_A Whisker Away_
He wanted a catgirl, but he got a cat girl.
This one's on Netflix.
We open on a young girl lost in a phantasmagoric land of human-sized cats. A friendly-seeming one recognizes her distress and offers help.
Cut to the real world.
Miyo is out at a festival with her mother, who is trying to convince her to leave her father and move in with her.
Not enjoying the hard sell, she runs off. Wandering down an unknown path, she finds an otherworldly mask salesman.
Cut forward and we see Miyo on her way to school, harassing Hinode, a boy she likes.
He is obviously uninterested. She interprets his dismissal as secret interest.
Her friend Yori tells her she sounds like a stalker.
Miyo is prone to flights of fancy and false history.
Kaoru is he dad's girlfriend. Fiancée? She's already moved in anyway.
She's trying to be nice to Miyo, but Miyo would rather be left alone.
Miyo is in middle school. That's a hard age to pick up a stepmother.
Miyo has her own plans, which involve the cat mask.
When she puts it on, she transforms into a cat, which Hinode has adopted and named Taro.
The only problem is that the mask salesman is following her. He'd like her human face in exchange.
Miyo overhears some other students badmouthing Hinode. She leaps from the second story to confront them, breaking her fall with a nearby tree.
Much easier when you're a cat than a human.
Hinode has his own problems. He wants to be a potter, like his grandfather. But his grandfather is losing his eyesight and the studio doesn't pay. Hinode would like to take it over, but he's not good enough yet.
The cost is too high and the studio will have to shut down.
Miyo writes Hinode a love letter.
Unfortunately, a bully intercepts it and reads it aloud.
Critically embarrassed, Hinode turns her down hard and says he hates her.
Miyo decides she'd rather stay with Hinode even if that means she has to stay a cat full time.
The mask salesman makes off with Miyo's human face.
As far as the humans are concerned, Miyo has run away.
She sees how concerned everyone is, an regrets deciding to become a cat.
Especially when she realizes she's losing her ability to understand language.
Three days later, Miyo reappears.
Except it's not her. It's someone else wearing her face.
It's Kaoru's cat, Kinako. She was reaching the end of her lifespan anyway, and this lets her cheer up her owner, and live on as her daughter.
Win/win, right?
Miyo takes the path to the other side to find the mask salesman and get things reversed.
Kinako sees Kauro worrying about her and tries to reassure her.
The transformation will be permanent at the festival tonight.
Kinako goes to Hinode and tells him she's a fake.
She explains thus:
Miyo's mother abandoned her when she was young. Her father is getting remarried.
She can't imagine anyone ever loving her. Not even her own parents.
That's why only Hinode can save her.
Kinako and Hinode cross the invisible bridge to cat island.
In cat island, Kinako and Hinode go to the mask salesman's place, but he locks them in.
Miyo goes to the ex-human cat bar where she meets other people who turned into cats. They all regret the decision.
When the mask salesman comes for her, they gang up on him. She escapes.
Miyo and an ex-human cat spring Kinako and Hinode, and Kinako returns her face.
But it doesn't take.
The mask salesman captures Miyo and runs for the great tree, with the others in hot pursuit.
A chase scene ensues.
The final showdown happens. But, you know, the climax is really Miyo realizing that she has people who love her.
They escape!
Miyo and Hinode tell each other I love you.
During the credits, Hinode tells his mother he wants to be a potter and Miyo makes up with her mom.
That's the movie.
So, what's my takeaway?
It's pretty good.
There's basically nothing surprising here, given the setup. It never zigs when you expect it to zag, but it's a decent couple hours' entertainment.