She and Her Cat#Legacy

{{Infobox animanga/Header

| name = She and Her Cat

| image = She and her cat.jpg

| caption = Cover art for She and Her Cat

| ja_kanji = 彼女と彼女の猫

| ja_romaji = Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko

| genre = Drama

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = ova

| director = Makoto Shinkai

| producer = Makoto Shinkai

| writer = Makoto Shinkai

| music = Tenmon

| studio = CoMix Wave Films

| licensee = {{English anime licensee|BI=Anime Limited|NA=GKIDS}}

| released = 1999

| runtime = 5 minutes

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Print

| title =

| type = manga

| author = Tsubasa Yamaguchi

| publisher = Kodansha

| publisher_en = {{English manga publisher|NA=Vertical}}

| demographic = Seinen

| magazine = Monthly Afternoon

| first = February 25, 2016

| last = May 25, 2016

| volumes = 1

| volume_list =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = tv series

| title = Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko: Everything Flows

| director = Kazuya Sakamoto

| producer = {{Ubl|Tetsurō Satomi|Nariaki Miyata|Chiharu Ochiai|Terunari Yoshie}}

| writer = Naruki Nagakawa

| music = To-Mas Soundsight Fluorescent Forest

| studio = Liden Films Kyoto Studio

| licensee = Crunchyroll (streaming)
{{English anime licensee|NA=Discotek Media (home video)}}

| network = Tokyo MX

| network_en =

| first = March 4, 2016

| last = March 25, 2016

| episodes = 4

| episode_list =

}}

{{Nihongo|She and Her Cat|彼女と彼女の猫|Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko|lead=yes}}, subtitled Their Standing Points, is a 1999 Japanese original video animation created and directed by Makoto Shinkai. His first own directed work, it is a five-minute story about the relationship between a male cat and his female owner told from the cat's perspective. Shinkai made the film to help a romantic interest overcome a difficult situation, and his time living in a small apartment defined the scenario. The team of four animators used Shinkai's hand-drawn illustrations and Adobe After Effects for 3D visual effects.

After completing the work, Shinkai himself distributed the film via CD-R and mail, selling 5,000 copies at anime conventions. The work was well received, winning the 2000 DoGA CG Animation Contest and attracting CoMix Wave Films' interest. The company re-released the film in CD-ROM format and hired Shinkai. In 2016, the story was adapted into an anime television series and a manga.

Plot

The story occurs over the span of a year. On a rainy Spring day, She finds Chobi outside and brings him home with her. Chobi falls in love with his owner because of her kindness and beauty. During the summer Chobi gets a girlfriend, Mimi. Mimi loves Chobi and wants to marry him, but he refuses because he is in love with Her. On an autumn day, She has a long conversation over the phone. When it is over She cries and becomes depressed. Chobi does not understand what the conversation was about or what happened but concludes that it was not her fault. He stands by Her and comforts her. Time goes on and it becomes winter. She continues going to work and moves on with her life. In the end, She and Chobi are happy with their life together and say in unison, "I think that the both of us probably like this world."

Production

She and Her Cat was written and directed by Makoto Shinkai. It is his first major animation work.{{cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2011-08-16/interview-makoto-shinkai | title=Interview: Makoto Shinkai | author=Manry, Gia | date=August 16, 2011 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=January 24, 2022}} He had the idea in 1997,{{cite web | url=http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/cat/index.html | script-title=ja:彼女と彼女の猫 | publisher=Makoto Shinkai official website | access-date=April 22, 2017 | language=ja | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023140911/http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccs50140/cat/index.html | archive-date=October 23, 2017 | url-status=live}} but started it in 1998 while he was working as a graphic designer at Falcom, a video game company.{{cite web | url=http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/features/2008/06/01/interview-with-makoto-shinkai/ | title=Interview with Makoto Shinkai | date=June 1, 2008 |author1=Fitch, Alex |author2=Miyata, Hanako |author3=Williams, Tim |author4=Johnson, Justin | work=Electric Sheep | access-date=April 22, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011042324/http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/features/2008/06/01/interview-with-makoto-shinkai/ | url-status=live | archive-date=October 11, 2017}}{{harvnb|Bendazzi|2015|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dZvhCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 237]}} Because he experimented with computer graphic animation during his work, he wanted to minimize complex procedures. So he opted to do a black-and-white film since a colored-one would use three times as much space in the computer and it would also make the process three times slower. He was working on a role-playing game, whose genre is known to have "very rich and detailed" surroundings, and this influenced the film's background details.{{cite web | url=https://otakuinreview.com/2011/10/19/interview-makoto-shinkai/ | title=Interview: Makoto Shinkai | date=October 19, 2010 | author=Spaziani, Scott | website=Otaku in Review | access-date=April 22, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516155632/https://otakuinreview.com/2011/10/19/interview-makoto-shinkai/ | archive-date=May 16, 2017 | url-status=live}} He also took pictures of cityscapes and the streets, and used them as a basis for his hand-drawn animations.{{cite web | url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2623333/anime-director-makoto-shinkai-finds-the-beauty-in-everyday-life/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426175607/http://www.mtv.com/news/2623333/anime-director-makoto-shinkai-finds-the-beauty-in-everyday-life/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=April 26, 2016 | title=Anime Director Makoto Shinkai Finds the Beauty in Everyday Life | author=Alverson, Brigid | date=October 24, 2011 | publisher=MTV Geek | access-date=April 22, 2017}} The composition of 3D scenes was done with Adobe After Effects and for other effects Shade, Illustrator and LightWave were used.

