Review: If Cats Disappeared From the World

If Cats Disappeared From the World (2016)

First of all, I would like to state that this is simply based on my personal preference, which means that everything I say in the second part of this review (which is the part where my personal thoughts come in), is only my opinion. 

WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS!

The name of this movie itself is a quite unique one. Just hearing the name I immediately thought, how would this world really look like if cats disappeared? What I was expecting to see in this movie is an answer to that question. What I got after the movie, wasn't really an answer. But it made me even more satisfied. Here's why. 

The Plot

So the movie starts off rather calmly, showing the daily life of our main character (Sato Takeru). What we already know from the synopsis is that our character finds out at the beginning of the movie that he has cancer, which means only a short period of time left to live. 

Then, a devil appears before his eyes. Someone who looks exactly like himself. He tells him that he can get one extra day to live for each thing he erases from this world.   

Throughout the movie, we learn how each thing he decides to erase has a bigger meaning to his life than he originally expected. I think this is one of the most important meanings of this movie. Because some things could be of more importance to the path of our lives than we actually think. I know that sounds extremely cheesy but bear with me! 

The Acting 

I'm trying not to be biased towards Sato Takeru right now because I absolutely adore him as an actor! So I would rate his acting as very believable and realistic. He is a great actor in my opinion and I think he did just great in this movie as well. Not much to complain about.

Miyazaki Aoi, who played the role of the man's ex-girlfriend did quite good as well. Just like Takeru, her acting was very realistic and I could easily believe the fact that there was some kind of romantic chemistry between the two characters. 

Why Did I Enjoy It?

I personally really enjoyed this movie. It's not really one of those super exciting movies that keep out on the edge of your chair for 2 hours. It's a calm and deep dramatic movie that basically shows us how sometimes the life itself isn't the most important thing. 

I would say that this movie made me think twice while deciding what it really meant to me. In the end, I think it somehow taught me that what we do, what people we are surrounding ourselves with do and what makes us happy, is more important than staying alive. 

Giving up on the things you love or giving up on living, what would you choose?

Would I Recommend This Movie?

I would 100% recommend that you give it a chance! For me, it's one of my favourite movies from Japan. It is a beautiful, a little bit heartbreaking story that I'm sure would move you if you can understand the point of it. If you are a fan of dramatic/tragedy movies you will most likely love the movie. But who am I to tell you if you would like it? Go and give it a chance yourself and come back to share your thoughts! 

Would I Re-Watch It?

My answer is once again, yes! I am yet to re-watch this movie because it hasn't been a long time since I saw it for the first time. But I'd love to remind myself of this later this year maybe. It is a tough one, so maybe when I'm up for it. 

Thank you for taking your time to read this review. 

I hope you give this movie a chance if you haven't already! Thank you!