Review: Ghost Cat Anzu – Top Cat

Directed by Yôko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita
Voices by Noa Gotô, Mirai Moriyama, Munetaka Aoki

7/10

Dumped at a temple by her deadbeat father, Karin (Noa Gotô) has to adapt to her new life and strange surroundings. The small rural town is simple enough, but she does find it difficult to accept the giant scooter-riding thirty-year-old ghost cat (Mirai Moriyama), who she shares a house with. As time passes, she becomes more embroiled in Anzu’s spirit world, and in turn, the cat becomes involved in hers.

There’s an oddness about Ghost Cat Anzu that goes beyond the curious spirit world setting. Its animation is stylised but emphasises a crude, sketch-like quality of design. There’s a matter-of-fact manner in which the supernatural is accepted by the public and that this other world interacts with the mundane. Then there’s the general level of cynicism that most adults are presented in. There are other little nuances as well, but the end result is that Ghost Cat Anzu seems almost the direct antithesis of Spirited Away.

To be clear, that’s what gives it such a unique charm. There’s nothing quite like this on our screens at the moment. The free going style carries through the animation, the plot, and the characters. It feels less like a scripted epic fairy tale and more like a social drama tinged with fantasy. Ghost Cat Anzu stands like a fascinating meld of Studio Ghibli and Hirokazu Kore-eda (director of Shoplifters), combining influences of both into something new.

The voice acting really helps drive this sense of realism. Mirai Moriyama lends a slacker charm to Anzu. He grants a spirit sprouting cat puns (in a body similar to a plush sports mascot) a sense of avuncular authenticity. Noa Gotô absolutely nails Karin, an eleven-year-old girl forced to grow up before her time but less emotionally mature than she thinks she is. Her inability to process, or to even acknowledge her emotional state, is both fascinating and painful to watch.

The downside is that the realistic style means it’s less narratively driven, so it’s slow to find its story. Even at only an hour and a half, the pacing is a little languid, and the story is a little loose. It’s easy to see the reasons for Karin’s actions due to characterisation, but there’s not a great story to carry her through.

Thematically, Ghost Cat Anzu is also messy, but that’s the point of the film. It’s a celebration of the messiness and chaos of life, rather than a clear morality play. People try their best to get by, but that’s often not neat or necessarily successful. It’s a celebration of outsiders and leaving a place in your heart for kindness and well-meaning intentions.

Ghost Cat Anzu is a little bit of a diamond in the rough. This isn’t going to appeal to everyone, but there’s something bewitching about its easygoing charm and loving subversion of tropes.

DAVID O’CONNELL