An office drone struggles to face the day, cutting it fine on her commute to work. The tasks pile up with no end in sight and nothing to look forward to other than another late night of (probably unpaid) overtime. There’s one bright light in Saku Fuzukawa’s life, though, and that’s her cat, Yukichi—when he’s not guilt-tripping her about missing dinner, that is! Which is totally like a cat, am I right? Except, it’s not Saku missing his feeding time that Yukichi is so upset about, but rather that she’s letting the stunningly presented four-course meal he prepared for her grow cold! You see, Yukichi is a very large cat, standing taller than your average human male, and he’s pretty handy around the house, having embraced the role of house-husband with pride—apron and all (or full-body protective gear whenever water is involved). Saku had no idea what she was in for when she rescued that tiny little kitten from the snowstorm all those years ago… It’s a little awkward, but no harm’s done as long as no one knows the truth about who prepares Saku’s delicious bento, right? So what did her boss mean when he said he’d met her cat?!?

After the craziness of The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses—and by craziness, I mean the motion-sickness-inducing forced perspective, rollercoaster ride-tracking shots, and poor CG assets that have earned GoHands studio such a poor artistic reputation—I wasn’t sure what to expect with this, the studio’s second outing of the season. But I’m pleased to announce that it’s…actually pretty watchable! The frequency of flashy CG sequences, fisheye lens shots, and forced perspective is dialed right down, making for a fairly smooth watching experience peppered with some interesting layouts. The animation style is somewhat incongruous, though, given the slice-of-life nature of the content. The opening commute sequence, for instance, with its whooshing trains, camera lens flares, and dramatic low and high angle shots, would be better suited to a serious political drama or psychological thriller. As for the story, the episode itself was not terribly exciting—a kind of “rinse, dry, repeat” pattern marked out by mealtimes—but it was quite sweet. Yukichi may stand like a human, but he’s still very much a feline, and his little cat-like habits (the ear flicks, the pestering of his sleeping owner, and his expressions of disapproval) are endearing. It’s also pretty clear that romance is in the air for Saku and her boss, which will of course instigate the greatest dramatic plot line of the modern era: Will the cat approve of the boyfriend? All in all, this was a pretty interesting premiere, and I’ll be sticking around for a bit to see how it plays out.

The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today is streaming on Crunchyroll.

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claire

Claire is a cultural historian by day and anime enthusiast by night. She grew up watching anime without knowing it, misspent her youth studiously avoiding it, and finally came to her senses a few years ago and embraced it. Mostly because of Boogiepop, Kensuke Ushio and Naoko Yamada.

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