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EP. REVIEW: My Roommate is a Cat


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Terrible90sDub



Joined: 14 Jul 2017
Posts: 168
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 5:38 pm Reply with quote
I'm also sorry to hear about George and Louie.

SailorTralfamadore wrote:
Pets really are family, and losing them can be as tough as losing any other family member sometimes. But it's part of the bargain we strike for a decade or so of happiness with them, and giving them better lives.


Yeah, it's hard to watch this and not think about the first cat I had. He just showed up one day, skinny and with bloody scratches and bruises. I fed him, and then he started following me around everywhere. Unfortunately, he died at age 7 due to a getting a rare, aggressive form of cancer, but he was with me during parts of my life when I needed it... and, by the pure chance of just showing up, got me to appreciate cats.

Add me to the list of people surprised at how long he could carry her without her protesting, especially when running like that. Haru has some uncommon levels of cat patience!
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HolsteinCrab



Joined: 07 Dec 2017
Posts: 42
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 7:04 pm Reply with quote
My heart goes out to the fellow cat owners here who have had to part from their beloved kitties in upsetting circumstances. (Episode 4 I personally had a lot of trouble with because my black and white kitty died from a heart attack at the vet whilst being treated for dehydration and weight loss; we never did find out what it us that was ultimately making her sick unfortunately. She also was arthritic and overweight for the last 2 years of her life so part of me wished this show had been around back then so I could've learned how to help manage her diet. But hopefully some cat owners in the audience who need to know this may end up benefitting from the suggestions Nana offers.)

On the topic of Nana's cat names, she's certainly lucky that both Roku and Hachi seemed to accept her choices. (Imagine if there were an omake of her going through the numbers until she got Yonjuukyuu.) Haru's relationship with her name is a lot more true to my experience with my two new kitties who went through about a hundred or so names before finally deigning to acknowledge the last resorts Laughing I think they still haven't quite accepted them as I call for one and the other responds instead... Such is the way of cat.

Quote:
I thought it was also odd that neither of them seemed to notice the resemblance of her cat to his. Even if not suspecting they're related, that seems like something you'd comment on, if only for conversation's sake.


I'm guessing it may have been considered too obvious if Nana commented "Ah she looks so much like my Hachi!" despite the reveal being something you could already see coming from a mile off. It's a bit awkward as in reality a person wouldn't naturally assume someone else's cat was their cat's sibling even if there was a strong resemblance, especially as neither Subaru or Nana would have enough information about Hachi and Haru's ages and backgrounds to contemplate such a connection in the first place. On that note, I'm guessing Haru and Hachi are meant to be from the same litter although Hachi's use of 'neechan' strikes me as a bit odd. It's certainly possible she is the oldest from said litter but the way their dynamic plays makes me feel that they're a litter apart as Haru comes off as considerably more experienced and mature by comparison. (I say that though when my own two are very different in maturity despite being from the same litter Laughing )
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RyumuruJireyes



Joined: 10 Feb 2019
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2019 12:50 pm Reply with quote
Omg this anime is adorable; I discovered it through this ANN actually. Anime hyper It's great!
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thedarkemissary



Joined: 07 Apr 2010
Posts: 88
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:35 am Reply with quote
HolsteinCrab wrote:

Quote:
I thought it was also odd that neither of them seemed to notice the resemblance of her cat to his. Even if not suspecting they're related, that seems like something you'd comment on, if only for conversation's sake.


I'm guessing it may have been considered too obvious if Nana commented "Ah she looks so much like my Hachi!" despite the reveal being something you could already see coming from a mile off. It's a bit awkward as in reality a person wouldn't naturally assume someone else's cat was their cat's sibling even if there was a strong resemblance, especially as neither Subaru or Nana would have enough information about Hachi and Haru's ages and backgrounds to contemplate such a connection in the first place. On that note, I'm guessing Haru and Hachi are meant to be from the same litter although Hachi's use of 'neechan' strikes me as a bit odd. It's certainly possible she is the oldest from said litter but the way their dynamic plays makes me feel that they're a litter apart as Haru comes off as considerably more experienced and mature by comparison. (I say that though when my own two are very different in maturity despite being from the same litter Laughing )


