She and Her Cat: Everything Flows is a short anime series by Sakamoto Kazuya. The series stems off Makoto Shinkai’s previous work She and Her Cat: Their Standing Points made in 1999. Kazuya has directed episodes of series such as Air and Clannad, while Shinkai is known for his films such as Voices of a Distant Star and 5 Centimetres per Second. So audiences know their in for a feel-fest when they begin this series.

She and Her Cat: Everything Flows, follows the life of an old black cat named Daru and his female owner. Episodes are only 5-8 minutes long, with a 2 minute ending theme song. In such a short amount of time, Kazuya manages to engage with incredibly deep themes and create a strong bond with audiences. Daru joins his owner in her childhood, her father is no longer around, and she is struggling having to live in a new neighbourhood and join a new school. In the present, her best friend has just moved out of their flat share, and  the owner is struggling to find her place in the world. Throughout her life, Daru tries his best to comfort her and be with her.

In a way this series changed the way that I interacted with my cats. Usually I talk to them in ‘baby talk’, without really thinking that they understood much of what was going on with me. It sounds odd, but I have a bit more of an appreciation of why my cats do certain actions at certain times. Although I could be thinking about it too deeply, I like to think that my cats look out for me the same way that Daru looked out for his owner.

I highly recommend this series to all cat lovers and owners. It’s just a really interesting look into the life of a cat, and the relationship dynamic between cat and owner. Some websites list the series as being romance – I can assure you there’s no romantic love in this series. It’s just the love between a cat and his owner. 9/10