Ghost Cat Anzu - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Ghost Cat Anzu



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Based on the short-lived manga of the same name circa 2006-2007, Ghost Cat Anzu tries to tackle the episodic manga series in short film format, giving only 90 minutes to go through tales of depression, loneliness, and a 3rd act that goes full bore Spirited Away in terms of dealing with the spirit realm. I vaguely remember the manga when I came out of college in my early 20s, but I don’t think I actually read all the volumes. Either way, I knew the filmmakers were in for a challenging time adapting the source material, but I’m actually pleasantly surprised at how well they captured the tone and feel of the original manga, despite tweaking things just a bit to make it work for film.

A young girl named Karin (Noa Goto) is dropped off at her grandfather’s shrine after her father, Tetsuya (Munetaka Aoki) attempts to keep her safe from creditors (it’s not told right off the bat, but the picture clues you in over the 94-minute runtime that Tetsuya owed some loan sharks a good bit of cash, and that he dropped Karin off to keep her safe) following the death of Karin’s mother. While there, the young girl runs into a ghost cat named Anzu (Mirai Moriyama) who happens to have been the family pet who aged himself into a ghost (seriously, that is quite literally the EXTENT of the reasoning on why Anzu is a ghost cat). Anzu has adapted to speak and act like a human, going so far as to pick up a side job as a physical therapist, and acts as sort of the mentor for poor Karin.

The film plays out in a very slice-of-life way, complete with Anzu and Karin navigating a strange relationship as the young girl deals with not only the grief over losing her mother but also feeling abandoned as her own father seems to have just left her there. However, this all changes in the third act, when Anzu and Karin figure out a way to travel to the land of the dead where she attempts to bring her mother back to life.

Honestly, looking back, Ghost Cat Anzu is a simple film whose greatest benefit is also its greatest enemy. And by that I mean the meandering slice-of-life aspect of the film. It sort of wanders around with Anzu and Karin at the forefront of the story, dealing with a stolen bike, a bitter girl, and a cat who simply wants to see her pain-free. The film even meanders into the supernatural for the final act, just slipping effortlessly into the ludicrous tale of heading to the underworld. At the same time, this is also the film’s greatest enemy. The film has a tendency of meandering a bit TOO far, shuffling from one end of the story to another, and if you’re not paying attention, can feel disjointed. After having watched it twice this weekend, I feel that it’s not wandering as much as you think, but rather trying to take a horribly tragic event in a young girl's life, and then obfuscating the real-world lens that we would see it through, and adding a layer of the supernatural and bizarre to act as the representation of what Karin is going through. The film is sweet and rather enjoyable, but also a bit slow and disjointed. I liked it in many ways, but I can understand if viewers find it a bit odd and bizarre.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

The 1.78:1 AVC encoded Blu-ray looks quite nice for the most part, with a stunning water color like animation style. Supposedly the film was rotoscoped with live-action actors, then animated, so the results are a little weird with fluid walking and a sort of hyper-realistic gait. That being said, the film looks VERY unique, with a strange animation style that reminds me of the old Wind and the Willows animation done with a Japanese twist. I did see some banding here and there due to the low bitrate of the Gkids disc, but overall this is a very pleasant viewing experience.









Audio:

Like usual, Gkids and Shout! Studios have given us dual 5.1 DTS-HD MA tracks in both English and the original Japanese. Both are sonically nearly identical, with slight variations due to the dubbing. But both are going to be a preference as they sound great. The open world of Anzu allows for a ton of discrete and ambient nature sounds, as well as some crazy moments during the final act of the film when we have a full-on car chase, a battle of the demons, and a low-end pulse near the end where the mother and Lord Enma face-off that actually dipped into the high teens in regards to frequency. All in all, this is a great-sounding mix and easily the highlight of the whole film.











Extras:

• Trailers and Teasers

Final Score:
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Ghost Cat Anzu takes a turn into the bizarre, with a talking ghost cat, a portal into the underworld via a public toilet, and a rather serious underlying story about a girl who is dealing with the grief of losing BOTH her parents in different ways. The film ends up being sweet and meandering, but also a bit loosey-goosey with the plot and some wrap-ups. But overall I rather enjoyed the strange Anime film. The Blu-ray from Gkids/Shout! Looks and sounds quite stunning, but this is one of the most barebones discs I’ve ever seen for a Gkids release in regards to the extras. Solid watch for anime fans looking for something different.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Mirai Moriyama, Noa Goto, Munetaka Aoki, Miwako Ichikawa, Keiichi Suzuki
Directed by: Yoko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita
Written by: Takashi Imashiro, Shinji Imaoka
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1, French DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Shout! Studios
Rated: NR
Runtime: 94 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: March 4th, 2025

Recommendation: Interesting Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will check it out.