Could just be that they don't actually look alike. Don't know much about cats, and it could just be an animation thing, but Hachi's "tux" pattern runs between his eyes while Haru's runs over her eyes. Could be different enough to justify not drawing the comparison. Not sure how a seasoned cat owner, like Nana, would see it though.
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9809
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:08 am Reply with quote
@thedarkemissary

Even in the same litter it is unlikely that two kittens would have exactly the same color patterns. Even completely different colors is not uncommon. Also the "tuxedo" pattern, black with a white chest is fairly common. Since they live in the same neighborhood and both kittens are strays, Nana most likely thinks that their father roams the neighborhood.
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TexZero



Joined: 25 Oct 2017
Posts: 582
PostPosted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 3:08 pm Reply with quote
Episode 6

Why you gotta kick me in the feels like this. We were doing the whole healing thing with a nice wholesome show and bam you bring out the onion ninjas.

Literally a top 10 anime betrayal, right up there with Violet Episode 10.
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RyumuruJireyes



Joined: 10 Feb 2019
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 10:33 pm Reply with quote
My heaaaaaaaaaaart this episode *sobs*
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Time Bandit



Joined: 16 Jan 2017
Posts: 203
Location: Raleigh
PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 4:42 pm Reply with quote
This anime is perfect for a cat lover like me. It's got just the right amounts of real life cat tips, funny cat moments, and feels, that I look forward to in a season full of dark stuff (Shield Hero, Promised Neverland, Dororo). Also, I feel for Subaru...I'm not nearly as bad as he is, but I am most definitely an introvert and if I didn't have to work for a living, I'd be very happy staying indoors all the time with my cats. I've been loving the reviews so far, and I don't think I'd like reading them quite so much, if a non cat lover was writing them, so thank you Rose for being in charge! By the way, all the real life cat pics that have been submitted so far have been wonderful...I just love seeing all the kitties! Also, here are mine in case anyone cares:



The black cat is Jules (my sweet baby boy), the tortie is Alice (my temperamental snoring lady), and the grey and white is my late cat Samantha (my heart kitty, who I lost to a very aggressive cancer a little over a year ago, and who makes this show a little harder to watch sometimes than it should be).
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Dardre



Joined: 16 Mar 2006
Posts: 166
PostPosted: Thu Feb 21, 2019 7:21 am Reply with quote
This is the only series I'm following week after week. It's cute and sweet (and occasionally bitter-sweet).

I do have a nit-pick with episode 6's review though. Subaru doesn't have "literary ambitions", he has literary accomplishments. He's a successful serial novelist rather than an aspiring one.
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j_plex





PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 12:52 pm Reply with quote
This was my favorite episode, even though it probably wasn't the best in story or quality, because it minimized the Haru viewpoint in favor of the Subaru viewpoint. Making it an inverse of last week which was the favorite of a lot of other people. (Sorry).

As far as Nagisa goes ... making her a shy girl who bonds with a shy guy over books is too ... predictable maybe? It beats making her a violent tsundere I guess! The series already has too many archetypal anime tropes: dead parents, dead sibling, pushy childhood friend/caretaker (who was JUST in Tada Never Falls in Love, which ALSO prominently featured a cat, along with the dead parents ... along with March Comes In Like A Lion where there was also the dead parents, dead sibling, cats and pushy friend/caretaker), childish boss etc. It would have been great to make Nagisa a normal girl who just happened to need a book? More like the guy's neighbor, a good "normal female" character?

