Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - She and Her Cat

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai, Naruki Nagakawa

36 reviews

sam_k_'s review

2.0

(TL:DR misogynistic cats, bad talk of attempted SA, and two short stories that are surprisingly poignant but are ultimately not enough to save this collection.)

This was genuinely the closest I’ve been to DNF’ing a book in a long time, the only reason I finished it was because I had two short stories to go, but I’m actually glad I finished it because this book was somewhat redeemed by those two stories.

The true dichotomy of man feels very represented by this book - two stories that are just objectively puerile followed by two stories that, while not perfect, actually allow their themes to breathe.

Each story is supposed to follow a cat and a woman, and what’s special about this book is that you get to read from both the humans’ and cats’ POVs. I think one of the most challenging things about writing a cat (especially that I know more about animal behavior from my animal cognition class) is that you want to make it have human enough emotions that the cat’s POV feels poignant, but not so human that it feels like a human.

The first story feels definitely the most like a train wreck at least in terms of plot. The cat seemed way too human - like yes he had instincts to hunt, marked territory, etc but he was also incredibly misogynistic? With all due respect, gender is a human concept, the only reason there’s some “gender” difference between cats is due to which cats can mate with others. (More on that in spoiler section.) They also went with this really weird storyline about the cat character, Chobi, falling in love with the human girl, Miyu. and it has the same uncomfy vibes as The Bee Movie. And the entire story Miyu is grappling with this situationship that we don’t care about. It really just was a mess from beginning to end, and I didn’t know that it was possible to make 30 pages this catastrophic.

The second story didn’t have as bad of a plot but I think the themes sent a way worse message to the reader. The whole time the second protagonist, Reina, complains because she didn’t pass an art entrance exam to get into university and she’s like “they don’t recognize REAL talent 😌” and she goes on like this for a while, but then it gets… really bad. (More in spoiler section, trigger warning for attempted SA.) We also follow Chobi’s friend Mimi, who’s a kitten, and her story is equally bad. (More in spoiler section.)

The last two stories were actually pretty okay for the most part. The third story focuses on a third protagonist, Aoi, and her grief, and I actually think that it’s a pretty good representation of what agoraphobia can look like, and how Cookie the cat helps her. The fourth story focuses on an older dog named Jon (whose role in the other stories is sporadic) and if you ignore all of his discussions of what he thinks creation looks like (which has varying degrees of accuracy), I think this story did a good job building the characters of Shino (the woman) and Kuro (the cat). Unfortunately I do not think these stories are quite good enough to fully redeem the previous two stories’ train wrecks.

I will also say that this is a translated work from Japanese. The writing was not the best, but I’m not sure if it’s because Shinkai’s writing is naturally choppy or if it’s because of how it got translated. Either way, it was readable so that’s all I can ask for. It was also originally a manga but this is not the manga version, so I also have no knowledge of how the illustrations could’ve helped or hindered the story.

***spoiler section***

In the first story Miyu has a friendship breakup because her friend, Tamaki, got mad that Miyu got with Nobu, the situationship guy, when Tamaki liked him? But she didn’t even TELL Miyu she liked him so like why is that Miyu’s fault?? But it happens in literally like one paragraph and a few stray sentences so it just feels really jarring and didn’t really help this already derailed story.

Here is a bonus round of all of the cat misogyny:

Beautiful? This dog [Jon] obviously couldn’t tell the difference between male and female cats. “Er, but I’m male,” [Chobi] said, a little irritated. (15)
“All beautiful women are my sweethearts, you know!” (16) (Jon, an older dog, via female cats)
[The young woman] had short hair and wasn’t wearing any makeup. Not my type at all. (24) (Chobi, via Reina)
Anyway, I prefer mature women. (25)(Chobi, in reference to him finding Mimi, a female kitten, annoying)
“Look, Mimi, I’ve told you time and time again. I have a grown up girlfriend,” I said, picturing her in my mind. (25) (Chobi, in reference to his female owner.)

Thought it couldn’t get worse? Well it does!

In the second short story, and I’m not sure if this is what Shinkai intended, but it’s essentially implied that Reina’s “karma” for being overconfident in her art is having her older man boss attempt to assault her after helping her at her internship. I just don’t think that the very real problem of workplace harassment was given the sensitivity a situation like it requires. And the cat, Mimi, likes Chobi (the cat from the first story), but he claims he has a “girlfriend” (who is his owner so yikes to that one), and Mimi is a KITTEN, so Chobi also doesn’t want her for that reason. In an attempt to get over Chobi, Mimi then has sex with a feral cat (who is, “quite a bit older than [her], [she] realized” (57)), and Mimi then gets pregnant.

See more weird and bad quotes:

Mimi: “I was desperate to have Chobi’s children, so I decided to try asking him outright.” (55)
Reina, via a classmate: He always spoke so hesitantly, mumbling his words. He was so gutless. (42) […] Maybe the wimp hadn’t thought of submitting anything [for the art competition] himself. (44)
I gently licked away the teardrops running down her cheeks. They were warm and tasted of her life. (66) (Mimi, as Reina cries)

This review is way too long but when I acquire cursed knowledge, it must be shared.

Content Warnings

lexcellent's review against another edition

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reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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nicolabest's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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robinks's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I love a fantastical, intersecting collection of vignettes. My main issue is that all these stories with female human protagonists is written by a man.

Though I suppose the primary perspectives are all cats.

Content Warnings

atlantisfrost's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Four intertwined short stories about women who adopt cats. I enjoyed the different points of view, including the cats' own lives. The first 2 stories were not too interesting, but the last 2 made up for it, and the ending tied everything together well. Overall, an enjoyable slice-of-life story with many moments of reflection.

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jaslouis's review against another edition

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hopeful relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A heartwarming collection that explores everyday life's joys and challenges. Uplifting yet realistic, reading it feels like comforting hug, without shying away from complex emotions. Highly recommend for anyone seeking a down-to-earth celebration of companionship.

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elearmo's review against another edition

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hopeful medium-paced

5.0

I adored this read. I saw the size of the book (135 pages) and assumed it must be a book for younger readers— DEFINITELY NOT. there are strong adult themes (sa, death, depression), but I think they are approached/handled well. I think it could definitely invite some good conversations/discussions with teens or maybe even a mature pre-teen, but I don’t think I would recommend for anyone younger than that.

ANYWAY. the stories themselves are beautifully written. I love the way the perspective flips back and forth between the cats and their owners and how their lives are made better by having each other. it’s just such a unique book and so well-written! I cannot recommend it highly enough (especially if you’re a cat lover such as myself)!

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happysophie's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

4.25

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junglejelly's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A lovely small book with great short stories.

I really enjoyed the mix of human and cat point of views. I also loved how

each story was connected

which made the epilogue all the more cuter.

While some of the content was heavy (e.g. death and mental health), it is written with such compassion.

A must read, especially for cat lovers.

Content Warnings

libbytx's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a cute and insightful book told from the perspective of women and their cats. And even though that sounds insane upon first reading, it actually was a really interesting look at how we deal with day-to-day life, the trauma we suffer, and so much more. I won’t even lie, a couple parts of this book had me tearing up a little bit.

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