A Whisker Away | 2020 | NR | – 2.3.2

Why is “A Whisker Away” rated NR? The MPAA has not rated this film. The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes conversations about love and unrequited love, flirting, a few scenes of falls with some minor injuries, a fight scene with no injuries shown, threats of taking away the “lifespans” of children, discussions of running away from things that are difficult, and some mild language and name-calling. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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An animated tale about a teen girl (voiced by Mirai Shida) who has a crush on a teen boy (voiced by Natsuki Hanae) and has trouble sharing her feelings, until she meets an unusual man that provides her with a way: By putting on a magical mask, she transforms into a cat and is able to be with the boy without him knowing that it is her. Everything seems to be working out until she is told that she has to choose permanently between being a cat or a human. Also with the voices of Susumu Chiba, Ayako Kawasumi, Minako Kotobuki and Daisuke Namikawa. Directed by Jun’ichi Satô & Tomotaka Shibayama. In Japanese with English subtitles. [Running Time: 1:44]

A Whisker Away SEX/NUDITY 2

 – A teen girl follows a teen boy and makes a remark about spending the night together and the boy becomes alarmed and storms away. A teen girl remembers snuggling with a teen boy and kissing him on the cheek. A teen girl runs up from behind a boy and bumps him with her hip, knocking him forward; she yells that the move is an “expression of love.” A teen boy and a teen girl hold hands. A teen girl seems to have a crush on a young man and tries to be around him.
► Teen boys tease a teen boy and a teen girl about liking each other and one mockingly says, “Can I kiss you?” A man quizzes his teen daughter about a teen boy that she likes; she becomes embarrassed and insists that he is not her boyfriend. A teen girl calls out to her mother, “Mom your panties are huge,” while she folds laundry.
► A girl transforms into a cat and these scenes involve a teen boy she has a crush on: The teen boy touches his nose to the cat’s nose a few times, he rubs the cat’s injured leg (the cat meows with pleasure), the cat seems to hug the teen boy, and the cat says in voiceover that she wants to hear the teen boy say, “I love you.”
► A woman takes laundry off a clothesline and we see a bra (she calls it “tacky”).

A Whisker Away VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A teen girl climbs on the roof of a building and jumps off as others yell and watch; she crashes through a tree and lands on her feet on the ground (we see scratches on her legs and face and her leg is shown bandaged later). Two girls bully another girl and she becomes angry and throws her shoes a them (they are each struck in the face and yell). A cat runs along rooftops in a few scenes, it transforms into a teen girl and the girl drops a mask, she reaches for it, and falls off the roof; the girl transforms back into a cat before landing on the ground unharmed. A large cat pulls a glowing form out of another cat (identified as the lifespan) and threatens to keep it. Two women argue over a teen girl; one slaps the other in the face, the other slaps her back and they pull each other’s hair. A large cat takes a mask (of a human face) from another cat and says he’ll keep it and that the other cat will stay a cat now. A young girl runs to the water’s edge and screams, followed by another girl that cries and calls after her. A teen girl put a mask on a teen boy and his hands turn to cat paws. A large cat pushes up through a sink drain in a bar, another cat hits him on the head with a thrown cup, another hits him in the head with a frypan and several others pounce on him. A large cat breaks up through a wooden floor and grabs another cat; the second cat falls and lands on the ground and then follows a teen boy in a tram high above and the cat climbs and tries to get close to him; the teen boy jumps out of the tram, crashes into a tree limb, dangles from it and pulls himself up to run away. A big cat grabs another cat and a teen boy and threatens to take their lifespans; the teen boy attacks the cat and the cat screams, “Ow!” Several cats pounce on another cat and a cloud of dust puffs out of the pile they make (we see the big cat pinned down under several cats later).
► Two teen boys mock a teen girl for a letter she wrote to a teen boy and one boy reads the letter out loud in front of other students until the subject of the letter tells the teen girl that he hates her and she storms away; the teen girl pushes a desk onto one of the bullies, pinning him (we do not see injuries). A teen girl jumps into a tree from her balcony and onto the street as a cat after an argument with her parents and they run out onto the street trying to find her. A teen boy bumps his head on a branch (there are no injuries).
► A teen girl walks alone on a dark path and encounters a man that speaks to her with a deep voice. A teen girl walks among several large brightly colored cat forms with glowing eyes (seems like a dream); she becomes frightened and a large cat holds out its paw to her. A cat jumps on a teen boy and they tumble down a hill (there are no injuries). A teen girl runs toward a teen boy and she falls on the floor. Teens tease another teen girl for fawning over a teen boy. A cat teases another cat about never being able to tell a teen boy that the cat is really a teen girl with a crush on him. A cat appears to be walking in the sky and we see a path appear that leads to a giant tree with large twisted roots.
► A teen boy and a teen girl argue with their mother about selling a studio where their grandfather makes pottery. Two cats argue in several scenes. A teen boy argues with his mother on the phone. A woman rushes to a teen girl and asks her if she is feeding her (referring to her stepmother) and the woman says, “You are skin and bone.” A teen girl says, “I hope the world ends soon,” after arguing with her mother. A reference is made to a woman and that she “Blew her gasket.” People talk about a teen girl having run away from home. A teen girl says, “I messed up.” A restaurant sign shows a picture of a rat and the proprietor tries to invite a cat inside by saying, “Our rats are fresh.” A teen girl runs away from her mother when the woman asks her about another woman living with her father (she is presumably to become her stepmother). A large cat tells another cat that she will have to give him her human face and that he will take over her lifespan leaving her to be a cat forever.

A Whisker Away LANGUAGE 2

 – 2 sexual references, 1 mild scatological term, 1 mild anatomical terms, name-calling (grumpy, sexy, sexy voice, silly, tacky, strange, scary, rude, disgusting, shady, a nobody, useless, runaway friend, losers, Miss Ultra Gaga and Enigmatic, bully, idiot, cruel, liar, depressing, miserable, shy, fat, self-centered), exclamations (shut-up, stuff it, oh shoot, whatever, oh man, hold it, oh my gosh, I can’t wait, go for it, hey, buzz off, bingo, knock it off, wait up, are you serious, oh come on, none of your business, what the…), 1 religious exclamation (Oh My God). | profanity glossary |

A Whisker Away SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man smokes a pipe in a few scenes, and a cat smokes a pipe in several scenes. Several cats are shown drinking beer in a bar.

A Whisker Away DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Love, magic, running away from problems, fear, abandonment, divorce, bullying, animal spirits, insecurity, regret, guilt.

A Whisker Away MESSAGE

 – It can be hard to confess your feelings but it’s best to be honest.