Comments on: Cat Soup http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/ a celebration of science fiction, anime, and geek culture Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:09:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Nick Istre http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-919 Nick Istre Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:36:14 +0000 http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-919 Well, it is, as you put it earlier, bizarre. My main thoughts? Like some other animes, I liken it to a state of mind. To use another anime as an example, watching _Serial Experiments Lain_ was described as being on an LSD trip. With _Cat Soup_, it feels like a vivid dream sequence. You have a series of loosely (*very* loosely) connected sequences with a main thought behind it. The flower is possibly a symbol of something (Hope? Faith?) that causes an awakening, a rebirth, or an increased awareness. It is seen in quite a few places, so it is something that is close at hand or easy to attain, but in this case, it is Nyatta (the younger boy cat) giving it to Nyaako (the girl cat). Then the ending (before the end credits) seems to suggest a sudden change. It could be interpreted directly of existence winking out, but I would play it along with my dream interpretation above; that is suddenly being woken up. It's like the disorientation when first getting up and being confused as to what's going on, but in this case, it is the dream that's fading. Though the anime is loosely base on the quite popular underground manga _Nekojiru Udon_, (and I don't know how loosely, either. I couldn't find any scans or copies of the manga.) it could reflect on the mangaka's state of mind. She committed suicide in 1998, so it could be said that she was unstable when doing these. Or maybe I'm reading too far into it... :) Some References: "Cat Soup on Wikipedia":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Soup "Nekojiru on Wikipedia":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nekojiru Well, it is, as you put it earlier, bizarre.

My main thoughts? Like some other animes, I liken it to a state of mind. To use another anime as an example, watching _Serial Experiments Lain_ was described as being on an LSD trip. With _Cat Soup_, it feels like a vivid dream sequence. You have a series of loosely (*very* loosely) connected sequences with a main thought behind it.

The flower is possibly a symbol of something (Hope? Faith?) that causes an awakening, a rebirth, or an increased awareness. It is seen in quite a few places, so it is something that is close at hand or easy to attain, but in this case, it is Nyatta (the younger boy cat) giving it to Nyaako (the girl cat). Then the ending (before the end credits) seems to suggest a sudden change. It could be interpreted directly of existence winking out, but I would play it along with my dream interpretation above; that is suddenly being woken up. It’s like the disorientation when first getting up and being confused as to what’s going on, but in this case, it is the dream that’s fading.

Though the anime is loosely base on the quite popular underground manga _Nekojiru Udon_, (and I don’t know how loosely, either. I couldn’t find any scans or copies of the manga.) it could reflect on the mangaka’s state of mind. She committed suicide in 1998, so it could be said that she was unstable when doing these.

Or maybe I’m reading too far into it… :)
Some References:

“Cat Soup on Wikipedia”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Soup
“Nekojiru on Wikipedia”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nekojiru

]]> By: fledgling otaku http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-918 fledgling otaku Mon, 19 Mar 2007 06:01:30 +0000 http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-918 OK, I watched it. I have to admit, it was good, in that weird subjective trippy kind of way. I'm still not sure what to make of it. As far as I can tell its a quest story to rescue his sister's soul, with some cosmic tangents along the way. I still need to digest just what the heck I saw. But I liked it alot. Can't explain why :) Overall, it's an easy commitment, about a half-hour. This is definitely worth watching. Nick, can you lend your thoughts? Curious to know your interpretations an opinions. OK, I watched it. I have to admit, it was good, in that weird subjective trippy kind of way. I’m still not sure what to make of it. As far as I can tell its a quest story to rescue his sister’s soul, with some cosmic tangents along the way. I still need to digest just what the heck I saw. But I liked it alot. Can’t explain why :)
Overall, it’s an easy commitment, about a half-hour. This is definitely worth watching.

Nick, can you lend your thoughts? Curious to know your interpretations an opinions.

]]> By: Nick Istre http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-917 Nick Istre Mon, 19 Mar 2007 02:00:42 +0000 http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-917 Hmm, if you have the DVD and watched through it once already, check out the director's commentary. It's not so bad since _Cat Soup_ is only 1/2 hour long and the commentary is quite amusing with moments like (I'm paraphrasing from memory) "yeah, we weren't sure how we were going to approach this scene" and "The animators were worried about animating this, asking 'Is this ok?'. I had to keep reassuring them that this will work out in the end...". One of my favorite gems was "We told the animator to draw a bird containing the sky...". Hmm, if you have the DVD and watched through it once already, check out the director’s commentary. It’s not so bad since _Cat Soup_ is only 1/2 hour long and the commentary is quite amusing with moments like (I’m paraphrasing from memory) “yeah, we weren’t sure how we were going to approach this scene” and “The animators were worried about animating this, asking ‘Is this ok?’. I had to keep reassuring them that this will work out in the end…”. One of my favorite gems was “We told the animator to draw a bird containing the sky…”.

]]> By: astro http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-916 astro Sun, 18 Mar 2007 06:55:51 +0000 http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-916 I've had this DVD sitting around for a while, but haven't had the chance to watch it yet. I think I added it on to some order so I could get free shipping. Now you've got me interested. I guess it is time to knock another one off the 'unwatched pile'... I’ve had this DVD sitting around for a while, but haven’t had the chance to watch it yet. I think I added it on to some order so I could get free shipping.

Now you’ve got me interested. I guess it is time to knock another one off the ‘unwatched pile’…

]]> By: fledgling otaku http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-915 fledgling otaku Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:21:43 +0000 http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-915 May contain? ah well :) I am actually looking forward to this. I got the download last night, and couldn't resist peeking at random frames in the AVI file. It looks positively bizarre yet entrancing. I have no idea how long it, or how many episodes, or anything. I just realized that I don't even know if the version I grabbed is in Japanese or English. If the former, I'll just have to wing it. There weren't any other torrents available. May contain? ah well :) I am actually looking forward to this. I got the download last night, and couldn’t resist peeking at random frames in the AVI file. It looks positively bizarre yet entrancing. I have no idea how long it, or how many episodes, or anything. I just realized that I don’t even know if the version I grabbed is in Japanese or English. If the former, I’ll just have to wing it. There weren’t any other torrents available.

]]> By: Nick Istre http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-914 Nick Istre Fri, 16 Mar 2007 08:06:10 +0000 http://www.haibane.info/2007/03/15/cat-soup/#comment-914 Well, the actual phrase was "*May* contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence" but it is still a show that I wouldn't show kids. I'll wait till you watch it before I say more, though. Well, the actual phrase was “*May* contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence” but it is still a show that I wouldn’t show kids.

I’ll wait till you watch it before I say more, though.

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