Kashou no Tsuki

One moonlit night, a sad "fox-child" who has been cast out of human society confesses his loneliness to an injured cat. The cat never forgets this kindness and decides to bear the fox-child's children someday. So begins the strangely touching romance of the magician and seer Arimasa, and the ungendered cat-child Kagetsu, the protagonists of Kashou no Tsuki (Moon of the Firey Night).

Arimasa

The tale intersects the real world and the magical world, between which Tsuchimikado Arimasa moves, never belonging truly to one or the other. He works as the personal priest and fortune-teller of a powerful shogun, protecting his employer from evil forces who would like to do him harm. Complicating matters is Arimasa's relationship with Kagetsu, who comes from a feline tribe of shapeshifters. Kagetsu has lived with Arimasa for several years and calls him "sensei." While there is clearly devotion and affection between them, nothing further has developed, because Kagetsu technically has no gender. Although he uses a male pronoun ("boku," and for that reason I will refer to Kagetsu as "he"), Kagetsu has yet to take on a gender because he has not mated yet in his life. Once he does, his gender will be decided.

Kagetsu

Of course, Kagetsu's tribe wants him returned. The evil being trying to destroy the Mikado shogunate, and Arimasa along with it, recruits one of Kagetsu's tribe and the two of them begin hounding and chasing the couple all over the countryside. At first, Arimasa has to protect the cat-boy, but eventually, Kagetsu has to protect his master as well.

While Kashou no Tsuki is a beautiful work of art, please do not be fooled by websites, fansubbers, eBay sellers, etc., who claim that it is "shounen-ai." This title falls under the category of boys' love in only the loosest sense of the term. Kagetsu clearly carries a torch for Arimasa, though the older man's feelings are uncertain, but since Kagetsu is not even technically male this cannot really be a story of male love. All we know is that Kagetsu seems to identify as male due to his use of a male-only pronoun. The one-hour OAV, in two half-hour parts, teases and teases but never really gives us any real romance between the two main characters.

Arimasa and neko-Kagetsu

Though never blossoming to love, at least not in the course of the animation, the relationship between Arimasa and Kagetsu grows and deepens, while a series of flashbacks give the viewer a better understanding of what they have meant to each other in the past. Highlighting the beauty of their relationship is the beautiful animation and nearly flawless artwork, using bright colors and deep darks to highlight the differences between the mortal world that Arimasa longs to join, and the magical world that Kagetsu cannot leave.

The reserved and powerful Arimasa could only be portrayed by Koyasu Takehito, very little surprise there. Shiozawa Kaneto (Iason Mink from Ai no Kusabi) provides a soft-spoken contrast as Arimasa's evil nemesis Monkan. Kagetsu, of course, as the presumed uke must be voiced by a female (Hidaka Noriko, who has played several notable women as well as Soujirou in Rurouni Kenshin). These talented actors bring their considerable skills to make a sweet little OAV into a very professional production.

There is nothing wrong with Kashou no Tsuki: it's beautifully animated, beautifully wrought, with a lovely if odd little story about devotion. The only thing about it is that it's only barely boys' love, but with that in mind, Kashou no Tsuki will not disappoint.