Cat's eyes: history and curiosities about the famous Japanese cartoon
The famous cartoon Cat eyes arrived in Italy in the early 80s, populating the kitchens of the little ones during the afternoon snack. The famous theme song sung by Cristina D "Avena (O-O-O, Cat's Eyes!) has been a catchphrase for decades and we can say that it still is today. The animated series is based on a Japanese manga and the plot features three sisters, simple bartenders by day, professional thieves by night. Discover all the curiosities about the cartoon that went around the world!
Cat's eyes: the story
It has been 30 years since Cat eyes was aired for the first time in Italy, one of the most loved and followed Japanese cartoons ever. The cartoon, originally produced between 1983 and 1985, has two seasons with 73 total episodes and from September 85 was broadcast in our country on Italy 1. From that moment on, the three beautiful sisters Sheila, Kelly and Tati Tashikel entered the televisions of Italians, revealing their true nature as "very skilled thieves", as the famous acronym states.
In fact, from the first season the cartoon tells the life of the three sisters, dedicating them to the theft but only with the aim of looking for the vast collection of their missing father, Michael Heinz, which the Nazis had stolen from him. Therefore, the gang does not steal for the sake of it, but on the contrary is looking for the works of art of a single famous artist of the 40s, who is their father. By rediscovering all the works of art, the trio hope to reconstruct the past of man, thus also discovering the truth about his disappearance. Michael Heinz, in fact, would have participated in the Resistance against the Nazis, who must have made him disappear.
To make their adventures more complex and intriguing there was the character of Matthew, with whom the three sisters shared constant confrontations-clashes: he is a clumsy policeman who stubbornly hunts down the trio, without understanding that in reality one of them is the girlfriend Sheila.This is the story in a nutshell, but let's see more specifically the background of the series and all the curiosities you are not aware of!
In the anime it is not clarified why the father's works are scattered around the world, moreover disguised under the name of another artist. In the manga, however, it is clarified how the painter Heinz, father of the girls, was a teacher of numerous students, who, having returned from the lessons of the master and from the latter's death, have decided to steal his works. To hide in the most efficient way, his signature was superimposed on that of another painter, Cranaff, the first traitorous pupil.
Cat's eyes: the manga
What few people know is that originally the famous cartoon was just a manga, from the title Cat "s Eye, by Tsukasa Hojo. The comic was first published in Japan by Shūeisha on Shonen Jump, from 1981 to 1985, for a total of 18 volumes. The work met with a certain success, therefore it was also able to enjoy numerous reprints in the following years. Only many years later, between 1999 and 2000, did it arrive in our country, published by Star Comics in the monthly Starlight. Here both the title and the original names of the characters have been kept, but with the addition of the subtitle Cat eyes on the cover, for loyalty with television viewers.
The episodes and the plot of the first season of the cartoon, therefore, are entirely taken from the manga, while those of the second are original to the series itself.
Cat's eyes: the real names of the characters
In his climb to success, Cat eyes he could not keep the Japanese names of his characters, but they had to be westernized. The series, set in Tokyo, shows the adventures of the three sisters Hitomi (Eye), Rui (Tears) and Ai (Love) Kisugi, respectively Sheila, Kelly and Tati. Sheila's cop boyfriend Matthew Hisman is called Toshio Utsumi instead. The "police inspector colleague of the latter", in Italy Alice Mitsuko, in Japan has the name of Mitsuko Asatani, while what in our country is simply called "Chief", is originally Kachō. Mr. Marlows, on the other hand, is the historical friend of his father, the one who will take care of the three sisters-thieves at his death: he has the Japanese name of Sadatsugu Nagaishi. Finally, Tetsuya Kono is the original name of the character who in Italy has the name of Paul, the companion of Tati.
