Before the weirdness of Cat Soup came into this world, its protagonists had already made their debut in another series- Nekojiru Gekijou. A series of 27 1-2 minute shorts, Nekojiru follows the day-to-day adventures of a pair of feline siblings- foul-mouthed, short-tempered Nyakko, and her quieter but equally violent little brother Nyatto.
Given the short runtime of each episode, it’s no surprise that Nekojiru doesn’t deign to concern itself with trivialities like plot and character development. Instead, we are treated to a series of one-off stories, each one violent, puerile or distasteful in some other way. Blood, intestines, vomit and faeces all make their appearances here, with pigs getting an especially raw deal; not only are they frequently abused, slaughtered and eaten, but even the police react with “it’s only a pig” and walk on by. Presumably, such antics are meant to be amusing, but unless you have an exceptionally strong stomach and an undying love of low brow humour, there are only one or two mild chuckles to be found in the entire series.
Visually, Nekojiru doesn’t have much to boast of in the way of quality; the whole series could well have been drawn in thick felt tip pens by enthusiastic primary school children. For a series as rough as this one, however, it would probably be unrealistic to expect high art.
Final Thoughts
An unholy fusion of South Park and Hello Kitty, Nekojiru is an intense but thankfully brief bout of puerility that will offend the sensibilities of anyone who watches it. If there are any foolish souls out there who are still determined to watch it, all I can say is this: you have been warned.
It’s raw and disturbingly amusing, but if you leave it at that, you miss out on the underlying stringent commentaries on Japanese culture. As with most art, there is more to Nekojiru Gekijou than is held by it’s face value. I think there are blatant criticisms from a Buddhist perspective on contemporary Japan; primarily commenting on the absence of Buddhist ideals in a superficially Buddhist state as it’s reflected in the treatment of animals in Japan, and inequality of life among different species. I believe it’s also meant to point out the ironic flaws of our own nature, and the nature of animals. Anyway, agree with me or not, there’s definitely more than meets the eye.