I just...where do I even begin with A Whisker Away? The only positive thing I can say is that the animation is good. Studio Colorido did a great job. But I absolutely hate everything else.
Muge is quite possibly one of the worst protagonists I've ever seen in an anime. The movie attempts to give her a tragic backstory through her parents' divorce, but it doesn't make me sympathize her all that much, especially when that trauma manifests in attachment issues that lead her to turn into a cat and unhealthily stalk her crush. Even in human form, Muge is obnoxious to Hinode and harasses him day in and day out. There's a crazy double standard occurring here because I know if the gender roles were reversed, there would be far fewer fans of this movie.
And yet, Hinode's feelings toward Muge gradually become more mutual during the course of the movie. Why? I have no idea. If I learned the girl who harassed at me at school was turning into a cat in the afternoon and visiting me, I don't think I'd be so cool about it. But Hinode barely bats an eye. Mostly, he seems to be guilted into a relationship with Muge. Hinode's feelings never seem to change as the result of an interaction between himself and Muge. Rather, they only seem to become romantic when he's at a distance from her and learning about her through others, for example, when Muge runs away or through Kinako when she's explaining the difficult situation Muge is in. The relationship never feels authentic or earned. Rather, it feels grossly forced onto Hinode.
The pacing of this movie is all over the place. It rises and falls but never seems to stabilize. Even the climax, which you would expect to be faster-paced, feels weirdly drawn out over the last 40 minutes.
The fantasy and worldbuilding elements also feel underdeveloped. I fully support not overly explaining your world, but there's barely anything to go off of. There's a magical cat-human mask seller who gifts Muge the mask, but that interaction is never laid out in explicit detail, and we never even really find out his place in the cat-human world, let alone his name. The movie hints that many of the cats in the cat world were once humans, but if that's the case, why has no one teamed up against the mask seller yet? And then what's the ratio of cat-human to cats in the cat world? Because Kinako, the housecat living at Muge's father's house, seems familiar with the world but clearly isn't a human. The world feels like a cheap rip-off of the Cat Kingdom from The Cat Returns (a movie which I also hated), but I can admit the worldbuilding was better explained in that movie.
I honestly thought the only interesting character was Kinako. Her jealousy toward Muge for receiving motherly attention from Kaori and the actions she takes to prevail over Muge would have made for a much better story than Muge stalking her crush until he finally gives in and agrees to be with her. I felt more sympathy for Kinako during her one-minute backstory than for all of Muge during the movie. How is it that a short story about a housecat wanting nothing more than to prolong her life so she could loving her owner resonates more with me than Muge dealing with a broken household?
A Whisker Away is one of the worst anime movies I've seen in a long time. Its protagonist is heavily unlikable, the romance is forced, and the worldbuilding leaves something to be desired. I can't believe I'm saying this as I hate both movies, but somehow or other this film is the Antichrist to The Cat Returns.
