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When Haru saves a cat from being run over, she’s unprepared for the cat kingdom’s attempts to make her happy, which include kidnapping her and bringing her to their world.
This is a Studio Ghibli film that I first saw in theatre when it came out in Japan. It didn’t have English subtitles and my Japanese wasn’t that great so I’ve always kind of wondered what was really going on in the film. Well, it’s currently on Netflix so I watched it with my husband.
I warned him that it’s not a particularly good film, it’s just batsh*t crazy. And having watched it and fully understood the plot, I stand by that statement.
Haru is a typical teen, unsatisfied with how her life’s going. The boy she likes is dating someone else and she’s not sure what she wants to do with her life. Still, she’s not particularly keen on what the cats are doing. They don’t understand the human world and so give the gifts of mice and catnip.
As expected from a Ghibli film, the artwork is cute and stylistic. The kingdom cats stand on their hind feet with their paws down in an adorable and strange way. I still found some parts laugh out loud funny (the entertainment at the feast in the cat kingdom is fantastically weird and by far my favourite part of the film). It’s short enough that the rather thin plot doesn’t seem overplayed. The soundtrack is fantastic, with some great instrumental pieces contrasted with the cat kingdom's use of a modified Japanese court music. (Japanese court music uses a lot of what Westerners would call discordant - or minor - notes. It's... unique and really fits the film with its otherworldly quality.) I especially love the end credit song.
Not worth multiple viewings, it is a fun romp that will leave you feeling uplifted. Indeed, if you need something fluffy to distract you from the pandemic horrors we’re currently living with, this is a great choice.
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