Cat Planet Cuties was a series that was hard to love, but impossible for me not to like. It was never guilty of taking itself too seriously (thank goodness) and presented the occasional moment of genuine inspiration, an incredibly catchy ED, and some of the best fanservice of the season.
What did I like in Cat Planet Cuties? Eris, for one. She was one of the better examples of her trope – Lala, etc. – in that she was eminently smart and altogether a responsible creature who felt genuine love for Kio and didn’t exist simply to make his life chaotic.
Her decision to bypass her first mating season and wait for him was, in its silly way, rather moving. While she checked off all the necessary otaku boxes – busty, cheerful, horny (when in season) she was also thoughtful (the visit of the first assistroid being a good example) and considerate.
I also enjoyed the pleasingly obscure cultural references this series threw at the audience, showing both a literacy of American and Japanese pop culture and respect for the audience.
Tekkaman Blade suits in the finale were good in their own right, but Professor Jameson and Captain Future? That’s some full-bore deep-diving into the cultural pool there – not to mention Muttley.
Best of all for me? The Assistroids. They were the Cat Planet Cuties’ best contribution to my book. Adorably kawaii, absolutely – but also hilarious. A great vehicle for cultural references, a humorous device for censorship, and with their delightful methods of communication – they were a pure win. They represent the wistful irreverence that this series embodies when it’s at its best.
It wasn’t all success, by any means. The overall plot of Cat Planet Cuties was incredibly complicated and after a time, just not interesting enough to try and decipher. I never thought the romance element heated up much, though I didn’t dislike the main characters.
Kio was fine as the guy at the center of the harem – nothing especially remarkable about him other than his denseness, but he showed enough sense and courage to be useful when times were rough.
Manami’s relentless interfering on Aoi’s behalf became rather annoying, but I think it was supposed to – we saw the fruits of that in the “cat fight” in episode 11.
Manami had that coming – it had to be obvious to everyone in the world except Kio and herself that she was carrying a torch for him herself while trying to deflect by pushing Aoi onto him. And why not – Aoi certainly represented an easier opponent than Eris.
Production-wise, everything was solidly unremarkable. I enjoyed the “travelogue” elements that really showed off Okinawa, if not the product placements. The OP was decent, the last ED extremely catchy, animation and character design agreeable if unremarkable.
That pretty much sums up my feelings about the series as a whole – though the assistroids and the wry pop-culture sensibility nudge it up just a bit above simply agreeable.
Cat Planet Cuties Plot
Kio Kakazu is a kindhearted yet sophisticated guy who is living a dull and boring life. One day, after attending a funeral for the death of one of his ancestors, he is introduced to a girl with cat ears named Eris.
The next morning, he finds her sleeping next to him half-naked. She explains to him that she is an alien and that she has come to Earth to learn more about its inhabitants.
But unbeknownst to them, fanatical alien worshippers and mysterious organizations are in hot pursuit of Eris.
To make matters worse, Kio’s friends turn out to be a part of those organizations. Now it is up to Kio to protect Eris from these shady organizations. But does he have the bravery and skills to do that?
I saw this anime was ecchi and gave it a try. The story is average. There’s no complexity to it, but that’s not the most important thing while watching Ecchi anime anyway.
In a way, the story is kind of interesting and is a good ecchi if you’re looking just for ”ecchiness” It has decent comedy, good characters, and is entertaining.
Story of Cat Planet Cuties
The story of Cat Planet Cuties is simple, a catgirl named Eris is sent to the earth from the planet Catnia to investigate the earth’s culture.
She stumbles upon Kakazu’s uncle, and he takes her home because she’s a cat, not because he’s creepy.
Meanwhile, there’s commotion from certain secret groups about who is going to take Eris because these organizations keep creating incidents to take her.
The Catnia gals make Kakazu’s house the first and new Embassy of Catnia on the planet. There was a race of dogs that came before them to earth and maintained themselves in secret until a dog girl from Dognia wanted to kick out the ”Catnians” from the earth and wanted to destroy Catnia and ”Dognians” will start some conflicts against the ”Catnians” because Dogs hate cats. The story is weird but fine because of that juicy uncensored ”plot”.
Art & Animation of Cat Planet Cuties
The animation was very good, the Ecchi parts were visually pleasant, and the whole thing was well-made. There’s nothing much to say other than that censor Kun doesn’t appear in this anime.
Sound of Cat Planet Cuties
The VA is good, and the music is good. In one episode, the first living assistroid goes to the earth, and at the end, she sings a good song that Chihara Minori performs.
Character in Cat Planet Cuties
They are good; Aoi is interesting; Eris is naive but likable and not annoying as you would imagine naive characters are; Manami is good; Kakazu is not a wuss but also not a pervert; but the ones that I liked the most were the assistroids, especially Chu Yun Fat.
Enjoyment Cat Planet Cuties
I really liked the ecchi this has to offer, but the comedy is decent and the characters were good. There are also winks at other animes like Hidan no Aria, Kampfer (which was mediocre), and others, I had a good time watching this.
