Neko no Ongaeshi

a very strong 3/5. the visual comedy in this movie is so fucking on-point, man. this movie is an outright comedy with how funny it can be. that entire ballroom feast sequence just had me busting a gut, i guess im just a sucker for cute visual gags involving cats. the characters in this are great, too, theyre also a really solid source of comedy. my favorite being the cheeky fat cunt muta, he was always a joy to watch. the baron himself is kind of a boring wet blanket, but the main character haru at least made up for it by being this adorable, clueless fun mc. the cat returns was much sillier... read more

while the cat returns is objectively a fantastical story, it doesn't carry the sense of wonder or magic of miyazaki films. it is far more absurdist and silly and that makes for a fun, but very different film than most of studio ghibli's other products. it plays into childlike wonder and humor well, even if there is really nothing beyond that. the story is limited and simple and had to be padded and stretched a bit to even get it to 75 minutes, but it works well enough for its simple purpose. the animation is a solid production of the studio ghibli style, but nothing particularly stunning. i... read more