Cat Planet Cuties (Season One)
Waking up to find a cute cat-girl in your bed would probably be a bit of a shock. Imagine discovering the ears and tail are real and you’re now the point of contact for a planet full of cat-girls!
What did you watch?
This was my selection for the letter C in my A to Z Anime Challenge. After watch Blood-C, which I had followed up with Goblin Slayer!, it was time for a bit of mindless fun and Cat Planet Cuties appears to have an abundance of it. The name certainly doesn’t scream seriousness and that was exactly what I needed. It’s good to have a couple of different genres that you can bounce between so that things don’t get too dark. So, let’s talk about Cat Planet Cuties, I know I want to, and as always, there will be spoilers.
What happened?
Kio arrived at the memorial for a deceased relative with the booze his uncle asked him to sneak in. As a reward, his uncle lets him have some and promised to introduce him to a cute girl. That’s where it all gets fuzzy.
The next morning, feeling a little worse for wear, Kio discovers a half-naked girl lying next to him. She also has cat ears and a tail. Before things get close to making any sense two of Kio’s friends, Manami and Maki arrive and are shocked, thinking this to be some sort of cosplay fetish. Next Kio runs into another friend, Aoi, but they are interrupted.
It turns out Cat-girls from the planet Catia are looking to make contact with Earth and set up diplomatic relations. The humans offer them a building to use as their embassy, but they refuse, opting to use Kio’s home as their base. Who knows where his parents are?
What follows is a series of zany adventures and bizarre villains, a tangled love triangle, and a number of cute cat-girls trying to accustom themselves to the traditions on Earth, which usually involve some sort of strip game as unfortunately… it would appear that they are using some books they discovered under Kio’s bed as their reference material…
What did you think?
I went in fully expecting this to be over the top fun and I wasn’t disappointed. The opening episode was a riot. I loved how Kio seemed to be in the middle of this insane set of circumstances thanks to his friends. Manami had been spying on Kio as part of her training to become a CIA operative. She has a crush on Kio but never expected to uncover an alien.
Maki was a part of a group that seeks to make contact with an advanced alien race but was disappointed that first contact was with a cat-girl. Aoi was a secret agent for a government organisation, with access to advanced technology. All three of the girls had an interest in Eris, the cat-girl Kio woke to find in his bed. Everything just escalated from there in a wonderful manner.
At first, you might come into this series expecting it to be full of fluff, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There is a lot of fluff, but it comes with a great deal of substance. Cat Planet Cuties offers some great insights and never forgets that it’s a science fiction story as well as a harem ecchi series. The build-up to the finale is excellent and the final episode is the cherry on top. Then there’s the OVA which is like pouring a load of sticking syrup all over the top.
What was your favourite moment?
So, Manami and Aoi both like Kio and are a little put out that Eris seems to have moved into first place. After a brief falling out, the girls end up having
What was your least favourite moment?
I don’t think I have one. If it wasn’t action, it was
Who was your favourite character?
Most of the central characters were a lot of fun, although I think it’s hard to pick between Manami and Aoi. The two of them together were great to watch. They both did something that I never thought I’d see in a series and was glad that it finally happened.
One of the robot-cat helpers was kidnapped while they were both having a bath. It seems to be incredibly common for the Japanese to bathe together, or at least that’s what anime teaches us. Anyhow, both leapt out of the bathtub and gave pursuit on a motorcycle… completely naked. I’m tired of the cliche where everyone is embarrassed by their bodies so much that they can’t move, so it was a breath of fresh air to see two characters getting their priorities straight.
Who was your least favourite character?
It’s probably the leader of the cat-girl cult, Antonia but only because she was a bit over the top… even for this show. After her, Kio was a nothing character. He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t terrible either. Anyhow, let’s not focus on the minor negative elements and get back to the great stuff.
Which character needs more screen time?
More time for Manami and Aoi. Admittedly, they did play very large roles in the series, but there’s always room for more. And dare I say it, more segments with the cat-girls learning about Earth games…
Would you like some more?
Honestly, it doesn’t sound like much and with the title, it’s not claiming to be anything special, but I had a lot of fun. Way more than I ever expected. If they can come up with enough jokes to make more, I would keep watching them. Again it’s just mindless entertainment with good looking girls and hilarious situations.
It even managed to squeeze in the dream harem situation. While Manami and Aoi were fighting over Kio, Eris let them know that on her planet it’s fine to have multiple mates, and as Kio’s house is the embassy, it’s officially part of her homeworld. So that means… Hang on, what???
What have you learnt?
Comedy is hard to write. A joke can fall flat quickly, especially without the aid of visuals. I have mentioned before that I have a plot for a harem comedy planned out, so I will definitely consider rewatching this to see what I can draw from it. I don’t know when I’m going to write it, but I need to find the time because it made me laugh out loud just plotting the scenes.
Other Posts in the Series
- Season One
- Episode 1 – The Cat Who Fell to Earth
- Episode 2 – I Dropped By
- Episode 3 – We’ve Come to Stay
- Episode 4 – We’ve Come to Kidnap You
- Episode 5 – We’ve Come to Rescue You
- Episode 6 – I’ve Practiced
- Episode 7 – We’ve Come to Swim
- Episode 8 – We Had a Duel
- Episode 9 – The Grand First Assistroid?
- Episode 10 – We Came After You
- Episode 11 – I Came Looking for You
- Episode 12 – I Came to Find You
- OVA
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Amazing.
I love a good mindless comedy after something more serious or drawn out.
Who wouldn’t want to play twister with a bunch of cat girls?
It really was a lot of fun. I didn’t expect to enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did. It’s worth a rewatch that’s for sure.
“I’m tired of the cliche where everyone is embarrassed by their bodies so much that they can’t move, so it was a breath of fresh air to see two characters getting their priorities straight.”
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who thought this!
I think this show was one of those deceptively simple comedies that was actually more deep. I mean, how many comedies have a line like Eris saying “It is against my service regulations to pose as a deity?”
Yeah. A real simple and straightforward story with some very astute and funny elements. The more I think about it the more I want to watch it again and really pay attention… and not just to the strip games!
And yes, I hate that nudity is such a crippling factor for so many characters. Like if things really matter, who cares about a bit skin. Just get it done.
Cat Planet Cuties – one of my “guilty pleasure” anime! 🙂 I love how shamelessly over-the-top it is. It’s fast food anime at it’s finest, and doesn’t pretend to be anything else.
Yeah, I’m still surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Just unadulterated fun from start to finish.
In fairness, they *did* get self-conscious about their bodies, especially Manami, when they realized Kio had just seen them.
True, but only after it was all done. Just the fact that they ran after the kidnappers with no clothes on puts them leagues ahead of most anime girls in that category.