I am going to go ahead and call the next episode. It is a 12 episode series, the final arc will kick off in episode 8 or 9 and Nana Okami was featured heavily in the opening/closing/promo shots before she was ever introduced as a character proper (in contrast to Atsushi and Hiroto despite their being in nearly every episode). So the next episode will be the autograph signing ... attended by Nana and Yugo where they find out that their house guest is also the author if their new favourite book. Which will bring together the other coincidences - they all living in the same neighbourhood, Nana working at the local pet store, Nana and Subaru owning sibling cats etc. - together. (Most of them anyway ... Haru preteen feeding Haru cat and meeting again for the local restaurant delivery seems to be a smile-inducing bookend with no larger plot significance.)
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catandmouse



Joined: 02 Mar 2011
Posts: 212
PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 4:47 pm Reply with quote
I'm not a kid person at all and I don't care to see them portrayed in media because I find them to be annoying in the attempt to make them cute. In this case I just felt really bad for both Subaru and Haru. If I had that many kids barge into my house I'd freak the hell out. I don't do well with kids, like at all.
Anyway, this episode made me cringe a little because of the kids and I felt for Haru. Honestly, I think she would have swatted at the little girl in reality. At least that's the experience I've had with my cats and kids. Usually as soon as they hear a kid they all run and hide. There is only one kid, my niece who's about to turn 2 that doesn't scream at the cats or attempt to manhandle them and some of my cats seem to tolerate her, but some of my cats have hissed at her and taken swats even when she's being carefult with her petting. I can't imagine a cat being suddenly grabbed by an unknown child wouldn't react violently, especially because Haru has not been socialized. She was a stray that's grown up on the streets. She would run from most people. Heck, one of my cats I swear he's semi-feral. We've had him for about 5 years already and he was about 10 months when we got him and he was skittish. One random day he decided he'd let me pet him, but even 5 years later, if I try to pick him up he tenses up or if I bend down to pet him he usually freaks out.
As for the pre-teen sister, to me I took her shyness as a bit of a crush on Subaru, too. I could be totally wrong, but it also wouldn't be a far-fetched anime trope.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 5:47 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I'm pretty sure little sister has a big crush on Subaru. Books were just her way to get a foot in the door, not to say that she's not interested in books.

I was right with Subaru through the whole episode, from vetoing the signing to putting up with the kids. Maybe it was from being a farm kid, but I didn't treat animals like stuffed toys from my earliest memories. Maybe I just identified with them too much. Smile

I remember being really upset when my sisters tied a cloth around the cat's middle and laughed at how she couldn't walk straight. It wasn't painful or harmful, but it offended my sense of the cat's dignity. I don't know if animals actually feel embarrassment like humans do, or if that's us projecting onto their body language, but she seemed embarrassed.

Anyway, I enjoyed the episode a lot, especially the sweet ending. I agree that the booksigning is likely up next, and I don't think Subaru has thought through the ramifications of agreeing to it. Twisted Evil
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HandofBobb



Joined: 06 Jan 2010
Posts: 80
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:12 pm Reply with quote
Haru getting into the cabinet this episode reminded my of my own cat, BadKitty (officially "Patches", but nobody's called her that since like 2012...) One of her favorite toys is a Q-tip, we have to keep the bathroom door shut because she knows they live in the medicine cabinet, and knows how to open it so she can steal them.



Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/he73V7v
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crazieanimefan1



Joined: 18 Feb 2015
Posts: 409
Location: Auburn, AL
PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2019 8:55 pm Reply with quote
Little late to the kitty cat gang here. lol

Anyway, while I don't have a cat here with me, my dog Lexi does watch this show sometimes with me since I binged it in a day. It was too good. That being said, I don't think it's much of a farfetched idea to say that Haru is Subaru's emotional support animal at this point as well as he's her emotional support human. It's obvious he has a great degree of anxiety issues and depression added to it and Haru has helped him a LOT through it.

The emotional support doesn't just apply to cats, any animal can be one and be a big help to people in this situation with mental health issues. It's a beautifully written story and I can't wait to see more.


Last edited by crazieanimefan1 on Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 9:19 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
It would have been easy drama for her to storm off in a huff over finding out that Subaru lied-by-omission about being the author of his book.

Except no one would have accepted that as being in any way in character for her. They could have had her feel hurt over his not trusting her, but even that would've strained credulity.

Anyway, it played out pretty much as expected, except maybe the shouting at her across the store. That was weird. I'd think someone like Subaru would just hurry after her to quietly thank her, since the signing was over and there was nothing anchoring him to the table.

Best part was Haru popping out of the tissue box at the end. Very Happy
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