This review will be spoiler free most of the events I talk about have already been shown in the trailer in some way. A Whisker Away is a movie that I have wanted to watch ever since Netflix released the trailer for it a few weeks ago May 28th. From the trailer the anime looked like an entertaining romcom with thoughtprovoking themes relating to personal and social issues. However I was also skeptical since the writer of A Whisker Away is also responsible for Anohana which is a show that I was not a big fan of. After watching this movie I must sadly say that it is everything I hoped it would not be disappointing and ruined by a poorly paced storyline. Story 5/10 The story follows the character Miyo Sasaki her classmates refer to her as Muge who obtains the ability to transform into a cat by wearing a special mask. Muge fell in love with a boy in her school Kento Hinode who does not reciprocate her feelings. However Muge uses her powers to transform into a cat which Hinode named Taro to get closer to and learn more about him. Due to certain reasons spoilers Muge visits a land of cats and meets with many more people like her who can transform into cats. The movie tells a compelling story during its first hour especially as it spends time exploring many different personal and social issues that humans face on a daily basis. Themes such as unrequited love bullying and friendship are all displayed relatively well through the students around Muge. Other themes such as running away from problems and issues relating to families are also explored through the two main characters Muge and Hinode. Despite the well conveyed themes the problem with the story or even the movie as a whole is that it is confused with what its trying to be which caused the last story arc to feel rushed and completely unnecessary. The final major plotline that happens in the movie is when Muge visits the land of the cats but the issue is that this happens after over one hour into the movie which is way too late to introduce any new storylines in a film that is only 1 hour and 35 minutes long not including credits. The land with the cats feels like an idea that the creators originally had but even though the movie changed into something completely different throughout the development cycle they still decided to use the concept by rushing something random into the last 30 minutes of the runtime. As a result the island is painfully underdeveloped and the drastic difference in tone creates too big of a discrepancy between the last half hour and the rest of the movie for them to properly fit together. This problem can only be solved if the island is given more development or if it is removed because unfortunately for the movie a concept that takes up thirty minutes of screen time is too long to be ignored yet too short to benefit the overarching story. https://images.gmanews.tv/webpics/2020/05/awhiskeraway960x54020200529103939.jpg Art 9/10 The art is absolutely gorgeous especially the animation and the environmental designs. The animation is full of life and the exaggerated but not totally overthetop style makes it distinct and memorable. The environments are very well drawn and even though the island of the cats is problematic for the story its design is nothing but incredible. The only complaint I have is that the animation quality can be inconsistent in some parts. Sound 7.5/10 The sound design is pretty good but nothing special. There are a few times when the music did not fully match the tone of the scenes which took me out of the movie for a moment. However the soundtrack and the voice acting are all solid overall. Character 7/10 The characters are all fairly well written and likable however some minor characters had unfinished character arcs which made the ending of the movie especially unsatisfying. The two main characters both had a good amount of development and backstory for them to feel like realistic enough characters. Although they are not especially noteworthy characters they are relatively good and compliments the story effectively. I found that a big problem a lot of people had with Muges character is that she is not very relatable since her actions are too creepy but from what I can tell she really doesnt do anything too different from many other portrayals of fictional characters who spy and get close to their crush/people of the opposite gender while in a different physical form in both Western and Eastern entertainment. The most disappointing character in the movie is without a doubt the antagonist. Throughout the majority of the runtime he has always been a devillike character with an ominous presence every time he appears however by the end of the movie he becomes a goofy villain who can be easily beaten by every random person. Enjoyment 6.5/10 The first one hour of the movie is very enjoyable and it is also when the characters get the most development. This part of the movie is intriguing from the very beginning and the realistic themes being portrayed through all of the characters allow the story to be quite entertaining. However the last 30 minutes of the movie completely changes the tone abandons a lot of these themes and leaves many story arcs unfinished which pretty much took away most of my reasons for enjoying the anime. Summary A Whisker Away is a movie that had me hooked at the start but left me feeling only disappointment when it ended. It attempted to be a realistic depiction of personal and social issues in human lives as well as a cheesy/generic fantasy anime at the same time but instead it only ended up being a mess of a movie that failed to make two different ideas compatible with each other. I would still recommend watching this movie if you are browsing Netflix with nothing else to watch since it is overall a pleasant enough experience without having to make a big commitment like you would with a show/series.