She and Her Cat: Everything Flows

She and Her Cat (Japanese: 彼女と彼女の猫, Hepburn: Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko), subtitled Their Standing Points, is a 1999 Japanese original video animation created and directed by Makoto Shinkai. His first own directed work, it is a five-minute story about the relationship between a male cat and his female owner told from the cat's perspective. Shinkai made the film to help a romantic interest overcome a difficult situation, and his time living in a small apartment defined the scenario. The team of four animators used Shinkai's hand-drawn illustrations and Adobe After Effects for 3D visual effects. After completing the work, Shinkai himself distributed the film via CD-R and mail, selling 5,000 copies at anime conventions. The work was well received, winning the 2000 DoGA CG Animation Contest and attracting CoMix Wave Films' interest. The company re-released the film in CD-ROM format and hired Shinkai. In 2016, the story was adapted into an anime television series and a manga.