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Nekojiru-Sou
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Animation - 8.4 |
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Sound - 7.8 |
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Story - 6.8 |
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Character - 6.8 |
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Value - 7.6 |
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Enjoyment - 7.3 |
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Average - 7.2 |
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Kaj |
(2009-06-13 15:40:11) 2009-06-13 15:39:04 |
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| Average |
1.5 |
| Animation |
4 |
| Sound |
1 |
| Story |
1 |
| Character |
1 |
| Value |
1 |
| Enjoyment |
1 |
| I hate things that doesn't make sense. I never cared for trippy stuff like FLCL and dead leaves... and this anime is about as trippy as they come. There's no dialogue, and after the first couple of minutes, there's barely any coherence either, just random scenes flashing across the screen. I just don't get it - what exactly is the point of this kind of anime? Is it suppose to be entertaining? I found it to be a bit of a bore. Is it supposed to be funny? Well, apart from one scene that appear to be some gruesome parody of a magic show, I didn't find the anime at all amusing. If you like your psychedelic anime, then this is one for you. But if, like me, you hate things that does not make any sense whatsoever, then avoid this sh*t like the plague! :P
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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Pantha |
(2007-10-22 18:31:41) 2007-10-22 18:29:01 |
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| Average |
6.0 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
0 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| A statement on the DVD cover describes Cat Soup as “Hello Kitty on acid.” Let’s ignore that idiotic assessment. Cat Soup, at best, is a show to watch if only for a first-hand account of just how surreal and nutty an anime can get. At worst, it is a completely meaningless thirty minute ride. I’ve always said that if ten people watch one work and come away with eleven different interpretations, there is something wrong with the work, not the audience. It is not a good thing that anyone would be completely lost if coming into this short without reading a synopsis beforehand. Because Cat Soup is without dialogue… and if the bizarre and morbid imagery (my favorite being the crackpot magic show) is to make even an iota of sense, I highly suggest reading it. In any case, Cat Soup is made to shock, not stimulate. It’s gross and surprisingly violent, but hey, the animation is great and you will remember what you saw. …even if you don’t understand it.
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4 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Cat Soup isn`t a complete ball of nonsense. There is a vague storyline, but it`s easy to miss if you walk into it without a plot summary.
So I`ll give you a quick one right now: a young girl kitten is bed ridden with illness, close to death. Her younger brother sees a spirit take his sister`s soul with it, and he fights to take the soul back. He only gets half of it, which is enough to keep her alive, but brain dead. They set off on a journey to find a flower that will return her to normal. I made the mistake of not reading a summary, and because the cats all look alike at first and there`s no voice acting to help distinguish them, I didn`t recognize what was going on. One thing to note is that the brother wears a green shirt and shorts. You`ll figure this out eventually, but it sure makes a lot more sense if you know this from the get go.
Cat Soup is a 30 minute mind trip. The whole journey is one largely unrelated piece of insanity after another. Like a mumbling crazy person, it`s hard to translate what he`s saying with syntax and logic, but you often get the strange feeling that you kind of understand, on some deeper, yet simpler level, what he`s trying to get at. Themes like nature, gluttony, time, god, and how disgustingly sick some people can be are represented. I know they`re there, but there`s no way I could articulate in sentence form some message that each scene was trying to convey.
Cat Soup doesn`t require a whole lot of dissection to appreciate. There`s certainly room for dissection, but it`s so vague that trying to do so would more than likely lead you in circles. The themes are all illustrated clearly, and laid out in front of you though, so whether you come in ready to deconstruct every detail of this film, or if you just want to watch an acid trip in animation form, you`ll probably come away with a primal understanding of the "point" of the film.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
4.0 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
0 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| This one plays very much like a Salvador Dali film, very surreal and nonsensical. It can make you quite queasy, with its graphic and nonchalant violence, and the creators' apparent fixation with dismemberment and other various grossness. The protagonists, usually one or two cute cat people, inflict, witness, or suffer some pretty bizarre and violent acts (like losing their arm but remaining totally casual), but remain total non-characters, not uttering a word save one or two in text bubbles. In parts it almost feels like there's some kind of moral or agenda behind it, which is definitely not welcome in a surrealistic piece like this. It might work as an art piece, with some interesting visuals, but it really just comes off as a boring, often disturbing mess.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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petran79 |
(2006-05-03 03:50:47) 2006-04-28 13:24:55 |
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
0 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| there's the mainstream commercial animation that focuses just on getting as many viewers as possible and there's the other kind of animation, the often underrated, ignored and abstract. Much like in cinema. The block buster movies and the other movies for more experienced viewers. Such is the case with Cat Soup. Though I admit that concerning Japanese animation I havent seen many similar titles, though I'm sure there are many, I've enountered titles with the same theme , especially from Eastern Europe and USA (I've got a DVD by Phill Mulloy). Cat Soup belongs to that list and it certainly has some influences from european animation in that matter, regarding surrealism and symbolism.
