My Roommate is a Cat

Episode 3

I feel for Kawase, I really do. While I have a plethora of cats at my parents' house, I spend most of the year far away from them at university, where my place unfortunately doesn't allow pets. So whenever I visit friends with cats, I can't help but lavish attention on them. Moments like this are what make My Roommate is a Cat feel so real; this show understands both cats and "cat people" on a deep level.

First off, I have to amend a mistake from last week. There are some tells in the first episode that Haru is actually a girl, like other cats calling her "nee-san" (sister). So I'm going to refer to her as such going forward. In retrospect, it would make sense that if she took her name from a human girl, Haru would likely be a girl as well, and most of the names that Subaru tried out were female names. I guess I've known just enough male Harus in anime to get confused.

My Roommate is a Cat has a lot of fun this week showing how the energetic Haru clashes with her grumpy taciturn roommate. One of these is the "cat crazies": a moment familiar to all cat owners when your cat bounds through the house for seemingly no reason. For all their reputation as living pillows, cats—especially kittens like Haru—can have a lot of energy. There's a reason cat owners keep so many toys for them, and if you have multiple cats, you know they like to fight for fun. But sometimes cats just feel the need to "nyoom" throughout the house, and there doesn't seem to be any inciting factor: no toy, no other cat, no mysterious prey to catch. They've just got to let that energy out!

This show has a pretty fun explanation for why: cats can see things that humans don't. Specifically, Haru sees mysterious pink spirit-clouds that emit cold energy hovering above Subaru, and she wants to protect him. She's also just weirded out by the clouds in general, chasing them all over the house until they disappear. My Roommate is a Cat implies that these clouds might be the spirits of Subaru's parents, considering that they linger over him, his family altar, and in the room of his parents' belongings that he's kept pristine ever since they left on their final trip. It's a nice way to tie the goofier side of this story into its more heartrending portions, as episode 3 focuses on Subaru's grief and guilt over his late parents.

As Subaru lingers over a photo album, he discovers that they visited the home of one of his favorite authors and took lots of pictures. They even saw locations that were inspirations for the books Subaru loves so much! He remembers that his parents always wanted to take him on trips, but he didn't like traveling, so he breaks down crying. He's upset both because of his lost time with them, but also because he feels responsible for their deaths. He tried to stop them from going on their last trip, where the tour bus crashed and killed them. They also asked him to come along then—likely making him wonder if he could have stopped the accident or at least died with them. The whole thing puts a totally different spin on his relationship with his parents. They wanted to share their passion for travel with their son, but he didn't feel the same way, and he realizes now that as much as he wishes others would consider his feelings, he doesn't do enough to consider other people's in turn. The whole situation is so heartbreaking that it's no wonder he breaks down.

Luckily, he has someone there to comfort him and lick away his tears. Cats can be surprisingly receptive to strong human feelings, particularly sadness and crying. My cat Charlie, who passed away in 2014, was usually an hermit whose greatest talent was making weird faces, but he could be really sweet when you were sad. I remember getting in a fight with my mom before school as a teenager that left me crying in frustration, and Charlie kept coming up to me and meowing at me throughout. My mom was home sick that day, and she said Charlie ignored her the whole day to roll around in my laundry instead. I don't remember what the fight was about anymore, but Charlie apparently knew I needed the emotional support.

It's moments like these that come to me when I have to explain to non-cat people why cats are so special to us. Sure, they might not be as openly affectionate as dogs, but they do try their best. And the fact that cats can be so careful with how they spend their time and energy makes it feel all the more special when they decide to lavish it on you. If you're like me or Subaru, a more introverted kind of person, then a cat's quiet "sometimes affection" could be more your speed than a dog's, and I can't wait to see Subaru continue to grow as a person as he learns to live with his adorable new roommate.

Rating: A

My Roommate is a Cat is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a Ph.D. student in musicology, who recently released a book about the music of Cowboy Bebop. You can also follow her on Twitter.