Review of Cat Planet Cuties

Reevothemusefan

Vampire Ninja
<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/2014-01-12CatPlanet.jpg">

<b>topic_title by Reevothemusefan</b>

When I go into these kind of shows, I expect fan service and a somewhat simple plot but <em>Cat Planet Cuties </em>attempts to add a bit more to the formula, injecting&nbsp;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.<br>\r\n\r\nThe show was animated by&nbsp; AIC Plus+ who worked on <em>Date A Live&nbsp;</em>and <em>Cat God</em>, and the director is Youichi Ueda whose only other directorial credit was the fourth season of <em>Hayate the Combat Butler</em>.<br>\r\n\r\nWe begin with a surprisingly dark, action-packed introduction that left me a bit jaded, but after that we are introduced to&nbsp;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&nbsp;we then discover that Eris is a Catian, an alien&nbsp;sent to explore earth. However, a lot of earth organizations are not happy with the first alien life form being a cute girl,&nbsp;so they aim to take action.<br>\r\n\r\n<em>Cat Planet Cuties</em> 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&nbsp;a nice way to separate the generic random nudity. Catian&nbsp;Eris gives&nbsp;helpful details&nbsp;as to&nbsp;why aliens have finally made contact with humans and there is also&nbsp;some decent world building.<br>\r\n\r\nThe 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&nbsp;English and Japanese versions&nbsp;got some chuckles out of me at times.<br>\r\n\r\nSpeaking 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, <em>Cat Planet Cuties</em>&nbsp;is pretty crazy, however...<br>\r\n\r\nThe worst aspect&nbsp;is easily the characterization and the love triangle that's set up&nbsp;between the main characters. Kakazu is sadly another generic male lead who rarely shows any emotion throughout the series&nbsp;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&nbsp;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,&nbsp;and is&nbsp;also one of the worst characters, the reason&nbsp;being that&nbsp;most of her dialogue is forcing Aoi to confess to Kakazu, which&nbsp;happens&nbsp;during the majority of the second half of the show.<br>\r\n\r\nI would also like to add that the show has its&nbsp;fair&nbsp;share of sci-fi references:&nbsp; <em>Armageddon; 2001 Space Odyssey </em>and <em>Star Trek</em> (English localisation introduces plenty of <em>Star Trek</em> jokes). They don't&nbsp;contribute to the comedy that much but&nbsp;enhance the sci-fi aspects of <em>Cat Planet Cuties.</em><br>\r\n\r\nAnother thing I noticed&nbsp;when looking back at&nbsp;my notes, is that the show is actually well animated, the gun-fights&nbsp;are stylish, and the CGI on the spaceships looks great at times; however the character designs are the least interesting part about the presentation.<br>\r\n\r\nPlot-wise, the first two episodes are interesting and a lot of fun but&nbsp;after that&nbsp;the plot is put&nbsp;on the back seat until the final two episodes, where it becomes even more ridiculous&nbsp;and doesn't really succeed. The poor characterization and dialogue affect the mid-part of the show, which, in my view,&nbsp;makes it into nothing more than an average harem anime. It's also a show that doesn't censor its fan service.<br>\r\n\r\nLast note on this release is that it contains&nbsp;some robots that hold up signs to communicate, yet as none of the signs&nbsp;are translated&nbsp;in the English dub, you&nbsp;have to switch to Japanese subtitles to read them.<br>\r\n\r\nExtra's include commentaries for episodes 1 and 9, a collection of end of episode features, and&nbsp;a parody of those features as well as&nbsp;Textless OP&nbsp; and EDs.<br>\r\n\r\nIn Summary<br>\r\n\r\nIf you're looking for another fun, ecchi fan service anime, then this should fill that gap, but the weak romance&nbsp;and drama might have a negative effect on your enjoyment of the show.<br>\r\n
<b>Final score: 6 out of 10</b>

<b>Additional screencaps</b>

<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-01-12vlcsnap-2013-12-27-21h19m35s21.png">



<b>Additional screencaps</b>

<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-01-12vlcsnap-2013-12-27-22h29m39s28.png">



<b>Additional screencaps</b>

<img src="http://www.animeuknews.net/img/uploaded/screens/2014-01-12vlcsnap-2014-01-12-19h52m17s11.png">
 
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