Loin de moi, près de toi

Muge, a young woman with an unrequited love, decides to become a cat, so that she can get closer to her beloved. The narrative is nothing extraordinary, but it manages to capture the viewer attention, with a good pace, and a well-built connection between characters. The narrative's main themes are more than known to the public, such as teen love and friendship, but also depression and insecurity, subtly, and successfully achieved. The animation itself surprised me in a positive way, with rich and detailed backgrounds, nice colors and two or three interesting moments. Some transitions are a little strange, but it's all good.

This movie was perplexing and captivating from beginning to end. As someone who has seen all of Studio Ghibli's films, I was left feeling as though this story took great inspiration from the beloved "Cat Returns" movie. The premise of a young, middle school girl, madly obsessed with her crush, will go to any end to make him smile. She would rather ignore the problems of her own life to focus soley on his. As all good coming of age stories go, there are important lessons learned about believing in who you are, and expressing your true emotions, rather than burying them with a smile. There is also a note of appreciation towards the whole of the group; each person in real life is made up of everyone else who has helped make them who they are, and I think this movie pays a beautiful yet subtle tribute to that, reflecting reality through the eyes of an enigmatic adolescent.

It's obvious from the get-go this movie was heavily inspired by Studio Ghibli and you can be allowed for making the mistake thinking it came from them; it has the same features - the strange fantasy elements, the deep philosophy about existence as seen from the mind of a teenager and a focus on strong character development. It's all there.

What I praise the movie for apart from the production quality is its daring; the main character isn't very likeable, and it's for good reason; her flaws as a character she needs to overcome. Not too many studios and directors would dare go into that. It is the archetype of the character who wants to run away from their problems and have things be magically easily fixed for them according to their own fantasies. I would say this makes it a very powerful movie for those teens/young adults who feel just like that.

Other than that, I am giving this one a 8/10 and not higher because I feel the ''fantasy'' elements got a bit too unneededly weird as the movie dragged on, removing value from its more mature themes.

A sweet film about a high school love story. The designs are spectacular, made with care. Cats make the film fairy-tale and fantastic, it loses realism.

Imma be real with you, not a masterpiece, the antagonist was not offensively bad, but a bit shallow. It also feels weird that there are no repercussions for stalking her love interest but that's anime for you. But 3 things why I had so much fun with this flick: 1. muge, the Protagonist, is really energetic, so you are invested in her motifs 2. some really beautiful shots. I'm a sucker for cozy images 2.5. I really don't know why but the tree Scenery in the last third of the movie got me going. I'm seriously biased here

I guess it's more like a 6/10 but I don't care, I had too much of a good feeling afterwards. Easy to enjoy