Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue.

Subaru Mikazuki is a 23-year-old mystery novel author, major introvert, and an awkwardly shy person. He would much rather stay home to read a book than go outside and interact with others. Further exacerbating this life of solitude, his parents tragically died in an accident many years ago, leaving him alone in the world.

One day, while giving offerings at his parents' grave, Subaru runs into a small grey and white cat named Haru, which he ends up taking home with him. Subaru, however, has never taken care of anyone else in his life—can he even take care of a cat? Haru is grateful toward Subaru, as he gives her all the food she wants—a luxury for a cat who is used to a rough life on the streets. But she notices that Subaru can't even seem to take care of himself! Will she be okay with this dunce?

Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a human and a cat who try to foster an understanding with each other.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Haru Main

Yamazaki, Haruka Japanese

Mikazuki, Subaru Main

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Oukami, Nana Supporting

Anzai, Chika Japanese

Kawase, Atsushi Supporting

Shimono, Hiro Japanese

Yasaka, Hiroto Supporting

Horie, Shun Japanese

Roku Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Hachi Supporting

Murase, Ayumu Japanese

Yasaka, Nagisa Supporting

Toujou, Hisako Japanese

Oukami, Yuugo Supporting

Nakajima, Yoshiki Japanese

Tarou Supporting

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Iizuka, Aya Producer

Shioya, Yoshiyuki Producer

Reviews

Sep 5, 2024

Jaydiman

Recommended

My Roommate is a Cat is a slice-of-life anime that tells a heartwarming story about the connection between a socially withdrawn writer, Subaru Mikazuki, and a stray cat, Haru, who unexpectedly becomes his roommate. The anime skillfully blends light comedy and emotional moments as both characters gradually learn to open up and understand one another.

Plot:
The show’s central theme revolves around mutual growth and healing. Subaru, a socially awkward and introverted author, struggles with grief and human relationships after the loss of his parents. By chance, he adopts Haru, a street-smart stray cat. What makes this anime stand out is its dual perspective: the story alternates ... between Subaru’s point of view and Haru’s, offering unique insight into both their thoughts and emotions. This narrative device adds charm and humor to the story.

Characters:
The character development, particularly Subaru’s, is one of the anime’s strongest aspects. Watching him learn to care for Haru, interact more with people, and slowly come to terms with his loneliness feels rewarding. Haru, on the other hand, is portrayed as a tough yet caring cat, and her perspective reveals how she comes to love and protect Subaru.

Secondary characters, like Subaru’s childhood friend Hiroto and his editor Kawase, bring light-hearted moments to the anime, but they are mostly supportive characters without major arcs of their own.

Animation & Art Style:
The animation is clean and pleasant, though it’s not particularly groundbreaking. It focuses more on expressing emotions than action sequences. The character designs are simple but effective, and the environments are cozy, which fits the mood of the show well. Haru’s expressive reactions, in particular, are charming and well-animated.

Themes:
At its core, My Roommate is a Cat explores themes of companionship, healing, and overcoming loneliness. It does so with a warm, comforting tone that makes it easy to watch, especially if you enjoy slower-paced, emotional narratives.

Criticism:
One of the drawbacks of the series is its relatively slow pacing. The repetitive structure of switching between Subaru’s and Haru’s perspectives sometimes feels like it drags, especially in episodes where not much happens plot-wise. Additionally, while it does a good job exploring Subaru’s development, some might find it lacks the depth to be truly memorable. It’s a show more about moments than overarching plots.

Final Thoughts:
With its mix of heartwarming moments, gentle humor, and dual perspectives, My Roommate is a Cat is an enjoyable watch for fans of slice-of-life anime, especially pet lovers. While it’s not groundbreaking, it successfully tells a touching story about human-pet relationships and personal growth, making it a solid choice for those seeking something light yet emotionally fulfilling.

Final Score: 7/10 – A delightful and wholesome anime with great character development, though it could benefit from a bit more variety in pacing and depth.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 1, 2024

Izzikf

Mixed Feelings

With a very somber backstory for the MC, the show never really picks up - it lacks the courage to investigate its own MC's 'complex' profile (the MC, in view is too shallow even though he should have been 'deep and complex').

The anime offers an interesting story telling technique of retelling the same instance of the story once from each side of the human-cat relationship, thus showing the human's perspective as well as the cat's perspective.

The writer's choice to spoon-feed the MCs' (both the human's and the cat's) conclusions and explanations regarding the show's events of both past and present, is disappointing.

Over-the-top ... slapstick 'comedy' (guys falling over by the slightest of touches or completely by themselves) combined with the human-MC heart-breaking back story, forms a distasteful mix and throw you off from ever feeling something due to the interactions presented.

Sound & Audio are fine, not noteworthy. Same goes for the drawings.

'Cuteness' factor is low, even though a cat is involved, which is an 'achievement' all by itself.

Have fun watching (:

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 4, 2020

miscellaneousBK

Not Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (2/12 eps)

I like cats and i like slice of life genre, that's why i was interested in this.
Expecting both combo of interesting slice of life and cute cats but what i found is bad story and trash depiction of cat.

Story:
It's like written by socially awkward author that has no common sense and never interacted and know anything about cats, only written with bare minimum imagination about cats after some half-ass online research and a walk in pet store.

Art:
Terrible quality for today's standard. It's like I'm watching some old 2000-ish anime.

Sound: Ok sound
...
Character:
Lack of character background. MC is terribly cheap pathetic character with no redeeming aspect that somehow turned into human-hating just because his parents were dead. He throws fit and tantrum everytime he has to interact with people. FFS.

I can say the only good thing thing about this show is the cat is cute...but the cat got the bad anime/manga syndrome that is it's given a more human-like characteristic than cat-like. I have always hated the depiction of cat/animal that is more human-like than animal-like especially in a slice of life genre.

Enjoyment: Feel terrible since start of episode 1, immediately dropped after into 2nd episode.

Overall: Baited to watch this trash due to cats, dropped due to bad everything.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Poll: Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Mar 27, 2019	93 replies	by Supremestrawhat »» Jun 7, 5:28 AM
	Poll: Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. Episode 6 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Feb 13, 2019	64 replies	by Supremestrawhat »» Jun 7, 12:00 AM
	Poll: Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jan 9, 2019	109 replies	by Supremestrawhat »» Jun 6, 10:09 PM
	Poll: Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 20, 2019	36 replies	by Tsuyo_Mika »» Mar 8, 10:04 AM
	Poll: Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 13, 2019	34 replies	by Tsuyo_Mika »» Mar 8, 7:19 AM