Cat's Eye (2025)

Since 2025 is the year of Cat's Eye, with the manga finally printed in English and a new Original Net Animation bringing the story into the modern day, I felt it was only fair we see how the latter fares against the original since we reviewed the manga recently.

I'm almost immediately torn on the idea of modernising the story - as I stated in my manga review, there's a charm to old-school crime capers without computers and all the technological  advances that should make robberies in museums almost impossible in the modern era (the recent real-life Louvre heist notwithstanding!). However, here we are, mixing the old plotlines with a modern update, and actually I think it fares rather well if you don't think about it too much.

Let's get the obvious out of the way - if you're protecting a priceless work of art, you can have pressure sensors, infra-red to counter smoke (which was the distraction of choice in episode 1) drones following the criminals, satellite if needs be... basically there's always a modern way to counter Cat's Eye that wasn't available in the original but isn't used here either, so you have to be a bit forgiving on that score. CSI this is not.

The 80's aesthetic is still strong throughout

What I do appreciate is how faithful the animation is to the original tone of the series, which is especially evident in the character designs. They haven't been updated to look "modern", the girls are all very much spot on to their original designs through to facial shapes and hairstyles - even the clothes are modernised versions of the styles they favoured in the original. They might be using tablets and have more detailed uniforms (more constructed and segmented than their one-piece catsuits of yesteryear) but the the spirit remains very much intact. This is Cat's Eye through a modern lens rather than a "reboot" - even the dialogue and general plot adheres closely to the manga. 

After the modern Ranma 1/2 manga started with "Sometime in the 80's" to ensure that the adaptation could be as faithful as possible to Takahashi's original work, Cat's Eye's approach to modernise was something of a surprise, both in declaration and execution. It really works far better than it should, even if some of the capers are a bit daft - I did laugh when I saw the girls pretending that a child had found his way into a bank vault (I mean, how? It was never open! Why is nobody checking the video surveillance?) and Toshio happens by to complicate things. Somehow it works, the excellent score driving the tension and the lighthearted tone allowing the audience to be more forgiving than perhaps it should be. But when Rui exclaims after the heist that "there's no such things as a perfect plan" she really isn't kidding - there's no way this plan should ever have worked, it's so full of holes it's insane.

It has plenty of charm too, the often barmy dialogue never more exemplified than when the chief of police is admonishing Toshio for letting Cat's Eye slip past him and he replies with an enthusiastic "Right you are! That was my bad!" - professionalism writ large right there. But it doesn't matter because serious isn't the tone we're going for here. The heists remain edge-of-the-seat exciting, driven by an excellent soundtrack.

The first season comprises six enjoyable episodes - direction feels very natural, the designs are pin sharp and although the CGI is a little more obvious on the vehicles, it conveys the "feel" of an 80's series very well. One niggle is that Disney's subtitles for text on screen appear to be quite sporadic, with some translated, others ignored - the only issue is that some of these omissions are quite important to the story - episode five shows the girls communicating with written notes to avoid an eavesdropper, but only one of them is translated. 

Otherwise it's quite the thrill ride - the last episode of the series (which translates chapter 19 of the manga) in particular manages to create a situation in which Toshio and Hitomi (as Cat's Eye) get to talk for the first time - it's a little contrived but manages to get the most drama out of the pairing and really brought the first season to a satisfying conclusion.

With the classic style, romantic elements and daring raids, it's a fantastic series to get lost in. Using an updated version of the original 80's opening as the ending theme is just the cherry on the cake, original and new series perfectly paired.

At first I was quite pleased the show was only six episodes as it makes for an easy binge, but I'm finding myself missing it already - six more episodes are due next year and I'm eagerly looking forward to them.