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This is a pretty cool take on the classic Orpheus story. It combines it well with the teenage run away/spirited away stories. I appreciate that Studio CLAP's works are short and well told. Without spoilers, I think the art direction, music, and scene selection are done very well. The story telling motifs aren't ground breaking, but a very good implementation on how a story should be told. I think it does a great job at tackling the problems that matter, and leaves the unimportant points open to interpretation. Personally, Touno and Hanashiro feel super relatable. They both really boil down how I felt as a ... teenager. Overall, I'm glad I spent some time on this one.

I personally love stories about people overcoming difficulties with a bit of romance thrown in and I in the minority here, but this movie completely misses the mark. Other reviewers will sing the praises of how well its drawn, how cute the relationship is, or how uplifting the story is, but all of these are super shallow. Overall, this movie is for people with white knight or victim complexes. The characters themselves don't necessarily fit those complexes (I could debate that for hours), but the characters are clearly designed so that people who want to white knight empathize with Tsuneo, and people who want to ... play a victim empathize with Josee. And that would be okay if it was done naturally. Like prince/princess stories are fine, but this is very heavy handed about how the characters just really feel sorry for each other and themselves. None of the characters decisions make sense and many of the plot devices that move the plot are just random. From beginning to the end the movie just feels unmotivated. Like a collection of random drama scenes that have little link between them.

At AnimeNYC, Pompo was billed with Belle (Hosoda's latest film) and boy did Pompo outshine the latest film from one of the best directors in the business. For Studio Clap's first work, this is incredible. I want to avoid spoilers, but they fully experimented with the animation style, music, and narrative. The variation in those aspects kept the viewing experience fresh throughout the film. I also love the efficiency in story telling. There are no meaningless characters because everyone has an important and justified role in the story. Despite not being a long movie, Pompo manages to pack a lot of content in. The tasteful ... use of comedy interspersed in a more serious narrative was done with what I can best describe as "good charm". It hits that hard to describe goldilocks zone. One where it isn't a meaningless joke or something overly dramatic. I love the irony that a movie in pursuit of making a masterpiece is itself a masterpiece.

This movie is super solid. This isn't going to pull the praise that more mainstream films will, but I honestly think it does a much better job. To put things in perspective I like films like Maquia, Penguin Highway, Napping Princess, Tokyo Godfathers, as well as most of the Shinkai, Hosoda, and Miyazaki films. However, I think A Silent Voice and I want to Eat Your Pancreas are extremely overrated. People who have seen other works with Mari Okada screenplays may be accustomed to a sad anime that constantly tries to get you to cry, but this is not one of those movies.

Overall, this ... is a more playful telling of Anthem of the Heart, which I also like. I think Anthem of the Heart is a much cleaner telling of the pain of a child with divorced parents, but it may be a little too emotionally draining, while A Whisker Away never really hits too hard. Since this is a lighter film, it is a bit easier to recommend to people. I have seen others say this is a bit formulaic, but I feel like that is a rather shallow unless they just think that all teenage romance/ drama are the same. The scene selection is rather different and they do a great job at making you care about the characters. There are some films that seem to be just a loose collection of scenes from the genre, but this is not one of them.

I think a film that knows how much it wants to do and sticks too it. Too often a film tries to get too large of a plot or have too many characters. I think that this cast is just the right size. Everyone except the adults have a place and get their time in the spotlight. I've seen animes where there are a ton of friend characters that don't really do much and yet somehow waste a ton of time. A Whisker Away knows who matters and sticks to it.

The visuals are generally clean and the shot selection is great. This isn't Shinkai levels of throwing art at you, but it does a good job at building a world and telling a story. The animations generally felt smooth and I never felt anything was out of place.

I think the soundtrack is solid. It does a really good job at complementing the scene. I absolutely love the ending and the credits for that matter. The strategic use of silence was also good to see (or hear).

Overall, I think this is a light film that does a good job telling the story of some teenagers and their struggle with the world.

It saddens me to see this have an average rating of 7 when there are so many poorly put together films that have a higher rating. This film does a great job at balancing the two worlds. As a kid, I was a big fan of the book Holes, and Napping Princess achieves much of the same effect. I love the parallelism between the worlds and I felt the scene selections were perfect. Each plot device was used effectively. They really let the viewer pick up on the little bits of information throughout the story and for them to come with their own interpretation, but ... it never gets too surreal. Often times with dream related films it becomes a little too surreal, but this uses the dreams just right in my opinion. The music is also fantastic. Seriously, do not miss out on this.