Based on a manga that run in the underground magazine GARO this short feature was made as a tribute to the mangaka who did commit suicide. Nekojiru was the mangaka's pseudonym. The director of this feature Sato Tetsuo directed also Martian Successor Nadesico. I got this info by themanime.org. I doubt I'll ever read the manga.
Overall this was a pleasant 30 minute trip adding Japanese elements and a childish look, though the matter was far from childish. But not so far as to shock.
One of the titles worth a look not only to anime fans but fans of animation generally.
Fansubbed by GAX (even though so few dialog lines appear that fansubbing isnt necessary here).
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| What a crazy S**t.
Well this is what you may get if ya employ some manic depressive crew and fill them up with drugs. are something like that.
but never the less it is fun to watch and you can twist your brain to put some sense in it. (well i think there is some..?).
the animation is quite perfect as it looks sometimes like havin some beer too much. (no i`m not a drug abuser...). the characters are, uhhh, they are there.
some blood and gore is in it. nothing harmfull (only you feel some serious pain yourself if you see some choped of heads or legs). because this is very may disturbing too, this is nothing for kids! but come on! this is just some fun if ya can watch this one do it.
you`ll love or hate it (there is just black or white...)
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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Nisse |
2005-01-09 13:52:28 |
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| An abstract little story worth watching a few times and maybe discuss with some friends. As I read in review by AnimeDream; this is nothing for the closed-minded, but if you're the opposit this an enjoyable OVA.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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Ridian |
(2005-07-07 14:52:56) 2004-11-19 21:30:13 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Cat Soup is a 30-minute OVA with absolutely no pretenses behind it. No, none of this is going to make any sense, no matter how much you try to read into it. I spent the first 5 minutes of the anime trying to interpret all of the symbolism, before I realized that there actually isn't any in it. Cat Soup is just an FLCL-style romp through a twisted, creative fantasy world. Though I don't like to give 0s in any category, I certainly don't want to penalize Cat Soup for not having these traits. They're simply not something that the anime needs in order to captivate its viewer. Cat Soup is, in all effect, a surrealist slideshow with a mysterious underlying tone to it. Some scenes are especially remarkable, my very favorite being the scene where time rewinds itself through numerous disasters; it is ingenuity on a rarely-seen level. Disturbing, intelligent and for all intents and purposes beautiful, Cat Soup's unusually gripping nature is impressive considering its short length. A definite must watch.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| This is purely design driven. Some of the effects in here (which I won't name due to spoilers) are pretty spectacular, some are almost to the point of being slightly morbid. There is hardly any dialogue. In fact, word bubbles are used as replacements for what little dialogue there is. A few sounds are noticeable, mainly as an accent to certain activities. The story has a strange hypnotic effect: very mesmerizing, very cracked out. I thought it bursted with originality and general weirdness.
*I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to for everyone: people that hate strange slow plots and perhaps children below the age of 11 or 12.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I bought Cat Soup on a whim. I had read about it - it interested me, so when I saw it for cheap I snatched it up. And I have to say that it was money well spent.
After the first viewing of this short film I was overwhelmed and, well, confused. I started it back up again. Upon the second viewing I realized alot more about the plot and certain symbolisms were revealed. Gradually, I began to view Cat Soup as not just a trippy anime (eventhough it is) and decided that Cat Soup can best be described as visual poetry. The obvious influences of Dali heighten the surreal netherworld that the young cat and his half-souled sister must journey through to retrieve the other half of her stolen soul.
