#Animexchange My Roommate is a Cat: A Pet in your Life

Time to open this post with an open question, when are we going to get our dog owner’s anime series? I am saying this as a dog owner, by the way. Cats have it so good in the world of anime. Cat boys, cat girls, and even shows about people owning cats. What have dogs done to Japan to not warrant a good dog series? Some good dog owner representation would be nice along with stopping Araki from dog violence in JoJo. Ok, starting a movement now. Yes, I honestly didn’t know what to say to open up this post other than let’s talk about dogs because I am about to talk about cats for a bit and this show is very heart warming. It is a lot like how owning a pet can make one’s life better. Thanks for the recommendation, Hikari!

Twenty-three-year-old Mystery novelist Subaru Mikazuki is an anti-social guy who doesn’t know how to react to other human beings. Ever since his parents were killed in a car crash three years ago, he became a self-recluse who types away at writing stories in his parent’s house and nothing else. Then his life changes when he takes up a stray cat chance when it showed up as he visited his parent’s grave. Or was it fate? The rest of the series is what happens afterwards. So begins the adventures of two anti-social creatures cohabitating in the same house. Finally, some good relatable anime content.

The best part of My Room is how much of a slow drip kind of show it is. There is no sudden “you have friends” now out of it. A lot of the experiences come from small things which become bigger things over time. Subaru learning about becoming a cat owner and having to take care of someone else other than himself opened doors. What does a cat eat? What about a collar? What about taking the cat to the vet for a checkup? That’s the slow drip with interactions domino effect leading to other interactions and then other interactions in that way and it leads to a better life for him and his cat, Haru. Haru becomes more homely and Subaru’s self confidence in his work increases as a result of the two meeting.

This show was well chosen for a Christmas event, because it is perfect for it in so many ways. Two strays of different species finding each other and finding that they can care for each other. It can’t be romantic, but it’s nice to see Haru and Subaru really liking each other Same with building a support network of some kind with some fun and caring individuals. Hiroto is a fun school friend, Kawase is a little too pushy but I would stop somewhere for cat pets all the time, and the Okami siblings are wonderful and charming in their own way with their own pets. It’s just so cute and warm all together. The final showed the warmth very well.

One thing I am very intrigued by is how Haru was portrayed in My Roommate. She is a very humanized version of a cat and that is a nitpick because I don’t think anyone knows how cats think. I think the writers and mangaka captured the different planes of thinking between Subaru and Haru very well. Especially when Haru and Subaru are in the same room and don’t understand each other. A pet, besides some special words relies more on tones from how a human speaks to understand everything because they don’t understand human speech like a human doesn’t understand cat speech. A cat is going to curl somewhere warm because it wants to be warm and the placement of the warm object doesn’t matter to them which is a major miscommunication when certain humans want to be productive on warm things. This show is very accurate in that way.

With all that said, I think the art and animation works well for this show. Even if all the character designs are the designs we’ve seen before in a million places before, I think that works for the slice of life nature for the series itself. This is a series that can happen to anyone and the soft artstyle invites that to happen. Just introduce a cat into someone’s life and this may or may not happen. However, the art on the pets is just adorable. Cats in general are adorable, but seeing those fluffy cats in anime form, especially one with lots of fur, is great. This show is warmth in writing, art, and general fluffiness. I think this is a series that every pet owner should watch. Be into that holiday spirit all the time!


17 comments

  1. This is one of my favourite anime out there about being a cat owner. It reminded me a lot of when we adopted our black cat, Shinobi. When we got her a few years ago, she was six months old and it was clear she had been abused. She was so wary of humans. It took her about two years before she would come cuddle with us and let us pet her without freaking out at my silliness when it comes to loving cats. Her awkwardness and anxiety with trying to acclimate into a new home and situation was very similar to Haru’s and it just hit me in the heart pretty hard.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ah, such a wonderful and relatable experience. 😁

      Very relatable in a my if ways with our adopted dog Nala who was also abused. She has a nose that wasn’t bent naturally, but the difference is that she really likes us and wants to cuddle, even if she never barks and is super submissive by being afraid of everything. Even a moth, but she’s a very good dog and deserves all the pets and scritches!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. True…there are like no dog-centered anime out there! The first anime dog I thought of was the one from Fullmetal Alchemist…which kind of proves your point.

    Oh, I remember watching a really anime about a dog-car (yes, don’t question it) when I was a kid. It’s called Daisuki! Bubu Chacha and I remember it being really awesome.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I can think of positive dog things like in Sunshine where Riko became less afraid of dogs and Ein in Cowboy Bebop, but those aren’t exactly dog owner things.

      That sounds awesome!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. There’s an anime called “With a Dog and a Cat, Every Day is Fun” – it’s a TV short, but it should fulfil your desires. Then again, the dog is portrayed as dumb while the cat is portrayed as a grump, so I don’t know if it’s the best choice to recommend…

    I’m not sure “types away” are the right words, considering Subaru’s generally shown with genkou youshi (the paper with the squares on it).

    I haven’t read the original manga, but I do own a Touken Ranbu anthology which the original mangaka (As Futatsuya) also happened to work on and you can tell they really like fluffy animals, since the contribution in question focuses around a conversation between Gokotai (who has 5 white tiger cubs) and Nakigitsune (who has a fox). The manga art I’ve seen for this series is really gorgeous, with lots of little spots of light on off-white backgrounds for colour art.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. “With a Dog and a Cat, Every Day is Fun” Is like three minutes long and is currently in the middle of it’s two cour run… You could catch up over a cup of coffee. You SHOULD catch up over a cup of coffee.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I remember there is a dog anime like when I was kid, not sure it’s Japanese title, but I think it’s called Bubu Cha-cha. Not a dog series in particular though. But yeah My RoomMate is a Cat is one of my stress reliever anime. Such a sweet and adorable series 💕

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