Cat SoupCat Soup is an anime short film, inspired by manga artist, "Nekojiru", and is a surreal story about a young, anthropomorphic cat (credited as Nyatta) who after accidentally drowning herself in the bathtub, is passed over by Jizou--a representation of Death--who in turn mistakenly takes her sister (credited as Nyāko) instead. Nyatta attempts to intervene to abort Jizou's efforts to steal her sister's soul, but after a metaphysical (and literal) tug of war over it, Nyatta is only able to reclaim half of it. This half-soul brings Nyāko back to life, but she is virtually brain dead until Nyatta can discover a mysterious flower hinted at by Jizou to restore Nyāko.
|
|
Cat Soup excels at presenting itself as almost inaccessible, both grim and adorable simultaneously. The plot follows a dream logic, one which is open for interpretation on the part of the audience. Why does Nyatta bring Nyāko to the Big Whale Circus? Certainly not to watch the world be overcome by the nearly alien storm creature which provokes a flood of biblical proportions, or God's cameo as a stage magician, who uses real magic to perform parlor tricks for the audience. Maybe Nyatta just thought getting Nyāko excited about something would be enough. The flood that follows is the beginning of the pair's trek through the psychedelic apocalypse, filled with sadistic cyborgs who are into bondage, and creepy old ladies who Frankenstein together a nursery of cats from spare parts. If Cat Soup has a message about society, it is probably that the cats represent the inherent cruelty in us, that we exploit the weak--not because we are evil, but because it is in our nature, and we cannot defy our nature, merely aim to control it. But then again, maybe it's just the cats which seem alright with attacking their porcine skipper aboard their humble ark, unzipping him to get at his tender flesh...at least when they fry it up, they share it with him. The images which surround this film also have a lot to do with the cycles of death and rebirth, where beings served up as food become one with the consumer, and are reborn anew, reincarnated. From the fish served up as sashimi which swims toward some kind of transcendent mud glob, to the elephant made from living water, these creatures know they are there to be consumed, and yet their feline sojourners through this bizarre world are apparently indifferent to the sacrifice.
Speaking of indifference, Cat Soup also casts God as a background figure who shakes their world in ambivalence, and is none other than the same deity who diced a magician's assistant with a table saw, just to put her back together for kicks. As the world around Nyatta and Nyāko becomes increasingly strange and barely hospitable, God is more concerned with his planetary meal, and ends up splitting their world, and even stopping time, forcing it past at high speed, and even reversing it without concern for its effects on those on this planet; he simply doesn't want to have to reach for his celestial snack. When God pushes time forward--and especially backward--these transitions are portrayed in philosophical and sometimes disturbing context--car crashes, executions, and nuclear bombs happen in reverse, which raises the question about an omnibenevolent God, that if God can stop or reverse "evil" things, then why doesn't he? Time seems to bunch up for the kitties, especially when the credits roll: the music box plays, but it's not been wound up in a while, so the state of time itself manifested in the credits is subject to the logic of the music box. The great and weird imagery which haunts the deepest levels of this strange Hell include a tin creature making castles out of water, and upside-down men of metal falling into the abyssal ocean Nyatta and her sister sail upon--a kind of Hieronymus Bosch-like portrayal of the damned world, but explored by cute kitties rather than guys like Virgil and Alighieri. And the deepest levels of this underworld bear qualities of a mechanical nature, making the presence of the lone flower more special as a focus to rekindle Nyāko's soul back into light. Cat Soup makes for an enjoyable romp through the minds of some clever and sardonic animators who distinctly buck the Disney trend.
Recommended for: Fans of strange anime, more concerned with letting you ask questions about religion and life than answering them. And Cat Soup is filled with some quizzical, abstract, and surreal imagery, a welcome departure from the staid plots and overwhelming level of contrivance otherwise found in this medium.
Speaking of indifference, Cat Soup also casts God as a background figure who shakes their world in ambivalence, and is none other than the same deity who diced a magician's assistant with a table saw, just to put her back together for kicks. As the world around Nyatta and Nyāko becomes increasingly strange and barely hospitable, God is more concerned with his planetary meal, and ends up splitting their world, and even stopping time, forcing it past at high speed, and even reversing it without concern for its effects on those on this planet; he simply doesn't want to have to reach for his celestial snack. When God pushes time forward--and especially backward--these transitions are portrayed in philosophical and sometimes disturbing context--car crashes, executions, and nuclear bombs happen in reverse, which raises the question about an omnibenevolent God, that if God can stop or reverse "evil" things, then why doesn't he? Time seems to bunch up for the kitties, especially when the credits roll: the music box plays, but it's not been wound up in a while, so the state of time itself manifested in the credits is subject to the logic of the music box. The great and weird imagery which haunts the deepest levels of this strange Hell include a tin creature making castles out of water, and upside-down men of metal falling into the abyssal ocean Nyatta and her sister sail upon--a kind of Hieronymus Bosch-like portrayal of the damned world, but explored by cute kitties rather than guys like Virgil and Alighieri. And the deepest levels of this underworld bear qualities of a mechanical nature, making the presence of the lone flower more special as a focus to rekindle Nyāko's soul back into light. Cat Soup makes for an enjoyable romp through the minds of some clever and sardonic animators who distinctly buck the Disney trend.
Recommended for: Fans of strange anime, more concerned with letting you ask questions about religion and life than answering them. And Cat Soup is filled with some quizzical, abstract, and surreal imagery, a welcome departure from the staid plots and overwhelming level of contrivance otherwise found in this medium.