Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu

GoHands going 2-for-2 with a surprisingly good comeback? What kind of world are we living in — a 2.5D animation-cum-3DCG-ready world?!

As you may (or may not) know, GoHands is the studio responsible for the atrocity that was Winter 2017's Hand Shakers, which, over the years, spawned its own series that had the exact same setting and action that never seemed to take off. That is until this season, where GoHands debuted with not 1, but 2 shows: the more popular Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta a.k.a The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses, and the less popular one, which is this show right ... here: Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu a.k.a The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today, by mangaka Hitsuji Yamada. And for both shows to really hit the mark when it comes to enjoyability, one would question: How, in the infinite hell, did GoHands manage to produce 2 shows that are both good, considering that their previous shows were mediocre at best?

The anthropomorphic theme in anime form may not have seen better days but shows like Spring 2020's Gal to Kyouryuu a.k.a Gal & Dino, Doukyonin wa Hiza, Winter 2019's Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. a.k.a My Roommate is a Cat, and Spring 2019's Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san a.k.a The Helpful Fox Senko-san, which this show has the closest similarity to, do exist. In Hitsuji Yamada's case, it's of a working woman finding a stray cat in the midst of a cold Winter day and then bringing it to her home...which is a literate rat's nest of trash and garbage so foul that I'm surprised that not one of her next-door neighbours filed a complaint against her. Seeing that this woman's room is filled with filth, this stray cat wants out, but something tells it that if his occupant's owner continues her lifestyle as is, it's not going to be good. And so, the time has come for a helper, but not in the way that you expect: the stray black cat, named Yukichi, makes it upon himself to be the masterful cat to be the solution to the owner of Saku Fukuzawa, the typical office worker who, in more of a need for a partner, doesn't have her life together!

Some might say it's definitely the supernatural realm of how Yukichi could evolve into a state akin to a human being, though we don't really need that answer, do we? All you need to know is that Yukichi is the big fat black cat who takes pride in his housekeeping skills, all in an effort to earn the coveted cat can. And to get there, he has to take care of his nonchalant owner, Saku, from day to night, covering her three meals and her small apartment like a maid who is loyal to the one who hired her. From home to the supermarket, everyone knows Yukichi and gets used to his usual shenanigans. With the smug looks of his that he gets to be masterful each and every day! From the usual cashier girl that he meets (Rio Nishina) to his idol interest with the young girl (Yume), Yukichi's life is abundant, fun and fulfilling. All that matters is how his owner Saku always treats him with both goodness and disdain; as the title goes, the Masterful Cat sometimes get Depressed all over again! But in all seriousness, Saku needs a helper to get through her life in one piece, and she should be glad that Yukichi never gave up on her as her personal housekeeping life partner.

Never did I think that GoHands would come back with vengeance for not 1, but 2 shows, but their 2.5D to 3DCG aesthetic is so well-known that you can't unsee it. In this case, it seems to be well produced, and with that fake cinematic production of a weird animation combi that's uniquely GoHands, they did a good job with the adaptation, all things considered, unlike Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta, where they knew that that show would pop more with the audience. Simplicity is best, and this anime has done that.

somei and asmi's OST theme songs as per OP and ED songs, respectively, are good, though I find the songs to be on the slow side, which is exactly what the anime is trying to achieve here. It's decent as far as the typical average Joe is concerned.

All in all, this is a show where comfort takes centre stage, and with a big cat taking care of a young woman who is struggling in life, what more could you ask for from an anthropomorphic caretaker who constantly has smug faces for confidantes but whose owner is a lazy prick whom he doesn't mind taking care of? It's simply fun entertainment, and that's all that matters.

I find this anime to be too simple. They put so much effort in the animation and design yet fail to create a story or character development. The first episode got me hooked as it looked promising yet 13 episodes later nothing really happened. The character relationships developed ever so slightly and the characters themselves haven't changed at all. I really don't understand how they decided to animate this for 13 episodes when it could have been a pretty good OVA (maybe 40 min).

As it stands, I did enjoy the first few episodes but it became tiring after the 5th or 6th episode especially with ... the soundtrack repeating over and over. I also liked the overall story and the characters. If this had been an OVA or perhaps short episodes I would have rated it higher.

Initially, I did found the premise cute but as someone who has her own cat, it didn't take too long for me to be pissed off at the storyline.

I hated every single character in this anime. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. Save for the cat. However, if there's anyone who takes the cake, it'd be the other main character, Saku, the cat owner. She is SO irresponsible that I cringe at any scene of the cat picking up BASIC HUMAN SKILLS because his owner is so incompetent they'll literally die if he didn't pick up the slack. I mean, she literally lives in a dump.

One thing ... I learned from watching anime and reading manga over the years is to never take anything too seriously, so there's a fault in my part 'cause now I am too invested and I am mad AF. There are rarely any moments I found adorable because I don't find cats picking up after their thoughtless owners adorable.

Not to mention, most of the scenes were repetitive and some of them could've been cut and we still would've gotten the point of the plot. There's also some inconsistency with certain plot points, and the pacing is so bad. The only reason why I pushed through this was for some semblance of a character development which I never really got. Instead, Saku's laziness and inability to live life was justified. Look, I don't care if she's earning six digits per month or putting a roof on the cat- this girl couldn't even crack an egg like I am so mad right now I can't even. Between that and the old school conversations her co-workers share, I cry for my dead expectations for this series because I love cats. I really do.

Might change my score to a four later but for now I'm going to give it a five just because I feel sorry for that poor cat.

(TL;DR, it's really not that serious but I took it seriously anyway so now I'm mad but ultimately who cares?)