Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
Cat Planet Cuties Episode 5 – Quick Summary
In Cat Planet Cuties episode 5, “We’ve Come to Rescue You,” Antonia Morfenoss and her cult The Underside of the Kitten’s Paw kidnapped Eris and Kio. Aoi and Manami tried to mount a rescue, but a sketchy director named Takao Kawasaki had already rented the only power boat in the vicinity. Will he be willing to work with Aoi and Manami – and if so, at what price? And just who made Aoi’s high-tech suit, anyway?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Cat Planet Cuties Episode 5
Eris’s civilization knew the temptations of being worshiped. They knew how to handle it, too! Capture from the Blu Ray.
Rewatching this series to write these reviews reminded me of why I like the series so much. It’s among the more realistic depictions of an advanced alien species visiting Earth. Now, before you demand I stop pretending to write “serious” science fiction/action adventure novels, please let me explain.
First, why travel interstellar distances for resources? You can get raw materials pretty much anywhere within a star system for less than the cost of coming to Sol. So, the Catians visiting to check out our “toys and manga”, as Eris said in my favorite moment from episode 4, is plausible. I mean, how likely is it that an alien civilization will have Monster Musume Vol. 1 in stock?
Second, I love how the show treats contact situations. In this episode, one of the maids referred to Eris as the “divine embodiment.” How would a benevolent, advanced civilization respond? They’d say what Eris said in my favorite quote, which was (02:49), “I can’t let you do this. It’s against my service regulations for me to pose as a deity, and be given any special attention by any particular religious order.”
Now, that’s an enlightened civilization!
Favorite Moment from Cat Planet Cuties Episode 5
It felt good to see Aoi express herself. Capture from the Blu Ray.
Setup: Bursting with Creativity
On the heels of saying the show’s a solid example of science fiction, I feel almost silly saying this. But another thing I like about the show is how delightfully random it can be. At the same time, it stays within the bounds it set for itself.
The plot couldn’t have Eris just punch through the wall. In previous episodes, they mentioned her mating season was upon her (which is a weird thing to type!). So, in this episode, when she said her suit wouldn’t react to her because she was “in heat,” it made sense. It also suggested they were an advanced species with the wisdom to know that “in heat” plus “powered assault armor” made for a bad combination. It also meant that they haven’t altered their biology, so they must still have ties to nature.
That also explained why Kio had to wear Eris’s suit. He wasn’t in heat, so the suit would obey him. That actually setup my favorite moment.
Eris wore it better. But in a fight, fashion isn’t the most important thing! Capture from the Blu Ray.
I’ve seen series put women into swimwear for no discernible reason. Or use the tried-and-true beach episode. Neither was good enough for Cat Planet Cuties. Manami and Aoi had to wear ridiculously revealing swim attire to steal the boat from a director who was famous for those kinds of films. And in doing so, they gave him emotionally moving and evocative footage!
It sounds better if I describe it that way.
We know Sarah is an absolute badass. We also know she loves cute things, because we saw her flip to Adoration Mode over the first Assisteroids she saw. So, when her resolve melted upon seeing the Assisteroid in this episode, it made sense. The show had put in the leg work to prepare us. So instead of a random event, these things flowed from the show’s world in a natural way. I respect that level of craftsmanship.
Delivery: Tweaking Tropes in a Good Way
Which brings me to my favorite moment. To set the stage: I hate the damsel in distress trope. When I was in junior high, I read a lot of fantasy, and I liked the idea of the knight saving the damsel. Then some intelligent and fearless young woman sat me down and explained to me how it looked from her perspective. I was suitably chastised. My wife and daughter have only reinforced my opinion on the matter.
But that doesn’t mean no one should ever get saved. It just means the moment has to be earned. And so does the reaction to that moment.
We know that Aoi isn’t just a good fighter. She’s a gifted, well-trained fighter with an advanced combat suit. This episode revealed that the dog race had created the tech in her suit, so she couldn’t punch the Dogishuan Representative. Because of that, that Dogishuan defeated her. The sinking ship seemed poised to take her into the depths with it.
Aoi was in serious trouble, despite having fought as well as could be expected, given the circumstances. Capture from the Blu Ray.
Enter Kio. Of course, this is Cat Planet Cuties. It would not do for Kio to rush in, pick her up, and rush out. That wouldn’t be fun at all! So Kio rushed in, wearing Eris’s suit. He picked her up and hauled her across the slanted deck. And he leapt into the air, carrying Aoi princess style.
“If I’m dreaming,” a groggy Aoi thought looking up at Kio wearing Eris’s suit (21:51), “then I can say it. I… love you…”
Her confession was beautiful. Cat Planet Cuties framed it perfectly with its own brand of creativity. And Manami, still wearing the ridiculously revealing swim suit, waving to them from the circling pontoon boat, put a perfect capstone on the moment.
What did you think of meeting Yuuichi Miyagi again? What were your favorite moments in the episode? Please share in the comments!
Cat Planet Cuties Episode 5: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- The Otaku Author: Cat Planet Cuties (Episode 5) – We’ve Come to Rescue You
- Lost in Anime: Asobi ni Ikuyo! – 5
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 1: The Cat Who Fell to Earth
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 2: I Dropped By
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 3: We’ve Come to Stay
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 4: We’ve Come to Kidnap You
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 5: We’ve Come to Rescue You
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 6: I’ve Practiced
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 7: We’ve Come to Swim
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 8: We Had a Duel
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 9: The Grand First Assisteroid?
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 10: We Came After You
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 11: I Came Looking for You
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 12: I Came to Find You
- Cat Planet Cuties Episode 13: Come Drop By
Yea, this is a fun series if you are not turned off by fan service. My only complaint about the series is that I feel like I am missing some context, particularly during the Alien-Earth diplomacy scenes.
I think I’d like a series that focused on the diplomatic stuff. The scenes they did include made sense to me, but in retrospect, I think it’s because I subconsciously filled in a lot of the blanks.