Cat Planet Cuties

When I go into these kind of shows, I expect fan service and a somewhat simple plot but Cat Planet Cuties attempts to add a bit more to the formula, injecting more action/sci-fi into the mix. While this leads to the show being stupid fun, other elements do ruin this anime from time to time.

The show was animated by  AIC Plus+ who worked on Date A Live and Cat God, and the director is Youichi Ueda whose only other directorial credit was the fourth season of Hayate the Combat Butler.

We begin with a surprisingly dark, action-packed introduction that left me a bit jaded, but after that we are introduced to our main character, Kakazu, a teenage boy who bumps into a cat alien called Eris during a village party. After some small talk and an accidental sip of beer by Kakazu, he faints and is taken to his room. Eris takes a liking to him and follows him to his house and we then discover that Eris is a Catian, an alien sent to explore earth. However, a lot of earth organizations are not happy with the first alien life form being a cute girl, so they aim to take action.

Cat Planet Cuties is not what I was initially expecting; the show actually has a bunch of gun fights and action set pieces throughout the series which is a nice way to separate the generic random nudity. Catian Eris gives helpful details as to why aliens have finally made contact with humans and there is also some decent world building.

The comedy can be pretty good in itself; one of my favourite moments is when a supporting character’s name is revealed as – ‘Antonia Lirimonie Norfedras Papanorgas Arecroteles Cnorses Morfenoss’ and another is Eris calling Monopoly a game on Capitalist Society. Both English and Japanese versions got some chuckles out of me at times.

Speaking of action sequences, one of the biggest strengths of the show is the action and how stupid it can get: maids with miniguns, a cult full of cat lovers and a superhero sentai finale, Cat Planet Cuties is pretty crazy, however…

The worst aspect is easily the characterization and the love triangle that’s set up between the main characters. Kakazu is sadly another generic male lead who rarely shows any emotion throughout the series and lacks characterization. Eris is the more interesting character since the anime centres around her; I liked her introduction, since humans seem to treat her like any other person, although she is also the character most used for fan service. The third member of the triangle is Aoi who at first glance is the clumsy ditz of the group but turns out to be a well trained assassin. Then there’s Manami, a tomboy who wants to join the CIA, and is also one of the worst characters, the reason being that most of her dialogue is forcing Aoi to confess to Kakazu, which happens during the majority of the second half of the show.

I would also like to add that the show has its fair share of sci-fi references:  Armageddon; 2001 Space Odyssey and Star Trek (English localisation introduces plenty of Star Trek jokes). They don’t contribute to the comedy that much but enhance the sci-fi aspects of Cat Planet Cuties.

Another thing I noticed when looking back at my notes, is that the show is actually well animated, the gun-fights are stylish, and the CGI on the spaceships looks great at times; however the character designs are the least interesting part about the presentation.

Plot-wise, the first two episodes are interesting and a lot of fun but after that the plot is put on the back seat until the final two episodes, where it becomes even more ridiculous and doesn’t really succeed. The poor characterization and dialogue affect the mid-part of the show, which, in my view, makes it into nothing more than an average harem anime. It’s also a show that doesn’t censor its fan service.

Last note on this release is that it contains some robots that hold up signs to communicate, yet as none of the signs are translated in the English dub, you have to switch to Japanese subtitles to read them.

Extra’s include commentaries for episodes 1 and 9, a collection of end of episode features, and a parody of those features as well as Textless OP  and EDs.

In Summary

If you’re looking for another fun, ecchi fan service anime, then this should fill that gap, but the weak romance and drama might have a negative effect on your enjoyment of the show.