Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu (A Whisker Away)

Miyo Sasaki is an energetic high school girl who comes from a broken family consisting of her unconfident father and an overly invested stepmother, whose attempts at connecting with Miyo come across as bothersome. Seeing Kento Hinode as a refuge from all her personal issues, she cannot help herself from forcing her unorthodox demonstrations of love onto her crush.

While Miyo is unable to get Kento's attention as herself, she manages to succeed by interacting with him in the form of a white cat, affectionately nicknamed "Tarou" by Kento. But Miyo soon realizes that she cannot help Kento with the various problems she overhears in her cat form and is now caught between two tough choices. Will she continue her relationship with him as a cat, or will she reveal her identity and risk what they have in order to help him as her human self?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit

Background

Winner of the Excellence Award at the 24th Japan Media Arts Festival.

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:

Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Sasaki, Miyo

Main

Shida, Mirai
Japanese

Hinode, Kento

Main

Hanae, Natsuki
Japanese

Cat Store Owner

Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi
Japanese

Kinako

Supporting

Kitamura, Eri
Japanese

Fukase, Yoriko

Supporting

Kotobuki, Minako
Japanese

Kakinuma

Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro
Japanese

Tamaki

Supporting

Sakuma, Rei
Japanese

Isami, Masamichi

Supporting

Ono, Kensho
Japanese

Sasaki, Youji

Supporting

Chiba, Susumu
Japanese

Sugita

Supporting

Yoshida, Oolongta
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Takei, Katsuhiro

Producer

Satou, Junichi

Director

Shibayama, Tomotaka

Director

Yorushika

Theme Song Performance

Edit

Opening Theme

"Hana ni Bourei (花に亡霊)" by Yorushika (ヨルシカ)

Edit

Ending Theme

"Usotsuki (嘘月)" by Yorushika (ヨルシカ)

More reviews

Reviews

Jun 18, 2020

810Teams

Recommended

“You really seem to love me when I’m Taro.” - Miyo Sasaki

Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu, or A Whisker Away is a movie with the main theme of cats. Yes, many cats, a lot of cats. A light romance content with the supernatural matter involved, resulting in a perfect combination of the movie.

Story - 9/10
The story starts off pretty quickly, so watching a trailer at least once is recommended. The storytelling begins with Miyo’s family, Miyo’s relationship with her friends, and how she got a mask that allows her to transform into a cat. The overall concept can be understood within 10 minutes or ... less, giving you time to enjoy the whole movie instead of making you try to understand what’s going on. The whole concept is interesting and unique, making A Whisker Away became a must-watch. The movie also maintains the proportion of the supernatural element and the daily life element at the appropriate level, being not too heavy on one side. Lastly, I would say that the story contains both sad and happy moments, leading to a satisfying conclusion.

Animation - 10/10
Eye-friendly, tender, and cute, these 3 words describe the art perfectly. While not being as vibrant as Your Name or Tenki no Ko, instead, A Whisker Away shows its own charm of art in the usage of colors. The art matches and creates the tender mood and tone of the movie, and when combined with such high-quality scenery art, a score of 10 is obtained easily.

Sound - 8/10
The overall soundtracks are pretty standard. During my 104-minute watch, I noticed nothing outstanding, also nothing has bugged me. While A Whisker Away may not have the best soundtrack, it has the perfect ending songs, perfectly matched my music taste. Yes, 2 ending songs, both are sweet and lovely, and both performed by Yorushika. The 2nd song is kind of a surprise since the song hasn’t been released before.

Characters - 8/10
A 104-minute length might not be enough to introduce supporting characters fully, but it was able to introduce audiences the main characters to its fullest.

Miyo Sasaki and Kento Hinode, these 2 main characters are the star of the show. Miyo, or nicknamed as Muge, is introduced as an energetic girl, having a crush on Hinode, which is literally a normal guy. Miyo is being ignored and not being liked back by Hinode is not her only problem. While handling this matter, both Miyo and Hinode also have their own personal problems to deal with. Thus by not understanding each other may lead to hurting one another without knowing. This is how characters have completed the story and bringing the potential to the movie.

Enjoyment - 9/10
A Whisker Away is cute, being a unique watch, not many shows have animals as their main theme, and this movie is a success. What I enjoyed the most is the art and the theme song, which are totally charming and beautiful, matching the sweet and tender mood of the story. Overall, this movie left me an impression. My 104-minute watch is well spent.

Recommendations
If you are looking for a unique movie with a light supernatural element, romance, and eye-friendly art, then I recommend this anime, or even if you just love cats. Enjoy!

Open

Gift

Jun 18, 2020

Agent_Redacted

Mixed Feelings

Whilst A Whisker Away had a strong premise it didn't really take me by surprise. In fact, I think that it was way lower than my expectations before I watched it.

A Whisker Away's story and concept felt like something Disney would make but instead of their generic cartoony art style per se it's anime art style instead. There's also something highly unappealing about a romance portrayed by cats. It feels too generic. It feels like I've seen this too many times before in the past, I just can't be bothered to see anymore.

Other than the story, the art is exceptionally beautiful and reminded ...

Open

Gift

Jun 18, 2020

Harisrox

Not Recommended

"Wow, a work from Junichi Satou (Aria, Tamayura) and Mari Okada (MSG:IBO, AnoHana, Lupin III: Mine Fujiko), must be great!" These were my initial thoughts about this movie before watching it until my hopes were shattered when I actually got to watch this movie.

Story 3/10
A super clingy, full of energy girl Miyo Sasaki, nicknamed "Muge" who's in love with her classmate Kento Hinode, her indefatigable tries to get the attention of her crush were in vain so she thought of becoming a cat to get close to her crush which later turned out to be a deadly mistake because she had to throw her humanity ...

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Flingers watch (Random Movies)

by Kiridoo

25 Entries · 16 Restacks

Vocaloid & Utaite

by coffeedrops

46 Entries · 3 Restacks

Quality Standalone Romance Films (Part 1)

by BlackRose_1210

50 Entries · 200 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

View All

More news

Recent News

PV Collection for June 8 - 14

Here is a collection of promotional videos (PV), television ads (CM), and trailers for the last week. This thread excludes videos that have already been featured in ...read more

Jun 14, 2020 2:56 PM by Snow | Discuss (1 comment)

'Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu' Reveals New Preview, Supporting Cast

The official website for the original anime film Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu (A Whisker Away) announced five additional cast members on Friday. A new preview w...read more

May 29, 2020 12:09 AM by ImperfectBlue | Discuss (3 comments)

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) KANLen09 - Jun 18, 2020	170 replies	by JVskunkape »» Jan 26, 2:30 AM
Poll: should i watch? mrjdko - May 7, 2022	36 replies	by ghostwithkelp »» May 11, 2022 1:26 PM
How's the romance? BalBeera - Mar 19, 2021	14 replies	by Stacias »» Apr 30, 2022 12:05 AM
Who is that brown tabby cat? Karren_ - Jun 18, 2020	13 replies	by Sigmar-Unberogen »» Dec 4, 2021 1:46 PM
About mask seller..... YagamiYash - Jul 25, 2021	4 replies	by Sigmar-Unberogen »» Dec 4, 2021 1:42 PM

Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Sasaki, Miyo

Hinode, Kento

Cat Store Owner

Kinako

Fukase, Yoriko

Kakinuma

Tamaki

Isami, Masamichi

Sasaki, Youji

Sugita

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-