Is our perfect life ‘A Whisker Away’ (2020)? #292

Just another Friday. I wanted to relax and take my mind off my usual boring life. I asked my sister to join me for Netflix and chill, but she had better things to do. Instead of wasting time scrolling on Netflix, I picked a random movie. Unlike others I’ve watched before, this one was completely new to me, so it was quite an experience.

The Plot of A Whisker Away

The movie starts by introducing Miyo, a middle-school girl who lives with her father and stepmom after her parents’ separation. Miyo doesn’t get along with Kaoru, her stepmom. She has a crush on Hinode at school but despite her playful attempts to get closer to him, he couldn’t care less about Miyo. As a result, she hates both her home life and school life.

One day, she received a magical mask from a mysterious creature who sold masks. The mask could transform her into a cat. Miyo was tired of her human life, so becoming a cat was an exciting adventure. When she asked about the price, the seller said he would collect it at the right time. While in cat form, she reunited with Hinode and he named her Taro.

Unlike when she interacted with Hinode as a human, spending time with him as Taro the cat was much more enjoyable. Miyo would watch him learn pottery and talk about his day for hours on end. However, as Hinode’s classmate, their interactions remained cold.

One day, Miyo overheard some guys talking badly about Hinode. Overpowered by passion, she defended her crush in front of them and jumped off a dangerous height. Hinode felt sorry for her and treated her nicely for the first time, even sharing his lunch with her. Later that day, she met him again as Taro. He was heartbroken because their family pottery shop would be shut down; pottery was something he really enjoyed learning from his grandfather.

After spending a lot of time with Hinode, Miyo poured her heart out in a letter. However, before she could give it to him, one of their classmates read it aloud and embarrassed them both. To end the drama, Hinode exclaimed that he hated Miyo which broke her heart into pieces. She realized that they would probably never happen as a couple. At least as a cat, he wouldn’t resent her so much. Just when she thought being a cat was better than being human, something strange happened – a mask fell off her face revealing the ability to transform into human form!

Right at that time, the mask seller appeared to claim the human mask. This mask could change any cat into Miyo. He said he would give it to Kaoru’s pet cat Kinako. Kinako’s lifespan was almost over, and she wanted to live a long life as a human to accompany her human-mom.

When Miyo went missing, everybody started looking for her – including Hinode. He told Taro that he didn’t really hate her. Meanwhile, Miyo started losing her ability to understand human language and other human abilities as well. Life as a cat began hitting hard, and she realized that she might have made a big mistake.

She pursued Kinako to give back the face but Kinako was happy with her new life as a human and refused to return the mask.

Having no options left, Miyo followed the mask seller to a mystery island of cats. She met many other cats who regretted their decision to turn into felines from humans. Miyo became desperate to regain her human life before the transformation became permanent. Kinako discovered how much she loved her own life as a cat and decided to assist Miyo in returning to being human. Hinode also arrived on the cat-island with Kinako (who was now in possession of Miyo’s body).

The mask seller took Miyo to the promised place and attempted to complete the transformation by taking both her and Kinako’s lifespan. The resentful humans-turned-cats arrived just in time to interrupt the mask seller’s evil plan and save the day. Miyo and Kinako returned to their original form. On their way home, Hinode and Miyo finally confessed their feelings for each other.

My Final Thoughts on the movie

“A Whisker Away” was a refreshing change for me. The storyline is simple, yet unique. It’s funny how much I can relate to the plot. In my neighborhood, there are two cats that aren’t necessarily pets; they might as well be the owners of the house! From my bedroom window, I often see them walking into our neighbor’s living room like bosses, napping in the lawn or casually strolling on the wall and sleeping on it. They frequently chill right in front of our bedroom window.

Whenever I have a bad day, I wonder how great it would be to be a cat. They can nap whenever they want and get all the love and respect. “A Whisker Away” is an extension of that thought. Even on our worst days, we may fail to appreciate our human life – loving family, friends, work or studies – but the worst day for humans is still better than a cat’s life. So no, being a cat isn’t perfect; maybe we just need to find moments of gratitude in our lives instead. 🙂

Overall, I’d rate this movie 3.5/5.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day as human! ^_^

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