First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

At first glance, the title of Kobayashi Motofumi‘s manga will probably make one think it’s about cats doing their business, while mention of bunnies may suggest it’s one of those cute and cuddling type of shows, but what we actually have here is a war-based series where looking cute doesn’t save you from getting shot in the head. In fact, looking cute doesn’t mean anything at all, since all nationalities are represented by an animal in Motofumi’s unique take on the Vietnam War. For this series that’s really like no other, Studio Anima delivers their CG-rendered adaptation after well over a year of planning and it does not disappoint one bit. Backed by IDA Entertainment and streaming for free to Japanese audiences via their YouTube channel for the next two months, this rendition that’s subtitled “THE ANIMATED SERIES” appears to feature the same characters as Motofumi’s manga, while the setting has been changed to the Middle East in a much more modern day and age.

In this first episode, we’re introduced to American rabbit soldiers Perkins, a.k.a. Packy (Tsuchida Hiroshi), and his sniper partner Botasky, a.k.a. Bota (Hino Satoshi), as they attempt to rescue some hostages. Out of the two, Packy is totally badass and skilled as hell with Hiroshi’s voice behind him to back it up, whereas Bota is a bit of coward and quick to panic yet can be surprisingly dependable when he’s in the zone. Their platoon is codenamed “Cat Shit One” and is where the title of the series comes from, which makes a bit more sense in the Vietnam War setting since Vietnamese people are depicted as cats. In this new Middle East setting, it remains to be seen how many other nationalities we’ll come across, but the manga’s depiction of the belligerents in that war as French pigs, Chinese pandas, Japanese monkeys, Russian bears, Korean dogs, British rats, and Australian kangaroos has me hoping that at least a few others will show up down the road. The more animals the better!

Back when the series was still in the planning phases and Anima was seeking investors to continue with the project at last year’s Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF2009), it was suggested that it would be twelve episodes long; however, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of set schedule for future releases, leaving me wondering exactly how many we’re in store for. Given the impeccable quality of the CG work and all the motion capturing that went into though, I’d say we’ll be lucky if we see another episode before the end of this year. I’m not holding my breath, but this first showing that served as a technical demonstration of sorts to showcase Anima’s movie-like cinematics does have me hoping it will be sooner rather than later. The screens captures speak for themselves, but this episode is a real visual treat in motion. With motion capture actors, the characters’ movements are naturally very fluid and human-like, which was really funny to see because we’re dealing with bunnies and camels here. At the same time, it’s exactly what made everything so cool, as I loved seeing Packy move around with such poise when he has huge bunny feet.

What I enjoyed the most though were the espionage-like tactics employed that were reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid 4 — particularly with the over-the-shoulder camera angles and the Middle East setting — but just as easily fit many first person shooters such as Counter-Strike, Battlefield 2, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Gamers should get some enjoyment from seeing the use of silencers, claymore mines, rocket launchers, and even a Hind helicopter lighting camel ass up. The bobbing camera in some scenes sure made it feel like a game too, whereas the slow motion scenes worked in the suspense really well. The scene with Packy discarding his empty rifle, switching to a handgun on-the-fly, and rolling away to avoid gunfire was pretty slick as well, and I just love it how neither him nor Bota hesitated to fire additional rounds into wounded enemy soldiers on the ground just to make extra sure they’re dead. “This is war!” Some subtler details included Packy switching hands on his gun depending on which corner he was peeking out of, and the two of them covering one another while moving together as a unit, both of which were pretty cool to see.

