Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita, Yoko Kuno
A gruff, oversized phantom cat who smokes, gambles, and soaks in hot springs turns out to be exactly the guardian a grieving young girl needs in Ghost Cat Anzu, the 2024 French-Japanese animated feature from directors Nobuhiro Yamashita and Yoko Kuno.
What is Ghost Cat Anzu about?
Karin is left in the Japanese countryside with her monk grandfather after her father can no longer care for her, and the household she lands in is anything but ordinary: it includes Anzu, a towering, easygoing ghost cat with the manners of a small-town layabout and the instincts of something far older and stranger. As Karin adjusts to rural life, Anzu's world of local spirits, minor gods, and everyday supernatural mischief pulls her into strange errands and stranger company, gradually reshaping her grief into something she can carry. The film blends rotoscope-style animation with hand-drawn character work, giving its folkloric Japan a loose, wandering rhythm that mirrors Karin's own slow adjustment to her new life.
Cast & crew
Mirai Moriyama voices Anzu opposite Noa Goto as Karin, with Munetaka Aoki, Miwako Ichikawa, Keiichi Suzuki, Shingo Mizusawa, Wataru Sawabe, and Ikue Otani filling out the cast of villagers, spirits, and family.
Context & significance
Ghost Cat Anzu comes from the pairing of live-action director Nobuhiro Yamashita and animator Yoko Kuno, whose backgrounds outside mainstream anime studios give the film an offbeat visual identity distinct from typical family animation. Its mix of yokai folklore, deadpan humor, and quiet grief places it closer to slice-of-life fantasy than adventure spectacle, appealing to viewers drawn to animated storytelling with an adult undercurrent alongside its family-friendly surface. The film premiered internationally on the festival circuit before wider release, building word of mouth around its unusual tone and its willingness to let scenes breathe rather than rushing toward a conventional plot climax.
Where & how to watch
Ghost Cat Anzu is available on K-Time with a free account login, including a Persian dubbed version so Farsi-speaking families can watch together without relying on subtitles. Reading about the film requires no account at all; only pressing play does.