Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko: Everything Flows

Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko: Everything Flows, does more with four 7-minute episodes than most anime accomplishes with hours and hours of exposition. This story is more like a set of connected haikus, or a few simple pen-and-ink drawings, where each careful choice of phrase, or each perfectly drawn line, speaks more deeply than anything else one can imagine.

I loved Daru. His narrative voice was perfect. Even though we'll really never know what cats think, he felt very real to me. And his relationship with Kanojo was portrayed with such nuance and care that I truly believed that his words were truly his own.

I ... can only say that, in the final episode, you must watch to the very end. Something very special happens, something magical, something perfect.

I started crying during the first episode. By the end of episode 4 tears were flowing from my eyes, unbidden and unplanned. I'm still crying now, just thinking of this beautiful and utterly perfect gem of animated art. It's rare to encounter any work that's able to convey so much meaning with just the smallest and most intimate of gestures. I felt like I lived an entire life in less than half an hour. And when it was all over, I believed I was genuinely reborn. And I believe that rebirth and reincarnation, if such things could exist, would be more desirable than any other fate. Just to know that connection...that summer day...that familiar face and scent once again...

The beauty of She and Her Cat: Everything Flows lies in its utter simplicity. It takes what we often take for granted, puts a nice metaphorical spin on it, and connects to us on a deep and heartwarming level that you would never expect in a million years.

Kanojo (or Miyu), the main character of Everything Flows, is a college student who is just beginning to face the real world. As with many other independent college students, she is facing some tough times, but what makes her situation all the more interesting is how she is being bombarded with incessant change. She just recently moved ... out of her childhood home, her friend/roommate recently left the apartment that the two of them split the rent for, and she’s had her applications rejected in her endless search to get a job. Needless to say, things are not looking too bright for Kanojo.

The only one thing that has remained steady and consistent in Kanojo’s life is her cat, Daru. Kanojo’s mother found Daru when Kanojo was still a young child, and, although initially rejecting Daru, she learns to tolerate him. Over time, they grow together and form a deep relationship with each other. Their relationship has now developed up to a point now where Daru recognizes the hardship that Kanojo has to endure. Although there is not much that Daru can physically do, it is clear that he empathizes with her deeply.

It should be noted that the entire storyline is told from Daru’s point of view, but it isn’t isolated to just that. By incorporating a number of flashbacks and cleverly integrated metaphors throughout the story, the screenwriters of this 4 episode series have created something that has just enough impact to leave an impression yet still not sound overly sappy. It’s truly just right: a masterfully crafted balance, as I would say.

As for the art and sound, they are both well done. An easy, breezy OP & ED and well-timed music to leave an emotional impact – what’s there not to like? The animation and art are very consistent and does the trick for this show.

Overall, it’s a great watch. 28 minutes in total may not seem like much, but it does the trick for the context of this show. The simplicity of this show is its strongest selling point, and after watching this I’m sure that it’ll leave you thinking about your own life too.

Overall Grade: A-

Author's Disclaimer: Please remember, this is my own personal opinion. I critique anime primarily on how the story is executed and how well-rounded the characters are. This review is not meant to target any other review but was intended to provide a more holistic analysis.

It should be noted that this is a full-fledged review of the entire season.

This short 4 episode long series follows the life of a girl after graduation, the economic and psychological hardships she faces as she enters the world of adults (No, not THAT part of the adult world, the others) and how she has to rely on herself and her cat, a pet she's had since she was a child. The cat is already pretty old unfortunately and it's clear from the start of the anime that he's getting slower and weaker.

Melancholic themes, a tiny bit of intense drama, nice voice acting by both the cat and the girl (we can hear the thoughts of the cat ... even though he doesn't understand exactly what his owner says. This reinforces the connection between them nicely, showing that even without "speaking" the same language they have a much deeper, emotional connection). The visuals, while nothing spectacular, are on a pretty ok level, usually displaying a sunset that quickly becomes depressing.

All in all the anime is a very good drama worth your time...
EXCEPT:

Has any of you actually ever owned a cat?! Because the writer of this clearly hasn't. Let me tell you folks, I have owned both a cat and a dog in the past and this anime shows how a DOG would think, NOT a cat. Years spent together? Emotional connections? "I love her."?!?!?! Foolish naive humans, that's NOT how a cat thinks. A cat doesn't want to see you... A cat... A cat just wants to watch the world burn... I hate using memes as points of reference, but cats are a$$holes, we know it when we buy them and it's pretty much WHAT we buy them for.

In reality people, the moment you die horribly because someone threw the microwave in the bathtub, a dog would start crying next to your burnt corpse, and it would eventually die from the depression. A CAT ON THE OTHER HAND, oh... The cat would turn around on your revolving chair, rub its paws together and say: "The human is dead, good. All according to plan... Nyahahahaha!"