Review: Cat Planet Cuties

Anime: Cat Planet CutiesGenre: Action, Romantic Comedy, Harem, Science fictionAge Rating: Teen+Studio: AIC+Music: Tomoki KikuyaAuthor: Okina KaminoDub/Sub: DubEcchi Level: Nosebleed

OoOoO

Honestly, I have no idea what to say about this one. I found this one on a whim and watched it...because I haven't seen a catgirl anime in a while I guess? Alright, so let's get this started.

The story follows Kio Kakazu, your typical anime teenager who goes to highschool, has trouble with girls, yada yada. He goes to a party near the beach and ends up meeting a girl with startlingly realistic cat ears and tail. She also has more curves than the Absolute Towers in Canada, so that's a bonus I guess. Due to anime circumstances, she ends up in his bed at home, and when he wakes up, he finds out that she's actually an alien who came to Earth to visit and collect knowledge on the planet.

Honestly, I'm trying to figure out who this was marketed towards. They have a catgirl cult in the damn anime, but it seems like those kinds of people are the only ones who would watch this more than once. The story progresses with Kio's house becoming the embassy for the Cattia Empire on Earth, meaning more catgirls from the mothership visiting, as well as his two female friends who happen to have their own odd quirks to help fend off attacks from the Dogishuans. Each episode was about as aimless as an anime can get. I didn't feel like anything was accomplished...ever. One moment they're on the beach, then they're under attack, then a new character comes in, then magic is involved? Like, I have really bad ADD but even I saw how insane the direction of this anime went.

In the end, it can all be summed up by saying that it's a fight of cats vs. dogs over who gets to partner with Earth. Everything in between is inconsequential and really has no effect on the rest of the story. To be honest, this anime seemed more like the fantasy of a gun-loving otaku who isn't that great of a story teller. The detail on the weapons was awesome, granted, but did little to help add anything to the story.

And because I'm a sucker for romance, we have to talk about this part. Kio is fucking boring. I get that most harem anime portray the main protagonist as an average guy. But typically, the attraction of the females is either drawn in by something out of his control (Highschool DxD and Tenchi Muyo), or the character is not very special, but strong of person (Monster Musume). But Kio is probably the most minuscule presence in the entire anime. Nothing about him is interesting. Even his voice actor, Aaron Dismuke (famed for roles such as Alphonse Elric and Lucifer) couldn't make him more interesting, which sucks because for a good actor like him to have to force himself down to that flat, uninteresting tone is a travesty.

Alright...back on topic, there's really no reason any of the girls should be so madly in love with Kio. Eris, the main catgirl in question was given food. Aoi likes watching movies with him. That's it, no profound moment of clarity where they found their love for him, just he was there and they hadn't seen anyone better I suppose. Manami gets a slide solely because she grew up with Kio, and who knows, maybe he had more personality than a pair of chopsticks when they were younger. That being said, the culmination of the romance (or lack thereof) was actually surprising, and a welcome change to the usual. That will be talked about in the spoiler section.

As for the other characters, they were...typical anime characters, who happen to also be badasses. I don't really have any complaints about any of them, but the world itself was lackluster at best. The anime introduces us to the technology used by the Cattia Empire, but only barely hints at their history. We get zero depth into their world, their struggle against the Dogishuans, their rise to galactic travel, or ANY OF THE OTHER RACES IN THE GALAXY! That in itself is a travesty. So much potential for other alien goodness, and we get stuck with ONLY the cat/dog hybrids.

The assisdroids in the anime were probably one of the best parts. Tiny robots that you can dress how you like, and they assist you in any way they are capable. Now, a complaint on this part as well. I don't know if this is a result of the English translation, or if it was present in the Japanese version as well, because for the life of me I can't find any version other than English. However, to communicate, the assisdroids hold up signs with what they want to say on them (remnant of old Genma Saotome). It's explained later in the story why they can't talk. But I'm not exactly sure if this is just lazy translation work, or if it was meant to be comical, but the English words don't fit on the damn signs. The words stretch off the edges of the sign as if the translator left this as a last minute project and didn't have fucking time to go back and change/arrange the damn font. That has got to be the laziest crap I've seen in a while. It'd have been better to just leave the Japanese characters and put the damn subtitles at the bottom as is usual with translations.

The music was startlingly uninteresting. It is the "generic brand anime music" you'd expect from an anime about a bouncy catgirl. The dub (aside from Kio) was fine. The only time where the dub had any issues was when the different characters were actually singing a song. Instead of showing it from the back of the head like it did for most of them, when it came Kio's turn, it showed him from the front and exposed what was likely the worst anime mouth dubbing since Speed Racer. The song was nice at least. Alright, I'm done complaining now.

OoOoO

TLDR: If you like boobs, you'll be able to tolerate this anime. If you require anything more refined when watching anime, you'll wanna pass. The protagonist is mind-blowingly boring, the rest of the characters are on par, but not that memorable. The most memorable characters in the entire show were the assisdroids, and they never spoke a damn word. The story is scatter brained, the music is whatever, but the voice acting was alright. Honestly, unless you're super into this kinda anime, you'd be better off passing.

RatingsAnimation: 7/10Music: 5/10Story: 4/10Comedy: 5/10Overall Rating: 5/10

OoOoO

SPOILER TALK BELOW!!! IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO HAVE ANYTHING SPOILED, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!!!

Best Girl: Manami, because she had literally the only legit reason for liking Kio. The others were so forced it was painful to watch.

It's amazing how three girls can be so in love with someone as uninteresting as the protagonist of this anime. It's painful to see. On the upside, the conclusion to the love story was pleasantly surprising. Or...it would be if it were anyone but Kio getting the attention.

Typically in harem anime...if they ever resolve at all, end with the main protagonist getting together with one of the characters. Usually, the main heroine protagonist. This was slightly different however, in that the three girls in question agreed to all share him. That was an eyebrow lifting moment to be sure. That being said, it's like I mentioned. I'd have marked that as evolution in anime, willing to break the trope of "Harem anime that doesn't resolve romantically," except for Kio. Seriously, automatic doors probably wouldn't open for him because of how boring and non-present he is.

Nothing against the writer or anything, but this whole series looked like a writer's first attempt, rough draft, etc. Either that or an anime advertisement for A&W restaurants, given how many times the damn logo made its way into the anime. I don't know if all of their works are like this, but I certainly hope Okina Kamino does better with their other stuff.

Then again, maybe it's just me, or just the anime itself. Maybe I'm missing something from the manga that the anime left out. Either way, it was a day killer.