Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year is Sato Tatsuo’s innovative and inspired anime short Cat Soup. While its independent production and short running time (34 minutes in total) largely dragged it under the radar of most anime enthusiasts, it did receive an American DVD release in 2003 and has a tendency to turn up on popular video streaming websites (albeit not legally). It is delightful stuff, and is worth keeping an eye out for it.

The film follows Nyata, an anthropomorphic cat, whose sister’s soul is stolen from her body by a rogue spirit. Nyata is forced to follow them into the spirit world to retrieve her soul and return it to her body. It is a surreal and deeply amusing work, animated without dialogue. It is based on the manga by Nekojiru (Hashiguchi Chiyomi), and accurately replicates her combination of absurdism, cuteness, and grotesquerie. Sadly Nekojiru never saw Sato’s film; she died by suicide four years before it was released. The film honours her creation beautifully.

There is a wonderful stream of consciousness approach to the film, which shifts from the cats’ home to a circus, and across a sea, through a desert, and well beyond. Attempting to apply logic to the piece, or to follow the story, may cause more frustration than enjoyment. In many ways – certainly the important ways – it is best to simply roll along and enjoy the journey. It is inventive, visually interesting, and largely unique among anime works.

It superficially seems cute, but it is worth noting Cat Soup is not exactly a film for children. Scenes involve death, murder, cannibalism, and other elements. It is all played for maximum surreality and black comedy, but even so younger viewers may have questions. If it is anything, then Cat Soup is most certainly arthouse cinema. It is clear a lot of viewers used to mainstream anime will fail to see the appeal, but those tuned in to its charms will absolutely adore it.

It is no surprise to discover that Sato was assisted on this film by animator Yuasa Masaaki, who would go on direct a string of brilliant and similarly inventive films including Mind Game, Yu Over the Wall, and Inu-Oh. Fans of Yuasa will find it an illuminating example of his early career.

These days anime is such a mainstream and commercially lucrative art form. Despite enormous growth in the series and films available outside of Japan, independent and experimental productions still face a great struggle in making themselves available to international audiences. Cat Soup is a rare example of a film that actually made it, but that was a long time ago. It would be great to see an international distributor give it another chance.