Karin is dumped at the home of her grandfather, who is a monk at a Buddhist shrine, by her father who is being hunted by loan sharks who already broke his arm. She is intrigued by the Anzu, the giant talking cat. As she settle in to her new home he meets the boy in the neighborhood, some spirits and some other supernatural beings.
This is a film that could never be made in the US. Life isn't neat and perfect, bad things happen and things don't go as expected. The result of the messiness of life creeping in is a film that ends up delighting the audience.
While the film is going to seem gruff and perhaps a bit low brow early on, Anzu loves to fart, the film quickly makes up for it with a cast of characters and situations that worm their way into your heart. You like everyone on screen and they become friends quickly because for the most part no one in this film is like any other character in any animated film. I couldn't help but smile and lean in because these were not people I knew or second guess.
Wonderfully its own thing, sometimes to the detriment of the pacing, GHOST CAT ANZU is film that stands out and warms the heart with real people and real emotion. Yes, some of the character design may remind you of other films, but the truth is the story and the way it unfolds is not like anything else you've really seen in Japanese and especially American animation. The plotting is not really conventional inspite of it being weirdly perfect.
Truthfully this is a film I wish had a real shot at getting at least an Oscar nomination. While I would be hard pressed to call the film the best animated film of the year (the pacing is random and there are some odd tonal shifts), it is special enough and different enough that it should take one of the Oscar slots, especially since the rest of the slots are going to be filled with Hollywood retreads of piss poor cookie cutter formulas.
You need to see this film because it will open your eyes to what can be done with the animated medium.
Highly recommended.
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