Welcome to another S-Tier Analysis, this time covering the sexy theives of Cat's Eye.
Stealing with a Purpose
The Kisugi Sisters are more than just a bunch of art thieves, it would be so easy to cast them as a bunch of thrill seekers who do it because they can like Rouge the Bat or Carmen Sandiego, instead they only steal back in most cases their father's art pieces in order to find him, funded by an associate and under the unsubtle disguise as a coffee shop, the Kisugi sisters use every trick in the book to avoid the police as well as the various crime lords who hold on to the art pieces, sometimes they even compete with other thieves including Lupin the 3rd.
A Work of Art in Animation
In order to get round much of the 80s animation, season 1 was styled in a way that it felt like a painting while watching, the set pieces with the music and allure of the three leads make every episode a work of art in it's own right creating an aesthetic unique to them, season 2 loses some of that art style as it's budget increased but more than makes up in sex appeal.
Three Women with Perfect Personalities
I've mentioned before that Rui is the perfect sexy woman, she knows how to use her charms to win favour in any given situation, presenting herself with a rich adult sophistication and never feels the need to find love and romance as she feels perfectly content with herself whether it be making a coffee or infiltrating a casino, she's also the voice of reason for her sisters and even Toshi.
Hitomi plays off an interesting dynamic as her fiancee is the very detective chasing them, as the lead girl in most thefts she sometimes has to think outside the box to hide her identity, she does come across as moody but considering how clueless Toshi can be sometimes, it's justified. Sometimes she enjoys the idea of being chased down by her fiancee.
Ai is the youngest and starts off the series still in school, a very subtle hint of her age (16) is indicated in her outfit being way more covered up than her two older sisters, nice touch from the animators, Ai is the tech of the group and provides the most gadgets to escape every heist, but still impulsive and childish which doesn't always give her what she wants.
All three exhibit strong personalities and the correct weaknesses to compliment them, all three I consider some of the best written women in all of anime far exceeding most of the more well known female characters in the medium.
Toshi is a Better Foil Than You Think
It's easy to look at Toshi as the useless male in a world of strong women but his dynamic with Hitomi and his Zenigata personality, he's actually a great detective just that his opponents are leagues better than him, this comes around frequently when he ends up failing to capture Cats but takes the win for capturing the criminal who held the painting, sometimes his appearance even helps the sisters.
40 Years and Still a Hit
TMS have been running the whole 2 seasons on their YouTube channel on a one episode a week release basis, it found a new fanbase in a group tired of shonens and harems and looking for something different to the normal and Cat's Eye ticks all those boxes.
