Cat’s Eye (2025)
Short Synopsis: Three moonlighting art thieves repeatedly steal priceless treasures out from under the nose of a clueless cop.
Wooper: I’ve seen the first few episodes of the original Cat’s Eye adaptation, and I have to say, this one suffers by comparison. The animation is better here (especially during the opening paraglider scene), but for character and color design, and even storyboarding, you’re going to want the 80s version. I was surprised by the remake’s poor performance in that last category, but perform poorly it did, botching an early “dodge the motion-detecting lasers” scene and occasionally placing the Cat’s Eye girls way too close to the cops for them to plausibly elude detection. Not that plausibility should be a major factor when deciding whether to watch this show, since it features the dumbest detective in animanga history, Toshio Utsumi. This poor schmuck somehow can’t make the connection between the three sisters running his favorite cafe (Cat’s Eye) and the identically named trio of art thieves responsible for his professional humiliation. On the plus side, modern touches like Toshio and Hitomi going on a rock climbing date or Ai’s use of her smartphone fit neatly within the context of the episode; if anything, the premise of Cat’s Eye makes more sense in our internet-enabled future than it ever did four decades ago.
Potential: 20%
Yano-kun’s Ordinary Days
Short Synopsis: A girl who loves to take care of people meets a boy who is accident-prone.
Mario: While this slice-of-life romcom overall offers a pleasant enough time, in the long run I am unsure if this show has enough legs to expand on this simple premise. In fact, this premiere feels longer than it actually is, as it pads out Yano’s situation and Yoshida’s feelings for him too thin. The animation is a bit of a mixed bag too given it can be expressive at one moment but totally lacking at others. I do enjoy how it mixes its usual art with a cartoonish style to signal how Yoshida is thinking of Yano. Other than that, the episode goes where you expect it would go, and the lack of slapstick moments makes it less snappy and much more conventional than other anime in the genre. If you have a thing for romance shows, this one fits the bill. Others will find it watchable but boring.
Potential: 20%
This Monster Wants to Eat Me
Short Synopsis: A depressed teenage orphan pins her hopes for death on her class’s mermaid transfer student.
Wooper: What’s an author to do when the market for vampire fiction is fully saturated, yet they can’t help but throw their hat into the ring anyway? Why, write a vampire and call it a mermaid, of course! This Monster Wants to Eat Me (Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi) traffics in many of the tropes you’d expect from such a swap, including a sad girl protagonist and her mermaid protector who vows to eat her only once she’s reached maximum ripeness. Unlike the absurd Baban Baban Ban Vampire from earlier this year, This Monster plays its supernatural grooming aspect totally straight, which doesn’t offend me so much as it makes me doubt its story could offer anything novel. That’s fine, though, because based on the direction of this premiere, it’s going for atmosphere over plot. There are a couple long stretches of silence near the start to help us acclimate to the main character’s despondent aura, and the episode has a habit of transforming school scenes into underwater ones without cutting, showing fish swimming past previously sunny windows to represent Hinako’s mood. Those are just two facets of a consistent approach that I think will please audiences looking for a moodier-than-average supernatural anime (even if I’m not among them).
Potential: 35%
The post Fall 2025 Impressions: Cat’s Eye, Yano-kun’s Ordinary Days, This Monster Wants to Eat Me appeared first on Star Crossed Anime.