All in all, I'd say that the animation is unique and well-done, the sound on the DVD was great (mostly atmospherics and soundscapes anyway). The most impressive thing about Cat Soup though was the way that it peaked my curiousity and presented original imagery eventhough I was sometimes lost on their immediate meanings.
I think I'll go start a thread on Cat Soup's symbolism! See you there! (Click on Discuss this Anime)
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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De Baer |
(2005-02-04 06:56:30) 2004-08-25 14:42:49 |
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| Average |
6.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Ich muss ganz ehrlich sagen das ich nicht so recht weiss wie ich ein Review zu diesem Anime formulieren soll. Cat Soup ist einfach nur unheimlich strange und ich kann bis jetzt nicht wirklich sagen ob mir dieser Film nun gefallen hat oder nicht. Cat Soup ist im Großen und Ganzen nichts anderes als eine Anreihung von inkompatiblen Szenen die keinen Sinn ergeben und zu 90% vor einer surrealen Kulisse stattfinden, so könnte man die 30 Minuten wohl am besten beschreiben. Die Stimmung des Films ist vielseitig und geht von bedrohlich und beklemmend bis hin zu depressiv so das es einem als Zuschauer regelrecht unbehaglich wird woran vor allem die kreativen Animationen und Soundeffekt großen Anteil haben. Eine Story existiert nicht und auch die Charaktere haben keinerlei Persönlichkeit und zeigen noch nicht einmal Emotionen so das man bei dem Versuch sie einzuschätzen komplett verloren geht, aber vielleicht ist gerade das das Ziel der Verantwortlichen, das man sich Gedanken um das Sinnlose und Skurille macht und ohne Aussicht auf ein Ergebnis in einem Teufelskreis landet. Ich weiss es einfach nicht... Es ist schwer zu beschreiben wie ich mich diesem Werk gegenüber fühle, wie gesagt ist Cat Soup sehr seltsam aber zu einem gewissen Grad doch faszinierend. Mein Gesamtrating mag niedrig sein, ist aber ein Resultat reiner Gefühlssache. Ich kann diesen Anime niemandem wirklich empfehlen aber auch nicht sagen das man ihn sich nicht anschauen sollte. Seltsam...
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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Max |
(2005-04-26 14:03:03) 2004-08-11 13:49:34 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Anime surrealism. Nice.
Sometimes it felt like I was looking at a moving Dali painting, sometimes it felt like I was looking at an incoherent chain of scenes with no other puropose than to perplex me. Sorry for being redundant.
As you'll find out if you watch this, sometimes that is enough to entertain you, sometimes it isn't. The story doesn't really draw you in that much, as we are kept at a distance on account of the author's ever-increasing desire to make their journey more and more baffling and inconprehensible. I lost interest about 2/3s of the way through, but don't distress, the ending doesn't disappoint.
Absolutely get your hands on this, though you should wait to watch it when you're in the mood to think creatively, not to mention with someone (whose intellect you respect), as you're going to want to have a discussion about it afterwards. Though, at the same time, you might not because if neither of you can decipher any coherent meaning out of the individual scenes then you might just get even more annoyed. Themes aren't as hard, and if you ponder them than that alone will give you some satisfaction and hopefully closure.
Overall an enjoyable piece simply for it's avante garde nature, but by no means a masterpiece. The only consistent imagery is Elephants and water. The creature who takes the sister's soul at the beginning of the film appears to be an Indian god (Hindu god of death?), so perhaps the entire story parallels one within that culture; with a title like "Cat Soup" though, they're not really giving any hints to what they're alluding to, if anything.
Update: I just read the other reviews for this. 1) I don't think the creators would appreciate this being likened to a music video. Anyone who is thinking of watching this, that is NOT what "Cat Soup" is, nor is it what it feels like, I have no idea why a couple other users made such comments. 2) Thanks to VivaFruit for getting this up on the AnimeNfo website, I have a couple anime that aren't on here that I love and will now petition to have put up in light of your efforts. However, after looking back, your review has a careless mistake: it is NOT the sister who drowns at the beginning of the film. The cat in question is the brother, and he doesn't drown...or does he?
