Fun US Teaser for ‘Ghost Cat Anzu’ Offbeat Japanese Animated Film

Fun US Teaser for ‘Ghost Cat Anzu’ Offbeat Japanese Animated Film

by Alex Billington
September 19, 2024
Source: YouTube

“You’re one pain-in-the-butt brat.” Get ready for this one! 🐈 GKids has debut a very fun new teaser trailer for the Japanese animated film Ghost Cat Anzu, now set for US theatrical release this November. What a superbly clever teaser to give offer a taste. This film recently premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and it already opened in Japanese cinemas earlier this summer. It’s a rotoscoped 2D anime film that’s co-directed by the great Nobuhiro Yamashita, who often makes live-action films. 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, Karin 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 (as seen here). This is such a delightfully amusing teaser that shows just how offbeat and kooky this animated film is. Keep an eye out for it this fall.

Here’s the next US teaser trailer for Kuno & Yamashita’s Ghost Cat Anzu, direct from GKids’ YouTube:

You can view the festival teaser trailer for Kuno & Yamashita’s Ghost Cat Anzu right here for more footage.

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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