and culture of the cats and the Bureau of which Baron, Muta, and Toto are a part of. The initial scenes where we’re shown the cats walking on two feet and being able to communicate with Haru are nothing short of pure whimsy and magic. Speaking of which, the animation is superb. But I’d say the background, artstyle and overall aesthetics are just as good as the animation, if not better. The sequence where Muta and Haru are waiting for Baron to make his grand entrance with all the sun lights beaming on his house, before becoming dusk is an epic sight to behold. Any scene involving the characters soaring through, or traversing the sky in some way is where the beauty of the movie’s visuals stand out the most. As the wind passes through them, with the clouds soaring behind them in both dark and sunny skies, it’s as if you can feel the cool air fervently wisp by you as you make your way through this airborne roller coaster. The character designs were also adorable and extremely cute to look at. With my favorite character design going to the King of the cats, and my second favorite going to Baron, followed by Yuki.

The king is a slobbish, prude older man who wants Haru to himself, and his heterochromia eyes that are always adjacent to each other, along with his frizzy, scruffed up, needle-like fur makes his design possibly the most memorable. Though Baron follows suit not far behind, and though we only see him wearing two outfits throughout, it doesn’t take much to impress me with dapper outfits coupled with an eccentrically gentleman-like personality. Yuki’s design was a tried and true cute cat girl. Having nice, silky, pure white and gentle fur with a cute pink bow around her neck. Every character in this film is given a unique and memorable design even if they only serve as background characters.

With that said though, that brings me to my one and only complaint about this film. If you can even call it that. I was disappointed that we didn't learn anything more about the cat world, Baron’s Bureau, Toto the crow, lore of the world, why is Haru able to talk to cats, etc. Basically what it boils down to is that I want more dammit! This film is an amazing watch no doubt, but it leaves so many questions unanswered in this universe that I left thirsting for more. I was surprised with how fast the film flies by and still feels like this gigantic quest despite only having three different locations we visit. But hey, time flies when you’re having fun.

The fun I had throughout this experience was only enhanced by the epic score. The music in this film perfectly matches each scene and gives every moment more depth and emotion. The part that stands out to me the most in that regard is where the cat kingdom makes their way towards Haru’s place and it plays this sneaky, ominous sphinx/pharaoh/egyptian-like track as these cats walking on their two feet slyly make their way towards their destination.

Earlier I mentioned how I saw this movie twice, well I did and that’s because the way I watched this film was in theaters and it was a two day event. Day one was dubbed and day two was subbed, and though I was the only one in attendance for the dubbed day, there were a handful of others for the subbed date, my kind of people. Funnily enough, I’m surprised to announce that both the dub and subbed versions of the film have phenomenal voice acting. There’s certain characters where I preferred the original to English and vice versa. That’s not to say that I didn’t not like the other side at all, as both do a fabulous job but it’s just a personal preference. For example I preferred the English voices for the king, Natoru, and Baron but generally preferred the Japanese voice actors for everyone else.

The last thing I wanted to mention about this amazing film before heading into the summary and conclusion is somewhat spoiler related, so skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid any such things. But I found it rather amusing that Haru immediately becomes more lady-like and drops her real world crush in favor of a fake cat. Whether Haru becomes a furry and is into cats is none of my business. However I’d be lying if I said I didn’t bust a gut laughing when making this connection. And thinking a cringey joke to myself, “what pussy does to a woman”.

The Cat Returns was my first venture into the world of Studio Ghibli and I’m pleased to announce that I’m thoroughly pleased and look forward to watching more. Though it suffers from not having a long enough run time to expand on the world more, feeling more like a cute adventure than an epic journey that I felt it had the potential to be, that’s also a huge part of the film’s charm. It’s fun, sweet, and an easy watch despite telling a harrowing tale. I left the theaters twice after watching this movie and thought to one day see, “The Cat Return” for a sequel. Amazing film, I’d recommend this to anyone whether they’re familiar with anime, ghibli, and cats or not.

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Aug 19, 2023

Weebbe

Mixed Feelings

The Cat Returns/Neko no Ongaeshi review, originally written for my Letterboxd account.

The Cat Returns is one weird movie. At the same time I did find it enjoyable, largely because of how silly it was, but at the same time when it ended, I wasn't left with that much to take away from it.

A lot of it might be because of its runtime. It's just a bit over an hour long, and so it doesn't spend too much time in the cat kingdom, and a lot of it does feel kinda rushed.

However, with its beautiful animation and entertainment value, it is worth a watch, especially if ...

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Dec 20, 2021

DontReadPls

Not Recommended

What is this anime?
Girl saves important cat. Cat kingdom wants to repay her. Cat kingdom also wants her soft, nubile body? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Yes, you read that right. Although I exaggerated a bit. Can she escape from the cats with her soft, nubile body in tact?

Did I enjoy it?
Despite my risqué short description of this anime, it is a Family film. Which is partially why it is rated 4. Because I don't particularly like family films unless they have something really special going for them. This movie would be nice if I had kids and wanted to watch something with them. It has ...

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Poll: Neko no Ongaeshi Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Beatnik - Jul 10, 2008	72 replies	by gannoncannon55 »» Mar 22, 6:31 PM
Could this be one of the versions of the story written by Shizuku? InfiNitrous - Jul 14, 2023	2 replies	by animedude1287 »» Jul 15, 2023 5:38 AM
I enjoyed the barons character a lot more than i thought does that make me a furry doodlenoodle613 - Jun 18, 2021	3 replies	by Sakura_2345 »» Jan 9, 2023 10:53 AM
But what about Bunnies in another world? Kuriko-san - Apr 20, 2019	3 replies	by Alpha_Druid »» Jan 21, 2022 4:30 AM
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Yoshioka, Haru

Moon, Renaldo

Yuki

Prince Lune

Cat King

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Toto

Hiromi

Natori

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