DGFischer

I was drawn to watch A Whisker Away because of the reviews that I read about it, pro, con, and neutral.  It was fantasy working its way about something almost as fantastic, adolescent love.  It's the basic of all romance genres since it can't advance itself too much without stressing the reality.  That's why the fantasy aspect of the movie partnered well.

The skeleton of a storyline in adolescent romance:  girl (Miyo) loves boy (Kento), boy spurns girl, the chaos of rejection, girl and boy come to some resolution about their relationship, which usually means … THEY’RE IN LOVE!  What one attaches to this skeleton determines whether it is basic, bland, or noteworthy.

The key to this romance is based on three factors.  One, both boy and girl have been hit with their own set of hardships.  Miyo has been a victim of an estranged mother who deserted the family and a father who wishes to move on with his life and bring in a (gasp!) stepmother!  She is uncomfortable.  Kento's family pottery studio is in danger of closing, and it was Kento's desire to learn the craft and continue the family business.  Two, the pair possess different, even clashing personalities.  Miyo is out-going, wishing to make everyone laugh (in spite of the hurt inside her); Kento is more subdued, and it is difficult for him to express feelings.  He is more comfortable with ... say cats.  Last, Miyo has this bizarre ability to change into a cat.

This last wrinkle comes from a sinister meeting that comes in the opening scenes of the story which Miyo has with the Mask Seller, who appears as either a cat or the shiftiest of humans.  He sells Miyo a cat mask which gives Miyo the power to become a cute little kitten.  And, as Miyo is going through some tough family moments, she uses it to get out of the house.  It is as a cat that Miyo discovers that Kento loves felines, and in one moment tells Taro (Miyo's kitten ID) that he loves her.

Major plot twist of epic proportions!  Kento meant to express his love for Miyo whom he had upset the day before when expressing his hatred for her during a terribly botched love-confession.  But when Kento learns that Miyo had run away from home, he learns much of Miyo from her BFF Yoriko.  Kento then learns Miyo's delicate nature and finds she is much like him ... just stronger.  Kento joins the search to find her.

Major plot twist of epic proportions which makes previous contenders of twist-dom look downright pallid!!  Miyo has not run away but has become Taro, while her girl-persona has been taken by her stepmother's beloved cat Kakima.  Now under the power of the Mask Seller, Taro must seek her human mask and regain her girliness.  Two valuable allies come with her to a mystic city of cats, Kento, who knows he really loves Miyo, and Kakima, who knows that her owner loves her immensely and will return to her.  But first Kakima and Taro must exchange masks.

There is much to be said of the animation, but its best features come with the labyrinth of the cat city where the Mask Seller has brought Taro/Miyo to finalize her transformation into cat.  The splendid colors of brightly lit alleyways and its necessary dark corners makes it a creepy place to bring the story to a spell-binding climax, and the perfectly charming wonderland where the realization that if love be true, it will come to the fore and overcome all odds.

A Whisker Away does just this, and one does not need to be a cat-lover to enjoy the story.  The music and effects were pleasant without being ... well, it was standard fare, but blended well to be entertaining.