My Roommate Is a Cat Will Make You Feel All the Feels

Earlier this year, my never-ending quest for delightful slice-of-life anime led me to My Roommate Is a Cat, a series that aired from January to March 2019. It was refreshing jump into a series that was still coming out, especially since I’m perennially late to the party with these things. Waiting for each episode to air does make me remember why I’ve come to love waiting until a whole series is out so I can binge-watch it—but then, an exercise in patience never hurts!

Funimation

My Roommate Is a Cat follows Subaru Mikazuki, a successful young novelist who loves nothing more than being at home by himself, working on his next story. His editor and a couple of friends worry he’s becoming too much of a recluse, but Subaru is perfectly happy to continue as he is, staying as unimpeded as possible by the noisy, demanding world outside his house. However, things begin to change when one day, Subaru visits his parents’ grave and brings them an offering of sushi—only to find said offering being devoured by a cute little stray cat! His heart goes out to the kitten, and he takes her home with him and names her Haru. Subaru quickly becomes a devoted pet dad despite not knowing the first thing about taking care of a cat. But as the necessity of learning how to see to Haru’s needs forces him to venture out of the house more and more, a funny thing starts to happen: the people he meets while going about the business of cat care begin to show him that maybe there is something wonderful about opening up to others and letting them into your life after all.

There are many things I love about this series, but the main one is the way the episodes are structured. In most episodes, we see the featured vignette from Subaru’s point of view; Haru expresses a need, Subaru sets out to meet that need (usually bumblingly but adorably), he has an unexpected and initially unwanted meeting with someone, and he learns how to take better care of Haru and himself, too. Once Subaru’s portion of the episode wraps up, we then get a recap—through the eyes of Haru. We see everything she was thinking and feeling about whatever strange thing her human was getting up to this time.

Not only is this structure invariably fun and adorable, it’s also where the deeper side of the series is revealed. We see how both Subaru and Haru have been depending solely on themselves for a long time, and we also see that while doing so helped them survive whatever life threw at them, it took a toll on them, even though they soldiered on, putting on a brave face not only for the world at large but also for themselves. And when we see how getting to know one another helps them learn they don’t have to go it alone anymore and how they find that it’s okay, and even necessary, to let others help you sometimes . . . well, “heartwarming” feels too trite and cheesy a word to describe the feeling it inspires, but it’s the closest one I can find.

This series has furthered the pattern I’ve seen emerging with slice-of-life anime series I’ve watched: though the story may seem somewhat plotless and lighthearted at first, there’s almost always an element of depth that’s slowly revealed, like watching a picture emerge from a painter’s brushstrokes. I think it’s what draws me to these stories, even if I haven’t been able to put my finger on it before, and it just makes me want to watch more and more of them to see what wonderful things I can discover.

On a less sentimental note, another thing I love about the series is that it totally nails what it’s like being a cat owner as well as what we all imagine must be going on in cats’ heads with their strange kitty ways. If you’ve ever had a cat, known a cat, or imagined what it would be like to be a cat, you’re sure to find this aspect of the story both relatable and amusing. It’s often used to hilarious effect, especially when Haru’s obsession with food leads her to commit various high jinks. At other times, it’s sweet and heartfelt when her strange behavior is revealed to be a result of her worry over her human’s well-being, or when she realizes that when her human does something odd, it’s because he’s trying to show her he cares about her. It’s a really fun and endearing device, and it suits the series perfectly.

Another aspect I enjoyed was that I often found myself identifying with Subaru in terms of his introversion. While mine is not generally expressed in the same way his is, I can very much appreciate the sentiment that is pretty much Subaru’s state of being: “I have to go out again? I already had an interaction with another human today . . .” The other side of that coin is that when Subaru has a positive interaction with someone and feels better for having had it, even if it was nerve-wracking at the time, it’s so satisfying to see those moments play out, because it’s a lesson I’ve learned time and time again myself and one I suspect I’ll keep right on learning, just as Subaru does.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed this series. As a lover of cats, I knew I would as soon as I heard the title, but I had no idea just how much it would mean to me (nor did I completely realize it until I started writing this review, to be quite honest!). As such, it almost feels contradictory to critique it, but there are a couple of things I think could be improved. The first is that when the story does skew a little more to the introspective or melancholy side, it can get so sad that it almost feels a little gratuitous, and I found myself getting a little bogged down by it at times. I think the story could have gotten the same points across without some of that extra weightiness. I also feel that, like many slice-of-life anime, it can be a little slow-moving at points, so much so that it can be hard to pay attention to the story at times. Since my brain tends to wander at the best of times, it sometimes meant that I lost the thread of the episode, and it wasn’t always easy to jump back in.

Those points aside, however, this anime clearly made an impact on me, and it’s one I will definitely remember with great fondness. I got a similar feeling from it as I did from series like Fruits Basket, Kamisama Kiss, and Yuri!!! On Ice. It’s the sort of story that at first glance seems bubbly and cute and superficial, but when the viewer looks closer, they’re rewarded with an unexpected depth and resonance that is bound to stick with them. And this one has the benefit of being tailor-made for cat lovers, too.

So if you’re a fan of cats or anime or both, I would highly recommend adding this one to your to-be-watched list!