My Roommate is a Cat

Episode 7

"The Ones Who Can't Be Controlled" is an apt name for an episode focusing on Haru's first encounter with human children. Kids love kitties—but they don't always know how to treat them. When my family got our first cats, Charlie and George, I was 13 and my sister was 10, which meant she wasn't quite old enough to understand that she should treat the cats differently from her stuffed toys. She carried Charlie everywhere, and he both hated it and never forgot it. Even once she got into middle and high school, he would listen for the bus coming down the street in the afternoon and run and hide, knowing it meant she was coming home. My point is that I get the frustration Haru feels dealing with kids. And I get Subaru's frustration, too! Kids are adorable and wonderful, but it can be difficult to know what to do with them if you're a childless adult.

I've discussed before how these episodes show Subaru coming out of his shell as his cat opens him up to more encounters with people. But in the case of this episode, the story makes it especially direct. At the beginning, Subaru is discussing his book's upcoming publication and gets upset at the idea of signing autographs. Interacting with the public to that degree is just too much for him. But at the end of the episode, he decides that after the socially-straining day that he's weathered, an autograph session doesn't seem too bad. Those clear reminders at the beginning and end of each episode create a through-line from point A to point B, showing us that Subaru coming out of his shell is the "real story" in the most obvious way possible. I don't know why the series has to be this upfront—it's not exactly subtle the rest of the time—but I also kind of like the clean book-ended structure this time.

As a person with social anxiety, I would find something like Subaru's autograph session a lot less stressful, because I'm more in control of that hypothetical situation. It's why I've never really had problems with that most common variety of social anxiety: fear of public speaking. More difficult for me are situations like Subaru's encounter with the family of kids through most of this episode, interacting with people I don't know on a more equal basis. It's a situation where I have much less control, where unpredictable things can happen. That seems to be Subaru's biggest fear—which is perhaps why his ability to survive this much more unpredictable situation gives him new confidence for signing autographs.

What most amused me was the similarity between Subaru and Haru's reactions to all these wild kids. (She seemed pretty happy during that dinner scene, but it turns out she really just wanted food. Of course.) There's a fun conversation to be had about whether people's personalities can be detected through their preference for pets. While I've certainly met gregarious extroverts who love cats (such as my stepdad) and taciturn loners who prefer dogs, it does seem to be that "cat people" and "dog people" connect to these animals based on seeing ourselves in them. It can be hard to explain what's so lovable about cats to dedicated "dog people", because many of the qualities they hate in cats are what we find so endearing, like their prickliness, pickiness, and unpredictable nature compared to the consistent affection and playfulness of a canine. Since they're so small and fluffy, there's just this je ne sais quoi to watching a cute little fuzzball coldly reject someone or comically overreact to some small irritation. But I also think lots of cat owners see ourselves in the animals—and perhaps they can make us feel better about not being the most outgoing or adventurous of people.

In the case of Subaru, he pretty clearly likes Haru because of these similarities. Other than stuff like the vet trip where Haru lacks knowledge of the situation like her human, their reactions are often strikingly similar. This episode is another example, since kids are an unfamiliar annoyance to both of them, making taxing demands on their time and personal space in different ways. At the end of the episode, both of them seemed ready to say that they had it worse that day, before taking a moment to consider the other's perspective. Unlike Haru, Subaru didn't have an excuse to run and hide; he knew what was happening and had to remain the adult in the situation. On the other hand, he wasn't being literally towed around like a stuffed toy, with the kids holding Haru in a way that is particularly bad for handling cats. Even for a cat that seems to like being held like Haru, that has to be very stressful. I like how Haru tries to claw them and then remembers Miz Tora's advice to protect small creatures—in general, she kept finding inspiration in her old mentor's advice throughout the episode.

Subaru makes some important social connections in this episode. The main one is Nagisa, the eldest of his friend's younger siblings, and the only one old enough for him to remember from his own childhood. It's obvious that these two are kindred spirits on some level, as Nagisa seems pretty shy and nervous herself. Yet she gets up the nerve to talk to Subaru about one of his favorite subjects: books. Nagisa is the student librarian at her high school, and she needs some recommendations. Subaru has stressed out about giving book recs before; he both really wants to be asked, because like most book lovers, he loves gushing about his favorites—but he's also nervous about getting it right. This week, he stresses out about all the ways he can get it wrong, because Nagisa is younger, she's a girl, and he doesn't know her general tastes. I almost cheered when he came back with the book to give to her, since the show fakes you out with that scene, making you think that he's running away from this stressful encounter. It just goes to show how Subaru has grown as a person. I hope we get to see more book interaction with him and Nagisa in the future.

We also get some cool callbacks to previous episodes. When the food gets delivered, the shop owners are the original Haru and her mother. Human Haru recognizes her cat counterpart as one she used to see as a stray around her home, and wants to stay to interact with her more. I have a feeling we'll see more Haru-Haru encounters in the future, and I really hope we do. The next-door neighbor and her dog also have a brief cameo, expressing surprise that Subaru has visitors over. Maybe as he comes out of his shell more, he'll eventually think to have them over too, bringing their pet friends together. I appreciate that My Roommate is a Cat isn't dropping either of these important past relationships in its main characters' lives.

I love that in that final cuddling scene together, Haru snores. My cat Casey snores so loud that you can hear him across the room, and visitors often mistake him for a human snoring. It's a reminder that cats are more like us than we think, which is why Subaru and Haru are able to learn and grow from each other's behavior. It's also just sweet how Haru recognizes the comfort she finds in her owner's scent, and maybe it's okay to let her guard down around him for a while. There are few things that feel quite so magical as a cat deciding to sleep on you, and I think that's precisely because of how picky cats can be. When one likes you, you feel like you've been "chosen," leading you to wonder what you must have done so right to win the affection of this very choosy animal. I hope that Haru's attention and love can help Subaru gain more confidence and learn that he isn't as unsociable as he thought, and it looks like he's already getting there, step by step.

Rating: A

My Roommate is a Cat is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a Ph.D. student in musicology, who recently released a book about the music of Cowboy Bebop. You can also follow her on Twitter.