The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today

KANLen09★ 8

GoHands going 2-for-2 with a surprisingly good comeback? What kind of world are we living in — a 2.5D animation-cum-3DCG-ready world?! As you may (or may not) know, GoHands is the studio responsible for the atrocity that was Winter 2017's Hand Shakers, which, over the years, spawned its own series that had the exact same setting and action that never seemed to take off. That is until this season, where GoHands debuted with not 1, but 2 shows: the more popular Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta a.k.a The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses, and the less popular one, which is this show righthere: Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu a.k.a The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today, by mangaka Hitsuji Yamada. And for both shows to really hit the mark when it comes to enjoyability, one would question: How, in the infinite hell, did GoHands manage to produce 2 shows that are both good, considering that their previous shows were mediocre at best? The anthropomorphic theme in anime form may not have seen better days but shows like Spring 2020's Gal to Kyouryuu a.k.a Gal & Dino, Doukyonin wa Hiza, Winter 2019's Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. a.k.a My Roommate is a Cat, and Spring 2019's Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san a.k.a The Helpful Fox Senko-san, which this show has the closest similarity to, do exist. In Hitsuji Yamada's case, it's of a working woman finding a stray cat in the midst of a cold Winter day and then bringing it to her home...which is a literate rat's nest of trash and garbage so foul that I'm surprised that not one of her next-door neighbours filed a complaint against her. Seeing that this woman's room is filled with filth, this stray cat wants out, but something tells it that if his occupant's owner continues her lifestyle as is, it's not going to be good. And so, the time has come for a helper, but not in the way that you expect: the stray black cat, named Yukichi, makes it upon himself to be the masterful cat to be the solution to the owner of Saku Fukuzawa, the typical office worker who, in more of a need for a partner, doesn't have her life together! Some might say it's definitely the supernatural realm of how Yukichi could evolve into a state akin to a human being, though we don't really need that answer, do we? All you need to know is that Yukichi is the big fat black cat who takes pride in his housekeeping skills, all in an effort to earn the coveted cat can. And to get there, he has to take care of his nonchalant owner, Saku, from day to night, covering her three meals and her small apartment like a maid who is loyal to the one who hired her. From home to the supermarket, everyone knows Yukichi and gets used to his usual shenanigans. With the smug looks of his that he gets to be masterful each and every day! From the usual cashier girl that he meets (Rio Nishina) to his idol interest with the young girl (Yume), Yukichi's life is abundant, fun and fulfilling. All that matters is how his owner Saku always treats him with both goodness and disdain; as the title goes, the Masterful Cat sometimes get Depressed all over again! But in all seriousness, Saku needs a helper to get through her life in one piece, and she should be glad that Yukichi never gave up on her as her personal housekeeping life partner. Never did I think that GoHands would come back with vengeance for not 1, but 2 shows, but their 2.5D to 3DCG aesthetic is so well-known that you can't unsee it. In this case, it seems to be well produced, and with that fake cinematic production of a weird animation combi that's uniquely GoHands, they did a good job with the adaptation, all things considered, unlike Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta, where they knew that that show would pop more with the audience. Simplicity is best, and this anime has done that. somei and asmi's OST theme songs as per OP and ED songs, respectively, are good, though I find the songs to be on the slow side, which is exactly what the anime is trying to achieve here. It's decent as far as the typical average Joe is concerned. All in all, this is a show where comfort takes centre stage, and with a big cat taking care of a young woman who is struggling in life, what more could you ask for from an anthropomorphic caretaker who constantly has smug faces for confidantes but whose owner is a lazy prick whom he doesn't mind taking care of? It's simply fun entertainment, and that's all that matters.

Unconfidence★ 9

I continuously asked myself "What the hell is wrong with this anime?" while watching this anime. The animation is so absolutely ridiculously good that it's confusing. They aren't animating anything that needs that much detail. This show rides and dies on its dialogue and comedy, which is does very well. And this show would have still gotten a very high score without having the quality of animation it had. But right off the top, every little movement of the characters and their environments is so detailed and deeply-imagined that I was constantly replaying scenes to catch all the details.Little stuff like the way carrots roll, or the way rain hits an umbrella, they're so insanely well-animated in this series. It feels like the writing and plot would have made the series a nice tasty slice of cake already, but the animation just makes it like galaxy mirror cake. To find out that this came from the same studio that made the absolute abhorrent trash that was Hand Shakers is just amazing to me. I hope they can continue to put out stuff which caters to a more mature audience. I recommend this anime to anyone who likes saccharine comedies, who likes cats, or who likes ridiculous animation for scenes that do not require it at all.