Who among us hasn’t dreamed about being a cat — trading work, school and all those pesky social entanglements for carefree naps in the sun? “A Whisker Away” brings that dream, and all its unintended consequences, to animated life.
Making the transformation to feline form is Miyo “Muge” Sasaki (Mirai Shida), a middle school student whose strained relationships with her divorced parents have left her feeling unloved. On the night of a festival (these things always seem to happen at festivals), Miyo discovers a mask that transforms her into an adorable kitten. The shapeshifted Miyo ends up taking shelter from a sudden downpour with a classmate, Hinode (Natsuki Hanae), who, taking her for a normal cat, snuggles up to her and confides his hopes and dreams. This “purrfect” moment leads to Miyo falling head over paws for Hinode, but there’s a problem: his total lack of affection for her when she’s in human form.
“A Whisker Away” comes from the pen of prolific anime screenwriter Mari Okada, who often uses magical realism to tell stories of teenage loneliness, heartbreak and poor communication. Okada has previously used ghosts, time travelers and curses as windows into the teenage heart, but this film’s cat-humans (or is that human-cats?) give her pet themes a new buoyancy that tamps down some of her angstier screenwriting impulses.