Shinkai described it as a "personal film" because it was made to encourage the girl he was in love with to go through some problems she had.{{cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2013/anime-expo/27 | title=Makoto Shinkai Q&A - Anime Expo 2013 | author=Dong, Bamboo | date=July 8, 2013 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=April 22, 2017}} The cat was the main character because he had cats since he was a child and adopted some stray cats in Tokyo. His own time living in a small apartment surrounded by electrical lines also inspired the main scenario. Although these are "ugly things", he "wanted to make it look detailed and beautiful to express that it was ok to live in such a situation". He aimed to transmit the feelings of "the vague loneliness of living", "slight pain" and "modest warmth", and as he thought it would be difficult to do it through words he did it through images and sound. Shinkai affirmed: "Without being too eager, I just let the animation speak for itself. I'm pleased with its simplicity."{{cite web | url=http://activeanime.com/html/2005/09/27/makoto-shinkai-the-place-promised-in-our-early-days-director/ | title=Makoto Shinkai – The Place Promised in Our Early Days Director | date=September 27, 2005 | website=ActiveAnime | access-date=April 23, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619195443/http://activeanime.com/html/2005/09/27/makoto-shinkai-the-place-promised-in-our-early-days-director/ | archive-date=June 19, 2017}}

Although most of the work had been done by Shinkai, who also provided the voice of the cat,{{harvnb|Odell|Le Blanc|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=55eWAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT40 40]}} he had three collaborators for the film: Mika Shinohara, who provided the voice for She and also did some illustrations; Tenmon, who composed the music; and "Rabsaris", who was credited for his "cooperation".

Release and reception

After it was completed in 1999, Shinkai made his own copies of She and Her Cat on CD-R and sold around 5,000 copies at Comiket and by mail through his website.{{cite web|last=Alverson|first=Brigid|title=Makoto Shinkai: Making Anime for One Person at a Time|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2623403/makoto-shinkai-making-anime-for-one-person-at-a-time/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225160625/http://www.mtv.com/news/2623403/makoto-shinkai-making-anime-for-one-person-at-a-time/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 25, 2015|publisher=MTV Geek|date=October 31, 2011|access-date=February 16, 2012}} It received critical acclaim,{{sfn|Berra|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZBtqGMr8T4C&pg=PA130 130]}} and won the grand prize at the 2000 DoGA CG Animation Contest. Anime{{'s}} authors Colin Odell and Michelle Le Blanc called it "simple, underplayed and just a little maudlin". Chris Beveridge of Mania.com watched the three versions and said "each looks gorgeous and the story for it is simply hauntingly beautiful". In a 2017 retrospective, Anne Lauenroth of Anime News Network ranked it Shinkai's ninth best work (out of 11), praising its use of lighting that gives "a modest beauty" to the scenery and its "carefully placed details" that transmits the wholeness of a world only partially presented.{{cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2017-12-13/the-best-works-of-makoto-shinkai/.125207 | title=The Best (and Worst) Works of Makoto Shinkai | author=Lauenroth, Anne | date=December 13, 2017 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=December 23, 2017}}

She and Her Cat was the work that made Shinkai popular and it led him to work on the production company CoMix Wave Films, for which he produced his other films. At first he received "a very long e-mail" from the company in which there was a review telling why they appreciated the work and he was subsequently hired. The movie caught the attention of Mangazoo (who would become Comix Wave) and the company released the movie in a CD-ROM format.{{cite web | url=http://www.animeland.fr/dossier/shinkai-makoto-la-naissance-d-une-etoile/ | title=Shinkai Makoto: la naissance d'une étoile | date=May 1, 2003 | author=Pinon, Matthieu | work=Animeland | access-date=April 23, 2017 | language=fr}} It contained its soundtrack and three different versions of the movie: the full five-minute version, a three-minute version, and a one-minute-and-half digest version.{{cite web | url=http://www2.odn.ne.jp/ccs50140/cdrom.html | title=「彼女と彼女の猫」Movies and Soundtracks | publisher=Makoto Shinkai official website | access-date=April 23, 2017 | language=ja | archive-date=March 15, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315123055/http://www2.odn.ne.jp/ccs50140/cdrom.html | url-status=dead }} After it was out of print, it was also included in the DVD release of Voices of a Distant Star as an extra.

