Nakamura Aoi stars as a young aspiring manga artist who's able to deal with loneliness and separation from his family through the companionship of an American Shorthair cat named Gin-o-gou.
Acting
Nakamura's hollow-eyed stillness makes grief look exhausting.
Sound
Maaya Sakamoto's cat narration is weirdly, crushingly human.
Director
Takashi Kubota
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The cat's full name 'Gin-o-gou' translates to 'Silver Fifth' — a deeply uncool name the protagonist gave him at age twelve, which somehow makes everything sadder.
Released during Japan's 'pet boom' era when single urbanites increasingly substituted animal companionship for human connection — the film practically weaponizes this statistic.
JP