Cat's eyes: censorship
What the newcomers to anime don't know is that censorship is very frequent. The series, in fact, has undergone a large number of cuts, since our television and in particular Italia 1, the channel where it was broadcast Cat eyes, has always offered a large number of children's cartoons. In the case of this Japanese cartoon, several risque or violent scenes have been eliminated. An example is the sequence in which Matthew appears moving in with Sheila and his sister Kelly has his dress unbuttoned by the policeman, who is troubled to see his sister-in-law's underwear; or some scenes in which the sisters have been censored. they appear naked in the shower.
Cat's Eyes: Matthew and the story with Sheila
The undertaking of the three sister-thieves is certainly not simple and straightforward. On the contrary, it is precisely the detective Matthew, Sheila's boyfriend, who makes it problematic. It is his task, in fact, to discover the identity of the trio and arrest its members. but the man is certainly not endowed with any insight: although clues can be found everywhere to understand who the three cats are (hence the name of the cartoon, which is also the name of the bar where the three girls work during the day) , she has no idea who the mysterious robbers might be. Not only that, but she will be able to discover by sheer chance that the gang is made up of three women, and not men. Unlike the slightly awake Matthew, colleague Alice Mitsuko, secretly in love than him, she is definitely more intuitive and unlike the detective she immediately suspects the three sisters, which is why she will always show herself very hostile and suspicious towards the trio, especially towards Sheila.
Cat's eyes: relationships and loves
The preponderance of the relationship between Matthew and Sheila is clear and evident, present in all the episodes of the cartoon and manga. On the contrary, however, little is known about the love life of the other two sisters. In the anime, in fact, some characters are absent who instead appear in the manga as suitors for Kelly and Tati. In the course of the story, in fact, little Tati falls in love with Paul, her classmate, while Kelly is in a relationship. real with the painter Michael Montgomery.
Cat's eyes: how does it end?
Faced with such an adventurous plot, it is impossible not to ask two questions: do the three sisters, in their theft missions, manage to find their father and reconstruct his story? But does Matthew find out the truth about girlfriend Sheila and the Cat's Eyes gang?
In both cases, there is no definitive answer, but we have to settle for a "not quite". In fact, in the "last episode of Cat eyes the three sisters arrive in a villa, following research carried out through the various works of art of their father found and stolen. In this place they are faced with a man, the copy of their father, who however is not really him. Sheila, Kelly and Tati discover that it is the twin brother of the father, therefore the uncle. However, it is certainly not the man they would expect: it was he who betrayed his father during the Second World War, thus causing his disappearance. Precisely with this bitter discovery the last episode and therefore the cartoon itself ends. As a result, the investigations of Detective Matthew also cease, and his relationship with Sheila as well as the discovery of his identity remain in a certain sense unanswered or a real and definitive conclusion, which is why the ending is considered open and, from these points of view, decidedly unsatisfactory.
In the manga, however, we know something more: if on the one hand the mystery about the father is unsatisfactory, in the relationship between Sheila and Matthew we have some more answers. The thief decides to reveal her identity to her boyfriend, and then flee to the United States. The detective is upset but, taken by the love for the girl, who is stronger than anything else, he decides to join her in America and, when he finds her, he discovers that he has lost his memory due to viral meningitis. to recover her memory but, listening to familiar music, Sheila seems to remember the past with the boy, in a romantic moment.
Cat's eyes: other curiosities
What few people know is that between the manga and the anime, in November 1982 the work was released in a comic version in the form of a radio play on NHR Radio, in which the voice actors of the characters, with the exception of that of Hitomi, that is Sheila, are different from the anime that was later produced.
For the thirtieth anniversary of the start of the broadcast of Cat's Eye, the series has been restored in two Blu-ray DVDs, while in Italy as we said it was broadcast on Italia 1, but also in our country there was first the VHS, then the DVD and finally the Blu-ray of the film.
The cartoon was also broadcast in the Philippines, France, Germany, Spain and China.
Finally, as regards the opening theme, the famous opening of Cat eyes, also used in closing. is interpreted by the famous Cristina D'Avena, who sings a song written by Alessandra Valeri Manera with the music of Ninni Carucci.