The only version to reach the United States is the subtitled version that comes with Voices of a Distant Star released by ADV Films in June 2003.{{cite web | url=http://www.neomag.co.uk/art/anime-manga/article/1650/movies-of-a-rising-star | title=Movies of a Rising Star | author=Kamen, Matt | date=August 1, 2013 | work=Neo | access-date=April 22, 2017}} The DVD includes the three different versions of the film.{{cite web|last=Beveridge|first=Chris |date=May 31, 2003|title=Voices of a Distant Star|url=http://www.mania.com/voices-distant-star_article_75143.html|website=Mania.com|access-date=November 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525095742/http://www.mania.com/voices-distant-star_article_75143.html|archive-date=May 25, 2011}} British company Anime Limited released the work as a special feature on their release of The Place Promised in Our Early Days/Voices of a Distant Star in 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.alltheanime.com/collections/place-promised-in-our-early-days-voices-of-a-distant-star/products/place-promised-voices-blu-ray|title=Place Promised in Our Early Days/Voices of a Distant Star - Blu-ray|publisher=Anime Limited|access-date=August 12, 2019}}

Legacy

An anime television adaptation, subtitled Everything Flows, was first announced in January 2016 through the February issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype magazine.{{cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-01-06/makoto-shinkai-she-and-her-cat-short-gets-tv-anime-in-march/.97256 | title=Makoto Shinkai's She and Her Cat Short Gets TV Anime in March | author=Pineda, Rafael Antonio | website=Anime News Network | date=January 6, 2015 | access-date=January 6, 2016}}{{cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-02-28/makoto-shinkai-she-and-her-cat-tv-anime-previewed-in-promo-video/.99191|title=Makoto Shinkai's She & Her Cat TV Anime Previewed in Promo Video | author=Nelkin, Sarah | date=February 28, 2016 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=February 28, 2016}} The anime was produced by Liden Films Kyoto Studio and directed by Kazuya Sakamoto. It aired between March 4 and 25, 2016 as part of Tokyo MX's Ultra Super Anime Time programming block.{{cite web | url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/an/anime_series/20162 | script-title=ja:彼女と彼女の猫 -Everything Flows- | website=Media Arts Database | publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs | access-date=April 22, 2017 | language=ja | archive-date=December 29, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229171519/https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/an/anime_series/20162 | url-status=dead }} Crunchyroll made the anime available via stream worldwide except for Asia starting on March 4.{{cite web | url=http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/03/03/crunchyroll-to-simulcast-she-and-her-cat-everything-flows-anime | title=Crunchyroll to Simulcast "She and Her Cat -Everything Flows-" Anime | author=Luster, Joseph | date=March 3, 2016 | website=Crunchyroll | access-date=April 22, 2017 | archive-date=November 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109070131/http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/03/03/crunchyroll-to-simulcast-she-and-her-cat-everything-flows-anime | url-status=dead }} In Japan, the anime was released in Blu-ray and DVD on May 18, 2016, and it included a "complete edition" with additional footage, including a 90-second opening sequence.{{cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-30/she-and-her-cat-complete-edition-adds-new-footage/.101622 | title=She and Her Cat Complete Edition Adds New Footage | author=Ressler, Karen | date=April 30, 2016 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=April 22, 2017}} This edition received a theatrical release from May 21 to 27, at the Tollywood theater in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo.{{cite web | url=http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/04/30-1/she-and-her-cat-everything-flows-gets-limited-theatrical-release | title="She and Her Cat -Everything Flows-" Gets Limited Theatrical Release | author=Chapman, Paul | date=April 30, 2016 | website=Crunchyroll | access-date=April 22, 2017 | archive-date=April 11, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411022323/https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/04/30-1/she-and-her-cat-everything-flows-gets-limited-theatrical-release | url-status=dead }} The DVD and the Blu-Ray release sold 230 and 1,521 copies respectively, appearing at 18th and 6th place on Oricon's best-selling list on their respective categories.{{cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-05-24/japan-animation-dvd-ranking-may-16-22/.102434 | title=Japan's Animation DVD Ranking, May 16–22 | date=May 24, 2016 | author=Loo, Egan | website=Anime News Network | access-date=April 22, 2017}}{{cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-05-24/japan-animation-blu-ray-disc-ranking-may-16-22/.102432 | title=Japan's Animation Blu-ray Disc Ranking, May 16–22 | author=Loo, Egan | date=May 24, 2016 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=April 22, 2017}} On May 26, 2020, the anime was released in Blu-ray in the United States by Discotek Media with English subtitles and a new dub.{{cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-05-26/north-american-anime-manga-releases-may-24-30/.159934 | title=North American Anime, Manga Releases, May 24–30 | author=Sherman, Jennifer | date=May 26, 2020 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=June 12, 2020}}{{cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-03-13/discotek-licenses-konosuba-poco-udon-world-she-and-her-cat-everything-flows-anime/.157450 | title=Discotek Licenses Konosuba, Poco's Udon World, She and Her Cat: Everything Flows Anime | author=Pineda, Rafael Antonio | date=March 13, 2020 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=June 12, 2020}}

