As decent as the story of a struggling young woman improving her life is, this manga is overrated with its mediocre execution and flaws.
I think I was a fan of Makoto Shinkai, but I question whether he's overrated or not until I analyze his work overall, while reviewing what I loved in 5 Centimeters per Second.
I'm in fact a fan of Tsubasa Yamaguchi now, but this isn't her best talent display of art like it is today since it was one of her earlier drawings.
The angle and point of view depictions of a small creature such as a cat isn't depicted as best as it could be, while the art is a bit rough.
The cinematography in the art panels of background, and tension to create an atmosphere is nice, but not great.
The story from the point of the view of a cat is intriguing.
The idea that the audience can only learn and judge the human in wonder of what they're going through from inside or close to outside of their home alone through a pet is unique and can be well utilized in presenting a realistic distance of unknown to not understanding someone when they don't reveal everything to you.
The brief and subtle hints from phone conversations, expressions, touch to the cat, and actions inside the house is captivating in its own mysterious way in telling the story.
Unfortunately, the story doesn't only rely on the point of view of the cat. It shows the female protagonist's conversation with a best friend, and a moment where she's depressed outside, with children speaking of their own annoyance of a step-father to relay to parallel message of what the female protagonist is feeling. Which is nice, but arguably takes away from the original expectation of solely the cat's point of view.
Throughout the story, we learn that the female protagonist was jobless after graduation, and has now been working for a year in a company.
It's clear that she doesn't love her job, and through the cat's point of view alone we learn that she has trouble making connections and being honest with her mother or her best friend after a long time of not seeing each other.
She's disciplined and consistent in her work and daily chores while eating good food she loves, but she has her bad days.
Near the end, she receives a call from her mother who's now remarried, and sobs to herself, angry of the result with a chair on the floor.
Meanwhile she's been on a few dates with a male coworker, but questions her best friend on the phone next to her cat whether she should date him. To her cat, she wishes that the man would like her for how hard she works, and not just because she's cute, so she rejects him, with now cut short hair, and a new perspective of freedom to life.
The End.
It's a bit abrupt in how after her cat finds her alone in the rain, catches a cold, gets treated by her friend, and rejects that man, her life seems better at the moment.
Although, who knows what will happen afterwards. Moments like these are somewhat realistic. Life happens, and with time, things get better, sometimes in a moment, while sooner or later a new struggle or recurring will arise once more, but your emotions to it will depend on how you react to it.
On the surface, it's a decent story, but it's a little odd and mediocre with its flaws.
What I particularly did not like was the cat's romantic love to his owner.
It's sensible in how a pet is extremely loyal and clingy to an owner, but the concept of romantic feelings to me crosses past the line of exagerrated. It's simply a little disgusting.
I would have preferred a pure mentality of adoration of a pet. The same tone without romantic feelings would have been fine, even if the sense of lust and admiration of beauty from an animal to a human is a little weird.
What bothers me more connected to that concept is the odd scene of the cat expressing his love for his owner and rejecting his cat girlfriend. That's stupid.
... Thus, this story, albeit kind of decent, with its flaws... is mediocre. 4/10. |