My Roommate is a Cat – Ep. 1 (First Impressions)

I 100% got interested in My Roommate is a Cat on a whim. A mystery writer finding a sudden muse out of a stray cat he adopts while also overcoming his social barriers in the process? That just sound so darn cute that it’d be a shame if it wasn’t any good.

Fortunately, it looks like the show is proving to be as cute as its premise would have you to believe. Throughout the whole premiere, I just couldn’t help but smile as you see the main protagonist, Subaru (Kensho Ono), meet and adopt Haru the cat (Haruka Yamazaki). Admittedly, the former is kind of a dick at a first, depending on how you look at it. He spends a lot of the episode leaving food for Haru to eat while he’s busy finishing the first draft of his new novel. Sometimes he gives her attention but only when she incidentally gives him ideas for his book. You’re able to let this attitude slide, however, for two reasons. For one, the show is able to make quite charming and funny. Subaru’s strokes of genius when he interacts with Haru are some amusing leaps in logic and Haru frowning all the time no matter the situation further enhances the comedy. Plus, given Subaru’s personality, you can afford to let some things slide. He’s not used to socializing with people, let alone a cat, and owning a pet in general is entirely new to him. By the episode, he does come to recognize the attention Haru is giving to him and seeing him offer tuna in response was just heartwarming.

Surprisingly, the cat does talk in this show. Not literally. Lord knows that would be bizarre. Rather, it’s just Haru’s internal thoughts being narrated to you. At first, I question the necessity of such a liberty. It was a lot of fun discerning what exactly is going on in her mind whenever Subaru interacts with her. But as it turns out, I actually thought Haru giving her side of the story added to the experience. The key to success is that Haru isn’t interpreting the situation exactly the same as Subaru. Whereas Subaru thinks Haru is trying to bug him or give him ideas, Haru is actually convinced that she needs to repay Subaru for taking her in and she’s annoyed because he’s obviously not getting the memo. It’s a very accurate approach in depicting the relationship between a pet and a pet owner. As much as we may love our pets, we can’t exactly know what they’re thinking. And yet, that barrier of communication proves to be meaningless anyway. Subaru and Haru clearly don’t see eye to eye nor can they but they’re drawn to one another the more they spend time together. In the end, they concede that their lives have gotten happier and more eventful since meeting each other.

I only have one real bone to pick with My Roommate is a Cat and it’s how surprisingly dark the set-up got in a few areas. Subaru’s parents being dead at the start of the story is fine and all but what really felt audacious of this anime was revealing that Haru also lost her family. Darn it, is that really something I want to think about when I watch this anime? Do I really want to think back to all those dead cats?

Overall though, this is a solid premiere. I suppose given the simplicity of the plot, you have to wonder how well My Roommate is a Cat will be able to fare for an entire cour but right now, I’m just pleased with what I’ve seen so far. Even if the show does lose steam, I doubt it’d be because there’s something godawful about it. And if it does maintain longevity, then great. I’m all for it.

OP: “Unknown World” by Schrodinger’s Cat adding Kotringo

ED: “Kimi no Tonari Watahi no basho” by Yoshino Nanjo

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Watch My Roommate is a Cat on Crunchyroll and Funimation

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