Neko no Ongaeshi

I watch this movie right after Whispers of the Heart, and I can not express how disappointed I am.

The plotline is not very complex and is relatively easy to follow. Although it is not delivered very well, the message is very meaningful ("be yourself").

The art is distinctive compared to other Studio Ghibli movies, which can be quite refreshing if you're binge-watching the movies.

The worst is probably the characters, especially the protagonists. Some of my favourite characters are the crow and Muta which are only comic reliefs. There's no character development and the characters hardly ever struggle to reach their goal. Throughout the ... movie, the main fem.character proceeds to be a damsel in distress dreading to be save by her prince Charming. You can hardly feel any chemistry between the love interests (which, to be honest, absolutely aches me) and the whole thing (as mentioned in another review) feels like a teen fic of Whispers of the Heart.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone. It is, at least in my opinion, a big waste of time. If you want to watch a wholesome but not too complicated Ghibli romance, I highly recommend Whispers of the Heart instead.

This review does *NOT* contain spoilers.
Watched in Sub/Dub: Dub

Story: 4/10
High schooler Haru Yoshioka makes the grave mistake of saving a cat from becoming roadkill. It turns out that this cat happens to be a prince in a magical cat kingdom. To reward her, the King essentially terrorizes Haru and demands that she marry his son (the prince she saved). As she panics, a voice speaks out to Haru and tells her to find the Cat Bureau. The Cat Bureau is made of exactly one suave cat figurine named Baron, a grumpy cat named Renaldo, and a snarky crow named Toto. During their first meeting Haru ... is kidnapped by the kingdom’s henchcats and the Cat Bureau rushes to her rescue. The story is extremely simple. While I wouldn’t describe the setup as bad, it’s also not particularly attention-getting either. Overall it just comes across as boring.

Art: 1/10
The background art was very nice. The character design and animation was awful. All the characters are outlined in thick black lines and are incredibly simple which clashes a lot with the detailed backgrounds. Sometimes the linework was even shoddy?? I don’t even know how that’s possible but I saw it a lot on different characters’ facial features. The style of the characters doesn’t feel Ghibli at all, it’s more like off-brand Disney in the 70s.

Sound/Soundtrack: 1/10
I didn’t even know there was a soundtrack to this movie until I looked it up after watching it. So yeah, all the music is just boring background music that’s not even good.

Character: 4/10
Haru is boring. The Cat Bureau crew is pretty entertaining. The King is creepy but has some funny lines. Some people really like Baron but considering how cool he could be, he falls pretty flat in this movie.

Enjoyment: 3/10
I laughed while watching because of how absurd this movie was but I think it’s pretty awful. Some people think this film is creepy/disturbing but I just think it’s plain bad, it evokes basically no emotion out of me. The bad art distracted me the whole time. It’s really wild to think this was made a year after Spirited Away and just two years before Howl’s Moving Castle.

Overall: 3/10
If you don’t have to watch this, just skip it !! It’s not worth anyone’s time. Though it is kinda funny in a weird way.

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 ... a running story that keeps you engaged as you watch her journey through the cat kingdom.