Thrilling, terrifying. Something stalks at night…preying upon the weak. Yakusoku Neverland is haunting, but not as haunting as the cat in the story that author Subaru is writing in My Roommate is a Cat, which is exactly what we’re going to talk about today! It’s Luna here with another first impressions, and I am PSYCHED.
My first thought about this anime was: “I wonder if I’m going to like this?” —said as I stroked the black cat on my lap as I looked between the anime trailer and the story I was outlining. In retrospect, it was a dumb question. OF COURSE I was going to like it. On one level, I was practically living it. But y’know, out of all the pet cat stories I’ve read, My Roommate is a Cat is one of the most adorable I’ve viewed in a while.
So homeboy Subaru is an author who has lived a life where he didn’t enjoy other people, and didn’t enjoy leaving his house in general. This lonely life came to a head when his parents tragically passed away on one of their many family trips that Subaru stayed home from. And since that day, Subaru has continued living in solitude (save for his editor who hounds him constantly). SPEAKING of his editor who hounds him constantly (which hey, is a common thing in manga with authors–is this really how it is in Japan? Amazing). So one day when he’s avoiding writing the story that he can’t think of, he decides to visit his parents grave, and while there a stray cat shows up. This cat becomes his inspiration for his next novel (as described in opening paragraph), and thus takes the cat in. Now, from a pet owner perspective, this show is sometimes vexing to watch—mostly because you can SEE what he’s doing wrong, but at the same time you can’t blame him because he ain’t never owned a pet before. So I find myself often frustrated and yelling at Subaru for both being incompetent taking care of the cat, but even more frustrated with his incompetence to take care of himself. LIKE HONESTLY MAN. YOU HAVE TO EAT TO SURVIVE. DON’T GET OBSSESSED WITH A DEADLINE AND FORGET TO EAT.
You know what the funny thing is? The cat’s thinking the same thing, well, in not so many words. See, what makes this show so entertaining is to see what home slice Subaru is doing for half the episode, and then to see what the cat is doing/thinks for the other half. For instance, the cat tries to get Subaru to eat, and after seeing him faint, decides she needs to take care of him because he obviously can’t take care of himself. Which is actually kind of a cute concept, because cats actually tend to do this. Some of their behaviors, such as hunting, is done simply because they think you can’t fend for yourself and thus they need to. In fact, this whole formula of showing what the cat thinking is comedic gold because oftentimes it’s never as profound as what Subaru is thinking. Like naming the cat? Subaru thinks Haru likes the name because she perks up when he says it, but in reality Haru perks up because that was the name of a little girl who used to feed her so she associates the name Haru with food. SO OF COURSE SHE GETS EXCITED.
Honestly, I have to commend this anime for the simplicity of it’s story, and humor. Like, this is nothing new or shocking but it’s so damn entertaining to watch. Haru is adorable, thinks exactly like you’d think any cat would, and Subaru is a clueless pet owner as any. But he’s also being forced out of his singular world by having to take in this other pet. Already his small world is expanding, and he finds himself caring for and having to care for this other living being. On the flip side of that though, it’s also cool to see Haru as this stray cat who starts to understand what it means to be taken care of and what a “home” is and what a “family” is. It certainly gives a pet owner warm feels about what their furry companion might be thinking of them (but if this show is anything to go by, then your furry companion ain’t thinking of anything like that).
Overall, this show is simple. It’s simple, but it’s cute. It’s got a good formula for an anime about a guy and his cat, and it shows the developing love between an owner and their pet well. In fact, I think the depiction of the cat in general is pretty good, because in so many ways, Haru reminds me of my own furball. And hey, maybe that’s why I like it so much. Because I do have a little black cat sitting on my lap as I write this blog post and get ready to go back to writing the story I’m working on. And maybe I do like it so much because I got my little black cat as a stray who was separated from her siblings. And maybe I do like it so much because she was my first cat and at first I was just as clueless as Subaru. And maybe I do like it because just like my cat has given me so much joy and taught me so much in these past fourteen years, and I’m excited for Subaru (yes an anime character) to start his long road with Haru that I feel will be filled with joy.
So if you like animals? Watch it. If you have a cat? You NEED to watch it. If you don’t like animals? Skip it. If you’re so-so? Only if you have time. But I’d recommend. Anyway, that’s all for now. Thanks for reading!
Until next time!
xoxo
Luna
First Impression Rating- 7/10 times you think your cat is being profound, it just wants food
P.S. Anime/manga ‘s depiction of authors in Japan worries me for their health…
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