All in all, there wasn’t a whole lot of story here in this first episode as they never delved into exactly who they were rescuing, but it really didn’t matter because the action itself in full-blown CG animation was all that was needed to draw me in. I really liked the whole animal take on it too, since it was somewhat funny to see yet didn’t take away from the awesomeness one bit. Instead, it actually added to it because it’s not every day you get to see bunnies owning face with guns and whatnot. Compared to the trailer that was shown before, all the blood was removed in this episode, but I didn’t feel like anything was taken away from the scenes without it. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing the blood added back in in some director’s cut version, though it may feel like a depiction of animal cruelty on some level if they do. Anyway, Cat Shit One. You didn’t read that wrong. If you haven’t checked this first episode out already, be sure to do so because it’s animals at war at its best, regardless of whether or not it has any competition in that category. 🙂

 

93 Comments

  22. its more like a mixture of Modern Warfare 2 and MGS4 with the way they move around XD. Packy is like a combination of Snake and Price 😛

    I LOLed @ the ending credits when they put that this work was 100% CGI and that no actual animals were used in the making of it~

    L3g0la5
    Reply

  25. I totally agree with this post, but cool and cuddly don’t go together too well with me.
    And OMG @Umaro please tell me this isn’t so. I want it monthly at least haha.

    babyphish
    Reply

  26. I saw the show and it seems to be very very awesome… especially at the end when they run off into the horizon (not really)

    But why would they name a unit Cat Shit One? Does this mean that there is a unit called Dog F*ck Two?

    Suppa Tenko
    Reply

    1. yeah whats up with that? i scoured the net bet closest i find to BLOOD is the trailer….too bad. i dont care what anybody says, BLOOD can ADD or SUBTRACT from a film

      BROOKLYN otaku
      Reply

  29. I tried to watch the episode, but I don’t like series that are totally made out of CG. I’m not too fond of the series’ concept either; therefore I stopped watching after 5 minutes.

    Luke
    Reply

  35. i hate this. it reminds me of these disgusting shows they show to little kids in nord-korea. this is unnecessary and stupid. there are enough dying animal all over the world even without this crap.

    Mi-Mi-Mikuru
    Reply

  40. Bleh, the animation is so-so.

    I can never take Japanese CG seriously since it’s always so amateurish compared to American CG projects.

    The only prime examples of great CG are Advent Children and Oblivion Island.

    Dullahan
    Reply

    1. The reason that’s probably thought is because the American CG projects (ones that are well remembered, anyway) are often big productions, with absolutely massive budgets compared to something like this.

      Salamandra
      Reply

    2. Not sure where you’re coming from with saying the animation was so-so. As far as I can tell, it was flowing smoothly most of the time. Graphic wise, the texture was sublime. Sure, it could have been much better but I find the animation part to be done nicely.
      The examples you gave as per Japanese CG had a lot of financial backup. This, I’m not sure of and with what I’ve seen, it must have cost a pretty penny.
      I do admit we don’t see enough CG/3D features from Japan but saying it ALWAYS is amateurish is pushy. You’re not taking Japanese CG seriously? Compared to the powerhouses in Hollywood?
      You got to realize the demand as far as 3d features within the Japanese market may not be as strong or as efficient than it is elsewhere. If everything turned up interest wise, Japan could certainly stand on its own as far as 3d goes.

      Shinjiro
      Reply

      1. I agree with you on Japan not having a vast 3D market, but Japan holding their own if everything was on the Internet?
        Maybe not, and I’m not comparing this to those big budget productions such as Pixar or Dreamworks, but even independent films have more consistent animation than what I’ve seen from this show so far.

        My main gripe and what caused me to use the word “amateur” was the horrible aliasing of the renders causing them to look distorted and not sync in with the background.

        I will however commend the motion capture; bunnies wielding guns with their stubby arms would seem awkward at first, but it was pretty well done here.

        Dullahan
        Reply

      2. I do hear what you say and I do agree. I just felt the words and criticism were a bit harsh.
        You do have a good point in the fact we do see much more 3d animation coming from North America than Japan. Question is, why the disparate between cool CG you see in games (Final fantasy is an obvious…) and the mean features pulled out from different sources in N-A (from commercials to games to movies)? Is it that Japan cannot stand on its own as far as 3d go? I think not.
        I’ve met a few really talented modelers, texture artists and animators from Japan. Unfortunately, the demand is much smaller in their country than anywhere else.
        What I’m getting at is 3d from Japan (and its hidden talents) is confined to certain media applications and no where else. Unfortunately, this will give you the amateurish feel you were referring to.
        As far as consistency goes, most of those Japanese artists that could possibly help define the 3d market in Japan have been scouted elsewhere. They really had little choice but to accept seeing how the Japanese market (as far as 3d from its shores) seemingly remains still in its infancy. Thus certain things a few of us here would be able to pinpoint as being less adequate comes back…The more experienced and more diverse the artistry and knowledge/skills, the less little cringes we’d feel. It’s a vicious circle so to speak.
        btw,good to see/read another 3d’er in RC 😉

