CaptainSlow

What I Liked: The lucious yet wistful theme song. Sound design and soundtrack are both perfect, cute and playful when they need to be, and the insert songs aren't too intrusive. The insert song "Tori wa Tori ni". Chibi-neko and Raphael's designs are lovely, and the whole "cats look like humans to themselves, but look like cats to humans" thing was an interesting choice. All the different little plot points, such as Tokio's guilt and the search for Persia, that seem to be as wandering as Chibi-neko herself.

What I Didn't: Tokio's mum can seem abrasive and hysterical (a by-product of the time, maybe) and Raphael can come off as a little creepy. It’s rather slow paced, even for a 90min movie. YMMV on the second half, it does feel like it meanders a bit.

Final Verdict: Simple but adorably whimsical, Star of Cottonland is a delightful family-friendly film that's just as worthy of praise as any Ghibli or Pixar film. Sure, the plot begins to wander in the second half much like the protagonist herself and Tokio's mother can be unrealistically eccentric, but this doesn't stop this movie from being a lovely way to spend 90 minutes.