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Cat's Eye
Anime DVD Review
You probably know Tsukasa Hojo as the creator of City Hunter, which enjoyed great success here in the USA. However, us old-skool anime fen remember him better for an earlier creation, Catseye, which was both an adolescent wet-dream combined with wonderful storytelling and even more amazing artwork.
What made the manga such a joy was that his layout was so clean that you didn't need to know a scrap of Japanese to figure out what was going on. The anime series, produced by TMS featured lush art, groundbreaking use of color as a stylistic flair to add drama, and a danceable opening title song (with an aerobic-workout closing sequence!)
Rui, Hitomi and Ai are three beautiful sisters who spend their days running their coffee shop. But when night falls, the claws come out! The trio transforms into Cat's Eye, super sexy art thieves! But there's more than meets the eye — stealing artwork is their only chance to find their missing father. And when Hitomi's clueless detective boyfriend is assigned to investigate Cat's Eye, will their secret be out of the bag?
The opening titles of the show still hold up well, when you remember that they were created in an era before "After Effects" it's hard not to be blown away by the design which is both homage to James Bond title sequences and music videos. The animation itself isn't amazing but it's still very watch-able as Cat's Eye is more of an anime soap opera and situation comedy at heart rather than an action show or space opera. Although as a side note I have to say that the draftsmanship for the manga (which the show was based upon) still looks amazing.
What makes the show work so well is the contrast between the sisters doing their dull day job running a coffee shop and then living it up as art thieves at night. The interplay between the sisters also reminds me of more devious version of Charlie's Angels. It's also interesting to note that while the show features quite a bit of 80s looking fashion, that so much of that look has come back today that the show doesn't look dated but rather hip unlike say Gatchaman which is stuck in the 70s.
On the whole I have to say that Cat's Eye has held up pretty well for an anime tv show that was made over twenty years ago. Looking back at it I can see why I became an anime fan in the first place, the quality of the animation looks better than pretty much any animation made in the United States at that time for television or even theaters. The other thing the show reminded me was that in an era before the Simpsons, Cat's Eye was aimed at an older audience which American animation was avoiding in the 80s.
But most importantly the show made me laugh a few times, so it's well worth your time to make a date with your DVD player and see if you can catch this mysterious trio of female thieves.
Reviewed by Michael Pinto, October 2007
Below: Promotional artwork from Cat's Eye.
Below: A cel painting from Cat's Eye.
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