Although Ghost Cat Anzu is currently on general theatrical release in the US, I saw this odd supernatural fantasy/slice of life movie at the Scotland Loves Anime 2024 film festival in Glasgow a couple of weeks ago. It’s showing today at the London leg of the festival, as London’s part of Scotland now, at least when it comes to anime movies, it seems. You can read my review, as published at Anime News Network, below:
This is the eighth in my series of SLA 2024 film reviews, and I hear it was particularly divisive among the SLA judges. As of writing, we still haven’t heard who the winner of SLA 2024’s Golden Partridge award is yet, nor the winner of the audience award. I doubt Anzu will win either, but it’s a uniquely strange film that I don’t regret watching. It’s an odd choice to release in US theatres though, surely it won’t make much money?
I still intend to write a ninth SLA 2024 review — Hayao Miyazaki’s 1979 Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro’s 4K restoration, that showed in both Glasgow and Edinburgh, but I’ve lacked the time to give the movie the attention it needs, considering its pedigree and influence. I’ll rewatch my ancient Optimum Films DVD version to refresh my memory, then write up my thoughts at some point over the coming week.
Cagliostro will be only the second Miyazaki film I’ve ever reviewed (after The Boy and The Heron) — I’ve tended to shy away from his movies because everyone has reviewed them, and I often like to focus on more obscure things. It seems inevitable that one day I’ll give Miyazaki’s career a detailed examination though, so where better to start than with his first theatrical movie? Look out for it soon on AniTAY, here on Medium.
Ghost Cat Anzu
Director: Yoko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita
Screenplay: Shinji Imaoka
Character design: Yoko Kuno
Based on: Ghost Cat Anzu (manga) by Takashi Imashiro
Music: Keiichi Suzuki
Studio: Shin-Ei Animation Co., Ltd, Miyu Productions
JP distributor: TOHO NEXT
JP theatrical release: 19th July 2024
UK theatrical premiere: 3rd November 2024
Runtime: 97 minutes
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
BBFC rating: PG
Kevin Cormack is a Scottish medical doctor, husband, father, and lifelong anime obsessive. He writes as Doctorkev at https://medium.com/anitay-official and appears regularly on The Official AniTAY podcast. You can also find him on Twitter @Herrdoktorkev. His accent is real.
