Fifth grader Karin is unceremoniously dumped on her grandfather for the summer by her deadbeat dad, a widower. Unhappily adjusting to village life, Karin has a series of run-ins with her grandad’s giant talking cat, Anzu, a mild reprobate who resembles Garfield and by and large does what he pleases — but who keeps a considerate eye on the newcomer even so. Through Anzu, Karin befriends a bunch of local spirits — a giant frog, a talking mushroom — and eventually encounters the God of Poverty, who agrees to take her into the underworld to visit her mom…
Even by anime standards this is a wildly unpredictable tale, slamming from sentimental coming-of-age sequences to juvenile (but funny) fart jokes to chase scenes and low-key riffs on Spirited Away. It shouldn’t work but it does, not least because the animation is lovely through out. The film is co-directed by Yôko Kuno (her debut) and live action veteran Nobuhiro Yamashita (Linda Linda Linda).
It’s family (and ghost cat) friendly.
Delightfully offbeat.
Carlos Aguilar, Variety
One of the most eccentric pieces of animation I’ve encountered in a long time.
Deadline
Yôko Kuno & Nobuhiro Yamashita
Mirai Moriyama, Noa Gotô
Japan/France
2024
In Japanese with English subtitles
Violence
Open to youth!
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Carole Baraton, Eric Beckman, Yohann Comte, Dave Jesteadt, Pierre Mazars, Rodney Uhler
Producer
Pierre Baussaron, Keiichi Kondo, Hiroyuki Neigishi, Emmanuel-AlainRaynal, Shunsuke Yanagisawa
Screenwriter
Shinji Imaoka
Cinematography
Masato Makino
Editor
Toshihiko Kojima
Original Music
Keiichi Suzuki
Art Director
Julien de Man
Also Playing
The Silent Holy Stones
In Pema Tseden's first feature, a very young Tibetan lama living in a monastery in Qinghai discovers the delights of binge-watching a Chinese TV serial, just one aspect of the contradictions he will have to navigate in a culture steeped in tradition.
Magic Farm
In Amalia Ulman's playful slow burner, a Vice-like camera crew wash up in a sleepy South American village and cook up a story that isn't there with the help of cynical locals eager to take the gringos for every cent.
Snow Leopard
The last film Pema Tseden finished before his death at age 53 is an enthralling, semi-mystical fable about the deep spiritual connection between a young Tibetan priest and a snow leopard responsible for killing livestock belonging to the priest's brother.