        Shinjiro
        Reply

  42. It was pretty epic and lots of fun to watch.
    Mind you, was I the only one who wanted to pet those bunnies? Too bad, the scheduling in not known for the rest of the episodes.

    Shinjiro
    Reply

    2. packy is using a SR-47, bota is using a M-14 EBR, the terrorists are using mostly AK variants and RPG-7’s, the pistol looked more airsoft than real because i don’t know of any pistol with a potato masher front like that

      JIBUN WOOOOOO
      Reply

  45. Damn, that was awesome. And obviously done with licensing by an american company in mind. Wonder how it’ll sound with english voices.
    Any idea if the obligatory Blu-ray will have 3D Support?

    boingman
    Reply

  49. Oh wow, this was awesome. Seeing bunnies use real-life military tactics in combat… whoever thought of this should get an award. Like Divine said, the show itself reminded me a lot of MGS4 and MW2 with the stealth+knifing and using C4 and Claymores to take on multiple targets. I feel like I’d get better at MW online by watching this show.

    Oh and Divine, this makes two anime to use “Saiaku da!” phrases this week lol. :p

    Suzuku
    Reply

  57. Wow Divine, I paid attention to what you said on the last line, and I enjoyed the episode! Now I guess this can ignore my thoughts of Battlefield 1943 for a while liao…

    Nothing much to say, and not knowing it was less violent (w/o blood), it was still great. Cuteness X Warfare: Epic. Seriously…

    kaineng
    Reply

  58. imho, pixar should buy this, than make it into a high blown budget movie, add some disney characters in it, make sure to be PG13 , make some toys and games ..that would be sold out! LOL

    ay ya ya ya ya
    Reply

    1. I’m waiting to use Bonta-kun in Another Century’s Episode R lol.

      I just hope people don’t misinterpret certain elements in this show. There a ton of ignorant people out there, we don’t need more to make it any worse. Writing about Pakistan Education Reform as a policy paper and almost done reading Three Cups of Tea, as well as living in Indonesia in my early child hood shows me how much culture still needs to exchange and understood across the globe.

      Sora no Kaze
      Reply

  66. Great little episode. I’ve been waiting for this for a year or so now. Although there are little flubs here and there. One scene, Packy slings his SR-47 to take out the guards inside the shack with his suppressed 1911…and then the next scene he dumps his primary to the ground to transition. What happened to your sling, sir?

    A few texture issues with his plate carrier as well…scenes where he kneels or bends down, you can see the MOLLE grid stretching and warping with the model (sign that the PC is apart of the character model and not it’s own entity…I guess to save on rendering and modeling costs)

    If this series gets off the ground, I hope they get a budget increase to fix this issues

    Chris
    Reply

  67. Just wanted to say that I’m the one that added Bowen and CP (the one Perkins talk to in the radio) in the character lists in the anime’s entry in My Anime List. XD

    entropy
    Reply

  68. Great episode, and very action packed. I was impressed with how it reminded me of Call of Duty and Metal Gear Solid 4. I’m sure there’ll be some stink over the animal choices chosen for each of the character races, but that’s politics for you (Maus went through the same thing).

    That said, it was weird and yet strangely entertaining watching cute little fuzzy animals slaughter each other in WAR (if anyone’s played Conker’s Bad Fur Day, they’ll know what I mean, haha). The granola-eating hippies can deny it all they want but fight or flight is part of nature and evolution too; survival of the fittest.

    Packy and Botasky are pretty badass bunnies. Can’t wait to see more!

    Raiju
    Reply

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