I should also note that just by re-watching the first couple minutes I'm convinced there's a lot to be seen a second time around, as that damn flower is there at the beginning too, next to their house (the flower comes up again near the end of the film in a different context).
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| I was really glad I saw this interesting character-drama filled with excellent plot twists, melodrama, excitement, and excellent voice acting.
...Alright, in all seriousness now, WTF. Its so incredibly messed up I'm not really sure if I love it or hate it. Besides the things like the sound and animation that can be judged, how do you rate something like character or story in this? Besides the very beginning, which shows the little cat getting (1/2 of?) the soul of his recently deceased sister back from death, its pretty difficult to follow. But, maybe its not even needed.
A work of art is probably the best way to look at this. The animation is very unique, after all. So is the sound: both the dialogue (or lack thereof) and background noise. I lowered the value a little bit because the fansubber/ripper, although making the animation high quality, did not translate the talk bubbles. Not that I'm sure if it mattered or not.
In conclusion, I would probably put Cat Soup on the same level as a trailer or Music Video. Or maybe one of those dreams you get when youre passed out on heroin.
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Sinai |
(2004-07-24 01:51:19) 2004-06-20 03:03:44 |
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| I watched this anime in a little window on my computer while I was doing other stuff. This may not seem odd to you, because I've seen many people watch stuff the same way, but I absolutely refuse to watch almost any anime except full screen and surround sound, because years ago I decided that since everything in anime is intentionally put in and worked towards, it demanded my full attention. Now, with the advent of CG, this actually isn't true, but the tradition remains. Frankly, it took me awhile to get over the blasphemy of watching it on my computer instead of on a TV.
So why is this at all important? Because my mind could not comprehend what was going on in Nekojiro-sou. I had to limit the incoming data to a tiny physical space that I wasn't consciously paying attention to in order to watch Nekojirou-sou, otherwise I had to constantly pause it and rewind it to figure out what the hell was going on. And if you've seen it, you know that's a mistake. Trying to make Nekojirou-sou make sense, even internally consistent sense, is a fruitless endeavor. So I would just let it run until it caught my eye, and in that way I managed to stop rewinding 4 or 5 times.
It's brilliant, in it's completely insane way, and what's really scary is that, indeed, somebody purposefully put in every visual that this anime throws at you. That's mindboggling when you stop to think about it. It's actually not uncommon to see stuff semi-like this...except not of this length and substance and almost always as a solo production. How this got green-lighted, I'll never know.
It's good to know other people are insane, but it's disturbing to find out they're insane in completely different ways.
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Janjan |
(2004-05-19 17:59:01) 2004-05-19 17:45:02 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Wow, unbelievable.
It felt like I was watching some artistic Between the commercials and clips MTV video.
At the times the animation looks crappy, but this is the style of Cat Soup and I must say it's a wonderful style. I love it.
The style brings out perfectly the bizzarre events you'll see. And gives you an absurdistic feel when watching it. On top of that Cat Soup gives you some nice weird camera angles and camera movement.
The sound is superb, The sqeaking, the blubs, just magnificent. Adding up with the animation the answer of the equation is: Most bizzare.
In my opinion the story could be at best described as a trip of the creators mind. It's got my thumbs up for that concept if any studio is in dire need of a concept for a next project ^^
The character is a bit what lacked. Let's say that when I was watching it I really didn't know what to expect, but during the show I felt the characters were missing a little something. And in the end I still didn't get it. I can't explain, it's a feeling. It's the edge what separates the good from the untouchable.
I've enjoyed this anime very much. I especially liked the wordy-talkingManWizard, the Pig scenes, the desert-elephant part and the way they show blood. It behaves like mercury: it's fluid but it stays together.
And it has the best Ending-Credits-sequence I've ever seen :D
A little bonus is that Cat Soup has a feeling of having a message to the viewer hidden in it. And I'm still trying to put the little pieces together and figuring out what it might be.
The bottomline is: One the see. It's a nice little trip (~,~)
Add-on:
I've given up on figuring out what the message might be. The little pieces won't stick together. I'll have to go with Vivafruits impression: It's Anti-logic. And I must say I'm very satisfied with that thought. :)
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