You’ll just about have to scrape what’s left of me off the floor after that one.

I have no resistance to an episode like that whatsoever, so if you’re scratching at the door looking for balanced criticism, you’re not going to get it.  That cut right past the analytical thinker in me without passing “Go” or collecting $200 and went straight to my soul.  I love cats like I love Japan – even more, to be honest – always have, deep at the molecular level.  Of course I love anime that aren’t afraid of honest emotion too, so stick them together and it’s pretty much over before the starter can fire his pistol.  Goodnight, nurse – see you on the flipside…

The first thing that I want to say it that the thing with the PET bottle (surely that was an intentional pun?) and the cat food is absolute genius, and I’m astonished that I’ve never heard of it before.  Make them eat slowly (mind you, not all cats have a problem eating too fast, but Haru is a stray), get them some exercise to boot – talk about a win-win.  Somehow I think some felines would get more pissed off about it than anything, but Haru didn’t seem to mind at all.  All in all she’s a little trooper, considering everything she’s had to deal with.

Of course the bottle is the result of Ookami Nana’s intervention, as she stops by (as promised) to offer some advice on cat care to Subaru.  Like it or not the world is opening up for Subaru, and he’s actually even starting to be aware of other people’s needs and feelings.  And no matter what a cynic may tell you yes, sharing your house with a pet will do that to you.  It forces you (unless you’re a sociopath) to become a nurturer whether you have the experience or temperament or not.  I think this is even more true with cats, because with dogs you never have to try very hard to know what they’re thinking or feeling – they have no power of deception.  Cats, on the other, constantly invite you to ponder those things if you’re a person of any curiosity or empathy whatsoever.

That whole bit with Nana’s key was a somewhat unlikely but very clever way to get Subaru not just over to her house (and show us his emotional growth), but inside it with Haru in tow (since Nana didn’t want to try and pry the key off her claw).  Nana has two cats herself, and they’re played by a couple of major names – the adult (and former ball of yarn) is Roku (Tsuda Kenjirou) and the kitten is Hachi (Murase Ayumu).  Whether there’s any meaning to naming her kitties “Six” and “Eight” I don’t know (OH ! Duh – “Roku, Nana, Hachi”.  How effing cute is that?), but it turns out to be no coincidence that Hachi is a “tuxedo” just like Haru – he’s her lost little brother.

Now, for the record, there’s no good reason to expect an older and younger siblings would be together where stray cats are concerned, but as I said you’re not going to get analytical nitpicking from me after that episode.  Cleverly, we don’t actually know for a fact that Hachi is the lost brother Haru dreams about until her turn in the narrative comes – but when it does, there’s no doubt in either of their minds (in fact, she smelled him on Nana’s key).  I can also tell you from experience that cats which know each other well and haven’t seen each for a long time will absolutely react that way when they see each other – that’s no anthropomorphic conceit.  I’ve seen it with my own eyes more than once.

One more thought – while it’s easy to suppose that cats ate the consummate tsunderes – and Haru certainly is one – they’re not.  I’ve known deredere cats, tsuntsun cats, and every notch on the ruler in-between.  Why should Haru automatically know to emotionally bond with Subaru when she’s never seen humans in that light before?  Cats, like children, need to be socialized – and Subaru never even called Haru by name unless he was feeding her.  The wonderful thing here is that Haru and Subaru are learning how to bond at the same time, and each of them comes from a background where loving someone caused them emotional pain.  They’re helping each other break up the scar tissue and trust again, but it’s a slow process.

That bit with the name was a great way to finish things off, and it was rather fitting that it was Hachi – Haru’s true family – who clued her in as to what Subaru was on about.  Haru is a survivor, and Subaru was useful in ensuring her physical well-being.  But bonding for its own sake?  That’s a foreign concept to her (though no longer to Hachi, thanks to Nana).  This was a major step forward though, to be sure.  And I’d be remiss in not mentioning this fellow, who shows up at the last and seems rather suspicious of Subaru’s presence.  Could the romance flags be blown away before they’ve ever even been fully hoisted?  I have my doubts about that, but we’ll see next week I suspect.