History Anime / TheCatReturns

* AerithAndBob: "Von Gikkingen" might sound too weird for a surname, even for Germans. It has no translation since a surname with "von" (''of'') in it is usually combined with an actual word.
** It is actually NOT that weird. A "Von X" surname usually has the X refer to a place (either a town or landmark [such as castles, rivers, etc]). If the Baron comes from the Cat Kingdom as well, then it might as well be a place there which would make his name perfectly legit.
** Placenames ending with "-ingen" are quite common in southwestern Germany and a noble family "von Gickingen" (in the correct German spelling) did actually exist. It still sounds a little bit ridiculous though.

* ConspicuousCG: The movable walls in the maze.

* NonMammalianHair: Some of the male cats in the Cat Kingdom have mustaches and facial hair.

* CoolCat: To an extent, almost every named character in the Cat Kingdom with Muta and the Baron as special mentions.

* SomethingElseAlsoRises: Probably unintentional example, but when transformingtintocat!Haru is dancing with [[spoiler: the disguised Baron]], she stares up at him with an uh, ''special'' gaze, contemplates to herself about having never felt this sort of feeling before...and whiskers suddenly spring out of her face.

* KarmicTransformation: For Haru after forcefully taken to the Cat Kingdom.

* LargeHam: The Cat King, voiced by '''[[Creator/TimCurry TIM CURRY]]'''.

-->'''Haru''':(thinking) Maybe being a cat won't be so bad...(POP)

* CursedWithAwesome: A meta example with Haru's transformation into a CatGirl. She's upset by this and spends the second half of the film trying to reverse the transformation, whereas many {{furr|yFandom}}ies would embrace it.

* ArrangedMarriage: The king tried to wed Haru to Lune. But when he found out that [[spoiler:Lune already wanted to marry Yuki, he has no objection at all and is very happy for his son.]] So he tries to get Haru to marry ''him''.

* ButtMonkey: The beginning shows Haru having bad things happen to her, including getting to school late, being humiliated in front of her classmastes, and generally being clumsy. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished And then she rescues a cat]] [[FromBadToWorse and everything goes to hell]].

* CursedWithAwesome: A meta example with Haru's transformation into a CatGirl. She's upset by this and spends the second half of the film trying to reverse the transformation, whereas many [[FurryFandom furries]] would embrace it.

* DeadToBeginWith: In the original manga, [[spoiler:all the cats from Cat Kingdom are spirits that chose to stay behind and live on their own private world. It also leads to a small Tearjerker when Haru realizes that her childhood friend Yuki was dead all along.]] The manga heavily implies that [[spoiler:Muta is a spirit as well.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]], as Haru's life got ''worse'' when the Cat Kingdom made her princess. She reaches her DarkestHour once she tries on the [[PimpedOutDress ballroom gown]].

** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with Muta, who appears to be a GrumpyBear, but is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who's loyal to his friends.

* {{Freeze Sneeze}}[=/=]{{Plot Allergy}}: Haru wakes up sneezing the morning after her first visit by the cats. The English dub seems to attribute this to the cattails planted outside her window - she later tells the messenger that she's allergic to them. She doesn't say this (or at least not explicitly) in the Japanese version or in the manga, and as the cattails were planted elsewhere in the manga, it appears she was just cold from her bedclothes being out of place.

* HumanoidFemaleAnimal: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] with [[CatGirl Haru]], as her transformation into a cat was a gradual one.

* LighterAndSofter: The film compared to the manga. [[TropesAreNotBad Not that this is a bad thing]].

* LostAesop: [[StockAesops Believe in your abilities]]? [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop No good deed goes unpunished]]?, [[FantasticAesop Don't marry talking cats]]? It's all rather vague.

-->'''Cat King:''' [{{Beat}}] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking That's me, babe]].

* RecurringExtra: The somewhat [[TheStoic indifferent]] GlassesGirl, that is seen with Hiromi twice and only speaks a few words. [[AndZoidberg Her name is Chika by the way.]]

* StandardHeroReward: Deconstructed throughout the film. For saving the prince of the cat kingdom, Haru is offered his paw in marriage. At first she's hesitant about making a gentle refusal, but the idea of being married to a cat horrifies her. She goes to the Baron for advice on how to get out of this, since the cats don't exactly take "no" for an answer. It also turns out that [[spoiler:Prince Lune was in love with another cat, and was in the human world to get a special food for her.]]

* TheWallsHaveEyes: The castle is surrounded by floating eyeballs, which serve as surveillance for the king.

* {{Dubtitle}}: Disney's DVD release, unfortunately.

* ImagineSpot: Haru has a brief one about being declared "cat husband and wife," in the traditional Japanese style. She lets out a BigNo about it.

* StandardHeroAward: Deconstructed throughout the film. For saving the prince of the cat kingdom, Haru is offered his paw in marriage. At first she's hesitant about making a gentle refusal, but the idea of being married to a cat horrifies her. She goes to the Baron for advice on how to get out of this, since the cats don't exactly take "no" for an answer. It also turns out that [[spoiler:Prince Lune was in love with another cat, and was in the human world to get a special food for her.]]

* ArrangedMarriage: The king tried to wed Haru to Lune. But when he found out that Lune already wanted to marry Yuki, he has no objection at all and is very happy for his son. So he tries to get Haru to marry ''him''.

* {{Badass}}: The Baron and Muta, who fend off the king and his guards .

* SpeaksFluentAnimal: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed.]] As a child Haru claimed she could talk to cats, but forgot about this ability as she grew older. After saving Lune, she suddenly rediscovers it. It's left ambiguous as to whether this is actually an ability Haru possesses, or if the cats themselves are secretly able to speak and only show this to certain people. In the case of the Baron and Toto, their speech seems to stem from the fact that they're magical artifacts to begin with.

* CatsAreMagic

* EvilChancellor: It's more than evident that Natori is the real power behind the Cat Kingdom's throne. He may look a bit shady and untrusty at a first glance, but actually he is...

** In the English dub, Muta tells Toto to go and "fry" himself.

* LennonSpecs: The king's advisor, Natori, wears one with green lenses.

* LoveImbuesLife

* Dubtitle: Disney's DVD release, unfortunately.

->''If you find yourself troubled by something mysterious, or a problem that's hard to solve, there's a place you can go where you'll always find help...''

A sort-of sequel to ''Anime/WhisperOfTheHeart'' [[FictionalDocument conceived as a story written by the protagonist of the previous film]], '''''The Cat Returns''''' ('''''Neko no Ongaeshi''''', literally "The Cats Repay a Favor") tells a similar ComingOfAgeStory tale about Haru, a high-school girl learning to take confidence in her own abilities.

* {{Freeze Sneeze}}[=/=]{{Plot Allergy}}: [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/baron_the_cat_returns/v01/c001/28.html Haru wakes up sneezing]] the morning after her first visit by the cats. The English dub seems to attribute this to the cattails planted outside her window - she later tells the messenger that she's allergic to them. She doesn't say this (or at least not explicitly) in the Japanese version or in the manga, and as the cattails were planted elsewhere in the manga, it appears she was just cold from her bedclothes being out of place.