Impressions and opinions about Neko no Ongaeshi

Hello to all my anime-loving friends. I'm back again, after a few days away from this community. However, whenever I can, or have the opportunity, or am curious to see an anime that interests me, I will of course not hesitate to share my impressions with you. More than just a summary, I want to tell you what it was like for me to see the movie, “The Cat Returns.” I have to be honest, of course, as many of you know, I am a fan of cats. I love them, they are my weakness, and almost my entire family, so to speak, has kittens and we love them very much. In fact, I feed several cats near my neighborhood, we have them spayed and neutered, and well, that's a small sample of the love I have for them.

The thing is, a few days ago, I was really intrigued by a movie about kittens, where a teenager saved a kitten from a car accident, and the kitten acted like a human to thank this noble girl for her help. So, I decided to watch it and found the movie. I took some time out of my day to concentrate, because as I've told you before, I've been a little stressed out the last few days, or rather the last month, since my dad has been sick, and that has distracted me a bit, keeping me from my hobbies and from creating content as I usually do. But anyway, we are in God's hands and my father's health is slowly improving.

The thing is, I have to say that I expected a little more from this film, to be honest. I don't want to sound too demanding, mind you, but I feel like I was left wanting to know more about the magical world of “The Cat Returns,” to know more about Haru, the main character, and several other things that I mentioned. Well, I would have loved to know a little more about the story of these adorable kitties, the story of Baron, who was the heroic cat, who, along with another chubby white kitten named Muta, helped her escape from that place.

What I can say and take away from this film is that, honestly, it's quite entertaining. As always, Studio Ghibli excels in its editing, cinematography, colors, and creativity that hooks us all. We see the story of this little girl who is truly a bit troubled in her adolescence, feels like she doesn't fit in at school, feels like she can't do anything right, and feels like she has no identity, and on top of that, her classmates make fun of her. But she undoubtedly has something very beautiful, her kindness towards animals, and this led her to have a very different experience that made her grow, made her make very abrupt decisions, and move forward with them.

What I can say and take away from this film is that there was a moment when she had to step out of her comfort zone and really try to be herself regardless of what others said, resolve the moment, and realize that every action she takes has a consequence. I must also say that I like how they handled the kitten characters, their expressions, and all that. Yes, I feel like they could have exploited it more, that a broader story could have come out of this film, and I understand that there is a film called Whisper of the Heart, which apparently came out a little before this one, in 1995, which also features the character Baron, but not the girl. So, I think it's a kind of spin-off or sequel to Whisper of the Heart.

Of course I recommend it, it's a very entertaining film with beautiful colors. I recommend it for all audiences, for children, for families. I think the story is lovely. Yes, we can't expect too much from it because we're perhaps a little too used to what we usually see from Studio Ghibli, which is more elaborate, or rather, more than elaborate, with deeper stories. It's very nice, very cute, and has a rather endearing ending.

Yes, I was left with the feeling that she ultimately felt something nice for the cat Baron. And obviously we know that he was a cat and she is a human and there can be nothing between them, I would have liked the story to be more expansive. Well, of course I recommend it, and let me know if you've seen it, and if you haven't seen it, you can give it a try.