review provided by Katie and Andrew
Title: Cat’s Eye: Season Two
Director: Kanetsugu Kodama
Studio: Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Author: Tsukasa Hojo
U.S. Distributor: Lucky Penny, Nozomi Entertainment
U.S. Release Date: November 4, 2014
Format and Length: DVD / 37 Episodes / 925 Minutes
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Mystery, Romance
Industry Age Rating: 16 and up
Overall Personal Rating: B
Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Lupin III and Cat’s Eye: Season One
Synopsis:
Hitomi, Rui, and Ai are back in Cat’s Eye: Season Two! Toshio is also in tow and has yet to figure out that Hitomi is a member of Cat’s Eye. As you know, they are the greatest art thieves Japan has ever known. However, they do not steal for money or fame; they do it in the hopes of finding their father, a great painter who went missing after World War II.
A new female thief claiming to be Cat’s Eye starts wreaking havoc in Tokyo while they are off searching for their father in Europe. She steals anything and everything she can get her hands on and her brutal methods are putting the lives of the police, including Toshio, at risk. It is finally time for the real Cat’s Eye to head back to Japan and bring her reign of terror to an end! Will the true Cat’s Eye make it back in time? Will they finally find their father? You will have to watch Cat’s Eye: Season Two to find out.
Commentary:
You really have to love anime series from the 1980’s. Do not allow the age of this series to put you off because Cat’s Eye: Season Two will deliver a truly satisfying experience from the first episode to the ending credits. Cat’s Eye: Season Two is an episodic series so you are able to watch a few episodes at a time in between other series and still know what is going on. Some episodes are better than others but I did not find that any of them really disappointed me.
This season really focuses on the relationship between Hitomi and Toshio and the hilarity that ensues as Hitomi hides her true identity from Toshio. Or in many cases, knocks him out so she is able to make her great escape. Toshio is a very naïve, dense person who cannot figure out that his fiancé is a member of the infamous Cat’s Eye gang. But he really does care for her and maybe love is truly blind. Rui and Ai are interesting characters to say the least. Ai is the tech girl and loves tinkering with stuff as she invents things to use during their robberies. She seems to be a tomboyish high school or college student and loves to cause trouble when she can. Rui is the eldest Kisugi sister and is also the classiest of the three. She is the one who plans all of their robberies.
The animation and audio were re-mastered for this release and the subtitles were updated as well. Even though these series was re-mastered it is still the typical style of animation for the early 1980’s. The fight scenes and anything with fast movement is depicted in stills leaving it up to your imagination as the technology at the time could not handle those scenes. The opening and closing animations are completely 1980’s as they include the characters in unitards dancing around to the workout music of that time.
Extras:
Cat’s Eye: Season Two includes clean opening and closing animations and two Nozomi Entertainment/Lucky Penny trailers per disk as special features. Japanese with English subtitles is the only language option available for this series.
Overall Grade: B
If you have read my previous reviews, you are aware of my love for the old animes I grew up with. It continues to bring me great joy that someone is releasing the true classics. Cat’s Eye: Season Two continues the retro anime being made available to the new generation.
