ROOMMATE
IS A CAT
Anime
based from a manga by Minatsuki published June 2015 and currently with 5
volumes. The anime adaptation came out January 9, 2019 to March 27, 2019 with
12 episodes.
The
series follows the relationship of Subaru Mikazuki and his adopted stray cat
whom he named Haru. This also follows how Subaru opens up to other people that
surrounds him like Atsushi Kawase his editor and Hiroto Yasaka his childhood
friend.
He
later meets other people like the pet shop clerk Nana Okami and her brother
Yugo Okami who were also his fans through his books that were popular.
Subaru
was an only child left behind by his parent due to their untimely death in a
tragic bus accident when they were on their way to a vacation trip supposedly
for the three of them but Subaru decided to stay at home feeling that he is
always being forced by his mother every time to go on a trip with them. He grew
up surrounded by many books in his room which looked like a mini library. He
became friends with Hiroto who was the same age as he is. After the death of
his parents Hiroto has been coming to his house visiting him, checking on him,
keeping him company as well as bringing him groceries of food made his mother
from time to time. He has been making sure that Subaru is not skipping meal too
much.
Other
than Hiroto, his editor Atsushi has been keeping an eye on Subaru just like
what Hiroto has been doing everytime he visits. He also makes an effort for
Subaru to come out of his house every now and then to expose him back to
society after he had secluded himself from the outside. He was more of a friend
than an editor who forces his writers to be on time in submitting their
stories.
When
he found Haru at his parent’s grave, Haru appeared out of nowhere and began
eating his offering to his parents. He later decided to take in Haru thinking
that they are the same. Haru has been alone as well after her younger siblings
got lost or died in the process of trying to survive for being stray cats.
Subaru took her in and kept her as a pet giving her a home, food and warmth.
Hiroto,
Atsushi and Haru were the main instruments for Subaru to open up once again to
other people and meet new friends. Meeting Nana Okami the pet store clerk whom
he met when he went out to buy Haru some catfood and a collar.
Since
Haru was a cute little cat she became popular with Hiroto and his siblings as
well as Atsushi who was revealed to be a cat lover, Nana and her younger
brother who not only was attracted to Haru but were also fans of Subaru through
the novel that he wrote.
The
novels that he wrote also became a bridge for him to meet new people specially
those whom he met in his first autograph signing event at a bookstore. It was
also the event when Nana found out that Subaru was the author whom her brother
idolizes. This opened another new door for Subaru making him realize that
interacting and meeting new people were important not only for interacting but
for learning new things as well.
I
can somehow compare this series with Garfield an 80’s to 90’s classic cartoon
series that has a similar theme of man and a pet cat instead of the usual man’s
best friend the dog. Usually cats are
involved as a pet in shows if there are witches since cats are commonly the
familiars or animal spirits of the witches that assists them in their magic. Even
though there are other shows that presents cats as the main pet of the main
character of the series but giving a cat and other animals their own point of
views separates from the humans and at the same time giving us what they see
and understand humans in their point of view. Also, since animals cannot
understand human language, the words that they commonly hear like their supposed
names they understand that as if it is a word for food or meal time.
Having
two points of views in this series was something else for me although not sure
if there are other series that used a similar idea, but this is new to me. This
was the main reason for me to follow the series weekly of 12 episodes and was
very interesting as well since the growth of the main character was shown in
the series from episode 1 from when he was too secluded and slowly grew and
opened up to other people.
Highly
recommended for all viewers no age restrictions for all viewers specially for
pet lovers.
credits Funimation for the video
credits Funimation for the video
