My brother put my on to an experimental anime from 2001 the other day, Nekojiru-sou (Cat Soup) directed by Tatsuo Satō. The film was inspired by the work of manga artist Nekojiru. I haven't watched an anime film in a while, but I predict myself entering an anime kick this month. Anyway, I recommend you all open your minds and watch this movie.
The plot is basically, Nyatta goes on a trippy, psychedelic journey with his sister in order to save her soul. Nyatta's older sister Nyāko accidentally drowns in a bathtub and is found dead. Nyatta see's his sister leaving the house with the reaper and tries to rip Nyāko away from it. Instead, Nyāko splits in two leaving the reaper with half of her soul while her brother runs away with the other half. Pretty freaking crazy right? The reaper sends a clue about a flower they must search for in order to get back the missing half-soul... AND THAT'S WHERE THE JOUREY BEGINS.
I really loved the anime. Its tragic but at the same time very beautiful and touching. I found it had a lot of cryptic messages and really left me pondering. It's also trippy as hell! After watching it I saw comments around the web comparing the movie to "being on the ultimate high" because it was such a mind-bending, surreal journey. I found it utterly refreshing. Most of it seemed like something from a child's warped imagination to me... but it was perfect.
I also learned that Nekojiru who originally created the cat character in her manga series was a mentally ill traumatized woman who committed suicide at age 31 in 1998. The reasons for her suicide were unclear, a note was never found.
Anyways, If you have about 30 minutes to spare you can watch it below.
Xx Nubia
