Amusing New Official US Trailer for ‘Ghost Cat Anzu’ Animated Comedy
by Alex Billington
October 23, 2024
Source: YouTube
“I’ve got a favor to ask. I want to see my Mom.” 🐈 GKids has unveiled their main official US trailer for the Japanese animated film Ghost Cat Anzu, ready to play on the big screen starting this November. This film initially premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and it already opened in Japanese cinemas earlier this summer. It’s a rotoscoped 2D anime movie that’s co-directed by the great Nobuhiro Yamashita, who often makes live-action films. A distinctly humorous anime. Precocious tween Karin finds herself abandoned by her father in rural Japan. Living in a temple with her grandfather, she meets Anzu, a giant “ghost cat” and notorious “layabout” tasked with looking after her. Distrustful of her new guardian and his informality, she also befriends the eccentric local forest spirits. Mirai Moriyama plays the titular Anzu, and Noa Gotō voices Karin. Both played their characters live-action that became the reference for the animators, with both their dialogue and their movements being turned into animation (seen here). I’m glad they’re giving this a proper theatrical release in the US! It’s a smart, amusing, unique little film that is absolutely worth a watch.
Here’s the official US trailer (+ Japanese poster) for Kuno & Yamashita’s Ghost Cat Anzu, from YouTube:
You can view the festival teaser for Kuno & Yamashita’s Ghost Cat Anzu right here and the US teaser here.
Karin, 11 years old, is abandoned by her father at her grandfather’s house, the monk of a small town in the Japanese countryside. Her grandfather asks Anzu, his jovial and helpful although rather capricious ghost cat, to look after her. The meeting of these two strong characters causes sparks, at least at the beginning… Ghost Cat Anzu, originally known as 化け猫あんずちゃん in Japanese, is co-directed by the two Japanese filmmakers Yôko Kuno (character designer / storyboard artist / director on “Land of the Lustrous” series) & Nobuhiro Yamashita (director of many films including Hazy Life, No One’s Ark, Ramblers, Cream Lemon, Linda Linda Linda, The Matsugane Potshot Affair, A Gentle Breeze in the Village, My Back Pages, The Drudgery Train, Misono Universe, Over the Fence, My Uncle, Takayuki Yamada, Hard-Core, One Second Ahead One Second Behind, Let’s Go Karaoke!, and lots of other series). The screenplay is written by Shinji Imaoka; based on the manga by Takashi Imashiro. Produced by Shin-ei Animation (Japan) and Miyu Productions (France). The film premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and first opened in Japan in July. GKids debuts Ghost Cat Anzu in select US theaters on November 15th, 2024. Who wants to watch?
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