A manga version by Tsubasa Yamaguchi adapting the anime was announced in the March 2016 issue of Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon, and it began serialization in the magazine's April 2016 issue, which was released in February 2016,{{cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-01-25/makoto-shinkai-she-and-her-cat-anime-gets-manga-adaptation/.97915|title=Makoto Shinkai's She and Her Cat Anime Gets Manga Adaptation | author=Hallmark. Kyle | website=Anime News Network | date=January 25, 2015 | access-date=January 25, 2016}} ending its serialization in May 2016.{{cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-25/she-and-her-cat-manga-inspired-by-makoto-shinkai-short-ends-next-month/.101428 | title=She and Her Cat Manga Inspired by Makoto Shinkai's Short Ends Next Month | author=Pineda, Rafael Antonio | date=April 25, 2016 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=April 25, 2016}} Its single collected volume was released by Kodansha on August 23, 2016. In January 2017, Vertical licensed the series,{{cite web | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-01-28/vertical-comics-licenses-she-and-her-cat-manga/.111575 | title=Vertical Comics Licenses She and Her Cat Manga | author=Hodgkins, Crystalyn | date=January 28, 2017 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=April 22, 2017}} and it released the manga in the North American market on August 1 of that year.{{cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-08-01/north-american-anime-manga-releases-july-30-august-5/.119610 | title=North American Anime, Manga Releases, July 30-August 5 | author=Ressler, Karen | date=August 1, 2017 | website=Anime News Network | access-date=December 22, 2017}}

{{Episode table

|background=#

|overall=

|title=

|airdate=

|episodes=

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 1

| Title = She and Her Apartment

| TranslitTitle = Kanojo to Kanojo no Heya

| NativeTitle = 彼女と彼女の部屋

| NativeTitleLangCode = ja

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2016|3|4}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor =

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 2

| Title = She and Her Sky

| TranslitTitle = Kanojo to Kanojo no Sora

| NativeTitle = 彼女と彼女の空

| NativeTitleLangCode = ja

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2016|3|11}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor =

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 3

| Title = She and the Look in Her Eyes

| TranslitTitle = Kanojo to Kanojo no Manazashi

| NativeTitle = 彼女と彼女のまなざし

| NativeTitleLangCode = ja

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2016|3|18}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor =

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 4

| Title = She and Her Story

| TranslitTitle = Kanojo to Kanojo no Monogatari

| NativeTitle = 彼女と彼女の物語

| NativeTitleLangCode = ja

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|2016|3|25}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor =

}}

In 2022, the story was adapted into a novel by Shinkai together with Naruki Nagakawa, with the English release translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori and published by Doubleday.{{Cite web|url=https://www.strandmagazine.co.uk/single-post/she-and-her-cat-makoto-shinkai-s-debut-novel-review|title=She and Her Cat: Makoto Shinkai's Debut Novel Review|publisher=The Strand Magazine|first=Lara|last=Mae Simpson|date=2022-10-11|accessdate=2025-04-18|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250419045946/https://www.strandmagazine.co.uk/single-post/she-and-her-cat-makoto-shinkai-s-debut-novel-review|archivedate=2025-04-19}}

References

=Books=

{{cite book |last=Bendazzi |first=Giannalberto |title=Animation: A World History: Volume III: Contemporary Times | year=2015 | publisher=CRC Press | isbn=978-1317519881}}
{{cite book |last=Berra |first=John |title=Directory of World Cinema: Japan 2 | year=2012 |publisher=Intellect Books | isbn=978-1841505510}}
{{cite book |last1=Odell |first1=Colin | last2=Le Blanc | first2=Michelle |author1-link=Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell |author2-link=Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell |title=Anime |year=2013 |publisher=Oldcastle Books |isbn=978-1842435885}}