For someone who signs his work with a beagle, there’s an awful lot of cats in this episode.
At its heart this is another Weird Mystery story. Cats are courting on the roof of the Moroboshi’s house, so Ten goes to tell them off and meets Misuzu, a sorta cat-human hybrid and her would-be suitor Torajima, the neighbourhood’s toughest cat.
Lum and Ataru go see what’s up, and Ataru instantly hits on Misuzu. “You can’t even tell a cat from a human” says Lum. “At the very least I don’t see her as a cat” “I don’t see her as human either“. AND SO THE INTERNET GOES.
Anyhow, it turns out that she’s cursed. She was a sickly schoolgirl who wished she could be as free as her cat, Yuki. Yuki it turned out, also wanted to be a human. And so the two merged into the catwoman they have found on their roof.
Naturally Cherry shows up, and after the usual round of idiocy, he reveals the curse can be lifted if her suitors fight, then the winner throws himself off the roof, meows and kisses her. Unsure, the three ask for proof that it’s worth it, so she shows them a photo of herself and Yuki.
And so we get a three way bout between Ten, Ataru and Torajima. Realising Torajima’s toughness, Ataru and Ten join forces. However Torajima summons all the neighbourhood cats to support him. This eventually leaves just Ataru and Torajima in the fight, and we get an extended parody of Ashita no Joe. In fact it goes on so long, homage might be more accurate. Regardless, it ends in one of the silliest Cross Counter Punches in anime history:
Victorious Ataru throws himself off the roof, meows and kisses Misuzu…
Only to discover she’s no longer the sickly schoolgirl in her story and is now an OAP!!!
This is a flipping awesome episode, even with the Bagi-looking Misuzu, and at least the very idea of a “sexy” catwoman is commented on within it, with Ataru and Ten lusting after the woman, Torajima lusting after the cat, and Lum just being bemused by it all.
It’s one of the few episodes that Mamoru Oshii, wrote, storyboarded and directed, and that singular vision definitely pays off with one of the stronger episodes so far. There’s a reason I’ve pulled so many screenshots this episode, it’s because there are so many great shots throughout.
The only way I can see them improving would be if it was Asami Endo on animation direction rather than Nobe, as I think she’s been just a notch better when working with Oshii so far in the series.
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Screenplay: Mamoru Oshii
Storyboard: Mamoru Oshii
Direction: Mamoru Oshii
Animation Direction: Hayao Nobe
Tomorrow: the third production batch begins with the supposed best episode of the series!
