By Nrl Liya
Edited by Wan Nur Amrina
"The Cat Returns" tells the tale of a young high school girl named Haru who, through an action of bravery saves a cat which turns out to be the prince of the Cat Kingdom. Haru gets into trouble after the prince's father decides to repay her kindness by forcing her to marry the prince and stay in the realm of the Cat Kingdom.
Fearing things going array, Haru receives mysterious help from a voice asking her to search for the Cat Business office and ask for their help with her feline problem. I admit, the plot sounds bizarre and weird. A cat kingdom? Marrying a cat prince? What kind of story is this?
"The Cat Returns" by Studio Ghibli and directed by Hiroyuki Morita released in 2002, portraying a young girl, Haru, and her adventure with the Cat Kingdom where cats talk and stand on their two feet. The Cat Returns is a less-known work of Studio Ghibli but nonetheless offers a wonderful insight into life as it always does with every Studio Ghibli work.
One thing that will excite the fans of Studio Ghibli is that The Cat Returns is the one and only work of Studio Ghibli that is actually a sequel to their past work “Whispers of the Heart”.
"Whisper of the Heart", released in 1995 is a film about a girl, Shizuku who starts writing a novel as a form of self-challenge to find her place in the world inspired by an antique statue named Baron Humbert von Gikkingen after following a cat named Muta to an antique shop. Some theorise that "The Cat Returns" is actually the end product of Shizuku’s novel while others said that it is a literal sequel for Baron.
Whisper of The Heart (1995) The Cat Returns (2002)
The movie starts with Haru, a clumsy and disorganised girl who seems clueless about her life. She dazes around and feels displaced in her human world, especially in her unrequited love with her classmate.
“ A cat’s life sounds great…Eat all the food you want, and take naps under the sun. Forget all your problems. Who knows? Maybe I'd fit in better with a bunch of cats”
This also becomes the reason she gets into a mess with the Cat Kingdom when she slowly transforms into a cat after not knowing where she supposedly belonged. You can even consider Haru to be immature. Rather than being alarmed that she is in an unknown realm, she finds herself feeling giddy and happy to discover the Cat Kingdom.
Realisation soon hit Haru after turning into a cat that she is forced to marry the prince of the Cat Kingdom under the duress of the King and his henchmen. She does not know what to do or where she belongs anymore. Feeling lost and in fear, Haru can only cry.
“No Haru, this world is not for you. It’s not where you belong.”
“You’ve got to discover where you truly belong. Then you’ll have nothing to worry about.”
These are the words that Baron spoke to Haru in the midst of her trouble. The main issue that ignites the chaos in the film is Haru’s confusion about where she is supposed to be. She is not sure where she truly belongs, falling into the Cat Realm with eagerness rather than being in distress.
Baron helps her understand that she belongs in the human realm and that the important thing is that she believes in herself so that she does not have anything to be afraid of.
At the end of the movie, we see that Haru has grown up and become more mature based on her demeanour. She becomes more organised and responsible with herself. She even moves past her unrequited love and lets it go compared to before when she makes a fuss. The movie is simple and light-hearted for casual watch but the message it gives is nevertheless important for the heart. It is a whimsical movie filled with fantasy and magic as a way to portray the journey of self-belonging.
“If you find yourself troubled by something mysterious or a problem that's hard to solve, there's a place you can go where you always find help. You just need to look for it.” - The Cat Business Office
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