Cat's Eye

Can’t get tired of phantom thief stories à la Lupin III or Kaito Kid? Cat’s Eye has 3 good looking sisters pursuing this infamous profession to find their missing father.

73 mostly independent episodes – Sometimes a bit repetitive but always with some nice action, comedy and eye candy especially for the male audience. The overall plot, the reason why the three Kisugi sisters are stealing art and jewels gets somehow overshadowed most of the time by the frequent burglaries and the hide and seek with the police. But for me this wasn’t that much of a problem. I still enjoyed these easy going funny ... episodes.

The trio sure is daring running a café right in front of the police station with the name of the criminal group… Wearing masks or disguises is also not necessary if you are as good as them… And on top dating the detective in charge of the investigation… Hilarious. Shows like this one must be a nightmare for the Japanese police!

Knowing that this show is from 1983 it looks very good and the animation is all right.

Nice show!

I rarely write anime reviews, but this one is so long that I had to compile my feelings on it. Not only is it one of the longer ones I've watched, it's also the oldest one I've watched. It's also one of the most realistic, meaning I was stepping outside of my comfort zone to watch it. The realism is what might make Cat's Eye seem boring at first, but a lot is done with the realism to set up tense environments. The three main characters, collectively known as Cat's Eye, are criminals, but they're definitely the nicest criminals compared to any of the others ... in the show. Different gangs and crime bosses with authentic personalities are portrayed in many of the episodes, serving as the bad half of the crime spectrum, whereas Cat's Eye serves as the good half. The darker criminals often make this anime feel like a modern day crime drama.

But Cat's Eye, a trio of sisters, are the recurring criminals. From oldest to youngest, there's Rui, Hitomi, and Ai. Rui, who was my favorite of the three, is the beautiful one. She remains clearheaded in every situation, and comes up with rational ideas. Hitomi, who's usually the one to steal the art, is more of an anime girl you'd find in modern anime. You can see this through her frequent interactions with her boyfriend, who I'll get to later. Ai, unlike her older sisters, is still a kid going through school. However, she's advanced enough to create interesting gadgets for Cat's Eye to use in their heists. She has a lot of personality that brings life to this anime.

Every episode has Cat's Eye stealing a piece of art, usually one of their lost father's masterpieces. Each art piece is guarded or hidden in a different way, forcing Cat's Eye to come up with clever strategies in order to secure them. This is done enough to perfectly classify this anime as one of the more unique genres: tactical.

Of course, what are criminals without police to arrest them? Or at least, try to arrest them. This is what the Inunari Police Station always attempts to do, and what they always fail to do, despite how close they come to actually catching Cat's Eye. The Inunari Police Station consists of three main members: Utsumi Toshio, Mitsuko Asatani, and the Chief. Utsumi and Asatani are polar opposites in every way, though they often have to work together. Asatani is typically the efficient, serious one. Only in the very latest episodes do we see her character start to unwind and unfold. Whereas, the lazy and clumsy Utsumi is often the subject of many of the anime's jokes. The worst member of the police trio would have to be the chief, as he often does nothing but yell and call Utsumi and idiot. Fortunately, later on down the line, we see that the chief actually cares for Utsumi, which is how his character got redeemed for me.

Catching Cat's Eye wouldn't just be bad for Cat's Eye. It'd also be bad for Utsumi too. As it turns out, Utsumi and Hitomi are dating. Yet, Utsumi's never able to put 2 and 2 together to realize that Cat's Eye and Hitomi are one and the same; Hitomi as Cat's Eye usually hides her identity just with the pure night itself. While this aspect of the story does make it stand out, I personally find it ridiculous Utsumi rarely had any suspicions of his girlfriend. But this element does work in the times when Utsumi and Cat's Eye are trapped in the same place, and despite their rivalry, have moments of bonding. This makes Utsumi close to both sides of Hitomi, even if one is his worst enemy.

If you can get into this anime, it's worth watching. It may be repetitive in one aspect, but there were still individual episodes with stories that helped them stand out. Even the ones that don't stand out are extremely well-written, plus they do have other criminal organizations, or individual crooks, that serve as main plot points and prevent everything from just being cat-and-mouse between the Inunari Police Station and Cat's Eye. It should also be noted that the second half of the anime is a major improvement in terms of enjoyment. The episodes were more varied than before. Most of my favorite episodes are found near the end of the anime; they have the most unique stories, as well as relatively better pacing. But regardless of the part of the anime you're in, you're always greeted with a soundtrack that fits the stories well. The music that plays during police chase scenes, for example, couldn't be any more appropriate.

I found that this anime would often try things that ended up working out for it. It does take dedication to be able to watch through, but the brilliant writing is always there, just waiting to be appreciated.

I wish there was more.

The story line to Cat's Eye is a pretty simple premise. You'd think it would get old quick, but honestly, the premise doesn't wear thin until you get very late into the show. The thing about Cat's Eye is that it's only linked by one element and unfortunately, I don't remember that element ever being dully resolved. It ends as if there were more to come, but still manages to feel like a proper wrap up. In other words, there aren't any huge plot lines left open, just that there isn't a full resolution. Nonetheless, the shenanigans and near misses that ... Toshi and Kisugi sisters get into are entertaining.

The art is good. It feels era appropriate and I genuinely enjoyed it. There are some odd things like the eyes always seem to be crossed. Not a huge bother and actually becomes charming after a few episodes, but does seem odd. Otherwise the art style closely resembles Scooby-Doo from my childhood, but even better.

The sound was great. Both intros were fun to listen to and very 1980's as were the outros. The background music was a 1980's stylized swing/jazz and was always used appropriately and is great to listen to.

Characters are well developed and acted. I never got tired of seeing the characters nor did I feel annoyed by any one character. I'd like to see more interaction between Toshi and Hitomi, but the limits we get were more because of the end of the series.

Overall I enjoyed the show, although once you get in to the last 15 episodes or so, I found that it became a bit more tedious to watch. It felt as if much of the scenarios had played out and that story lines were merely being wrapped up. Despite this, I think this is a great show from the 1980's and I highly suggest it.