Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2012

Following the theme of the supernatural we have this cute comedy with Muga Tsukaji, who won a Japan Academy Award as Best New Actor for his role in the delightful 2006 Yoshimitsu Morita film Mamiya Kyoudai (“The Mamiya brothers”).

Based on a TV series, which is itself based on a novel of the same name, the story follows Kamoshida (Muga Tsukaji), a man fed up with his life as a salaryman. He decides to quit and become a street fortune-teller, perhaps not the wisest career move. His wife (Megumi Yasu) dubious of the choice, takes their son (Kenta Murayama) and moves out. At first Kamoshida suffers from slack business but when he comes across a black cat and its two kittens he adopts them and business starts to boom.

Cutesy and perhaps too cuddly for some, this feelgood story of bucking the system and helping people, not to mention cute felines, has its charms. English title: Chat Noir Lucy (107 min)