A Whisker Away Movie Review

A Whisker Away is a decent movie with some noticeable issues.

Studio Colorido is a relatively new animation studio whose most popular work is the Mcdonald’s commercial made to promote the now-delayed Tokyo Olympics.

They were supposed to release A Whisker Away in theaters earlier this year, however the corona virus caused delays in the release. The delay resulted in Studio Colorido partnering with Netflix to distribute the movie internationally. What we got was a good movie as a whole, but it had some very clear flaws.

The Plot

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A Whisker Away is about Miyo, a girl who has a strange fascination for her classmate Kento. We don’t exactly know why she is so obsessed with him but the movie gives us the explanation and it feels like a typical anime trope.

Kento is a budding craftsman helping out in his grandfather’s tea cup making shop. They sell other ceramics too.

The other characters barely appear in the movie so they’re pretty much second thoughts.

The Acting

Hands down. I loved the acting in the film. It takes a lot to make someone shed tears when you’re only using your voice. There’s nothing else to say besides that.

The Animation

Reverse The Gender Roles

The main character of Miyo is obsessed with her guy classmate Kento. She likes to be invasive with his space among other things. For some viewers, Miyo’s actions are adorable. What if we reversed the roles though?

First of all, Miyo barely knows anything about Kento. All we know is that she likes him. Why couldn’t we get some more backstory as to why she likes him? Yes. Young Love is a thing. We put someone on a pedestal before realizing that we need to get to know them beforehand.

Let’s take a look at the situation with Kento as the guy chasing after Miyo. Wouldn’t you think that was creepy? It’s practically sexual harassment right in your face! Look. The rest of the movie is fine. I love one of the scenes where Miyo enters this world where everyone is a cat or transformed into one. There was a Miyazaki-esque vibe to it. I just can’t say the same for that one glaring point of the movie. She was practically stalking him!

If you can get over that problem, you best skip this story.

I can’t rate this movie properly. Watch the movie for a light feel-good film, but overall I wouldn’t recommend this film.