There's a lot to like about A Whisker Away.
The animation is pretty good throughout, it has many sweet moments and explores important themes like hiding, and eventually accepting, who you really are in ways that work very well, despite being not very subtle.
However, I feel like a lot could have been cut out of the story. The side characters are not interesting at all, and most of the drama between them feels unnecessary. Our main couple is basically a pair of walking clichés. We have the overly optimistic lovesick protagonist, and the quiet love interested who seems cool on the surface but is actually just hiding his emotions and problems underneath. Both of them are fine, but they're just not particularly interesting to follow.
The fantasy elements are also fine, but they're basically just copied from The Cat Returns, which may not be my favorite Ghibli film, but which admittedly uses those elements a lot more effectively.
All in all, it's nothing new or groundbreaking, but it's nevertheless a perfectly fine little romance story. The ending left me satisfied, despite the shortcomings of the rest of the film.
