Wata no Kuni Hoshi

Wata no Kuni Hoshi, localized in English as The Star of Cottonland, is the only anime adaptation, out of Yumiko Ōshima’s réperatoire. To give more context to that statement, Ōshima’s body of work is very similar in affluence to Moto Hagio’s manga. In fact, Wata no Kuni Hoshi is said to be the genesis of the cat girl fad, that is still an on-going phenomena in anime. This film is similar to Angel’s Egg, in its surreality and ambiguous message… furthermore, it explores the psyche of a prepubescent girl. —Characters/Story The story begins with an abandoned humanoid kitten, Chibi-Nekko, who is subsequently scooped up on arainy day by an 18-year-old rōnin, Tokio, who has fallen on hard times because of his inability to pass the entrance exams, in order to get into university. His mother has a phobia of cats, which she refers to as an allergy, but it is apparent throughout the film it is more of a deathly fear. Despite that, she allows Tokio to keep Chibi-Nekko because she is worried about his mental health and taking care of Chibi-Nekko brightens his mood. *A rōnin refers to a student in Japan that has failed to enter a school at the next level. Rōnin was originally derived from the Meiji era term that means a ‘masterless samurai.’ Rōnin became reinterpreted in modern day Japan as a term for wandering students because they have no leader to serve. It’s seen as somewhat of a shameful or derogatory term because wandering samurai in the Meiji era were required to commit seppuku, suicide by disembowelment, upon the loss of their master. That, in and of itself, adds a bleak connotation to the title. Other examples of rōnin in anime are: Keitarō Urashima from Love Hina, Hideki Motosuwa from Chobits, and Yūsaku Godai from Maison Ikkoku. It is never clearly stated whether humans see the cats as actual cats or anthropomorphized cat people. Tokio’s family treats Chibi-Nekko like a normal domesticated cat, but the Cat Maniac appears to have a homoerotic attraction for Raphael, a white-haired bishōnen cat. This makes it confusing on what stance to take when Chibi-Nekko falls in love with Tokio. It seems like they can’t verbally communicate but maybe this whole film is a metaphor for adolescent men and women, who are so socially divided that they have difficulty communicating with each other. Chibi-Nekko believes that all cats grow up to become humans. Tokio falls in love with a beautiful young woman, named Mitsuko, and after that, Chibi-Nekko is desperate to become a human girl. Raphael informs her that it is impossible for a cat to become human and proceeds to tell her of a mystical paradise, called Cottonland, where dreams can come true. Chibi-Nekko runs away from home in search of Cottonland but cannot find Raphael. Instead, she runs into a scruffy cat named Buchi-Nekko Suzuki and they drift around in search of the ever elusive Cottonland. After a fruitless pursuit, Chibi-Nekko ends up near Tokio’s house and his mother is finally able to overcome her fear of cats. The emotional catharsis of this film was feeble and the journey with Chibi and Buchi-Nekko was the weakest part of the whole movie! And ultimately, an unsatisfying conclusion! It’s sad because I was initially invested in the these characters… that may be in part because of the unique concept but the delivery just didn’t drive it home for me. I read a few complaints online about the age difference between Tokio and Chibi-Nekko, but I don’t think it was creepy at all because Chibi-Nekko’s feelings for Tokio are unrequited. Younger women get crushes on older guys all the time, it’s a normal part of growing up for many women in their adolescence. While it doesn’t necessarily cast a favorable light on shōjo manga, there’s a large sub-genre that consists of a certain female fantasy—younger girls being comforted by older men. This comes in all varieties, from a woman in her ‘20s being attracted to a man in his ‘50s or ‘60s: an example of this is Ristorante Paradiso. Or there are a few female mangaka that have written stories like Usagi Drop or Kodomo no Jikan, relatively more controversial and risqué. I don’t believe that the vantage points of these stories are told to promote pedophilia or child grooming, more so, it is easier to convey a characters’ trauma and selfishness through a child’s eyes because the audience is less likely to harshly criticize the character. Many people are often so mentally regressed through childhood trauma that they are unable to see themselves as anything other than a ‘child.’ This is mirrored in Usagi Drop with the scene involving Rin’s mother, Masako Yoshii, an adult that is incapable of responsibility outside of her artistic career and must be constantly nurtured by her boyfriend to stay afloat. Despite being written as a 5-year-old at the beginning of the series, Rin Kaga is obviously meant to represent someone who is much older. The same can be said about Rin Kokonoe in Kodomo no Jikan, if you ignore the gross fanservice, she is written to act like a broken woman rather than a child. Another example of the nurturing fantasy, is in Moyoco Anno’s Kantoku Fuyuki Todoki (EN: Insufficient Direction). This manga is a biographical gag manga about Moyoco’s life being married to Hideaki Anno and, in it, she refers to [Hideaki] as the ‘Director’ and herself as the ‘Baby.’ Even going so far as to portray herself as an infant with a pacifier. This isn’t because she’s promoting pedophilia but, more so, showing a need to be babied by her husband. There definitely are instances where young children in anime are fetishized but there are other examples in which child-like characters is meant to convey a sense of vulnerability to the audience. Wata no Kuni Hoshi is an exemplar of this shōjo trope, Yumiko Ōshima’s story is meant to be one of pure childish exuberance. —Technical The movie really pulls the stops with the seiyū, especially in regards to their *bishōnen characters. Notable performances include: *Bishōnen is slang for pretty boy. •Miina Tominaga as Chibi-Nekko, she is also know for voicing: 1)Karin Aoi, the lead heroine of DNA² 2)Maam, the lead heroine of Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken 3)Ritsu Sōma, Fruits Basket 4)Clare Barbland, the lead heroine of Ginga Hyōryū Vifam 5)Lin, the lead heroine of Hokuto no Ken 2 6)Noa Izumi, the lead heroine of Patlabor 7)Persia Hayami, the lead heroine in Mahō no Yōsei Persia *Hilarious because Chibi-Nekko is identified as a PERSIAN cat at the beginning of the film! •Bin Shimada as Tokio Suwano —Broly, from Dragon Ball Z •Keiko Han as Mitsuko 1)La Andromeda Promethium II, the lead heroine of Queen Millennia 2)Luna and Queen Beryl, Sailor Moon 3)Annerose von Grünewald, Ginga Eiyū Densetsu 4)Lalah Sune, Mobile Suit Gundam 5)Saori Kido, Saint Seiya •Kaneta Shiozawa as Neko Mania 1)Ninzaburō Shiratori, Detective Conan 2)Devimon, Digimon Adventure 3)Emperor Neo, Fushigi no Umi no Nadia 4)Paul von Oberstein, Ginga Eiyū Densetsu 5)Larva, Kyūketsuhime Miyu 6)Mū Aries, Saint Seiya 7)Balrog, Street Fighter II V and Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie 8)D, the protagonist of Vampire Hunter D 9)Shadi, Yū-Gi-Ō! •Nachi Nozawa as Raphael 1)Jin Munakata, Ace wo Nerae! 2)Deimos, the protagonist of Deimos no Hanayome 3)Masumi Hayami, Glass no Kamen 4)Alexander Anderson, Hellsing 5)Cobra, the protagonist of Space Cobra 6)Hans Axel von Ferson, Berusaiyu no Bara Kaneta Shiozawa and Nachi Nozawa both had clout in classic anime series as being typecast as beautiful male characters but, tragically, both of them passed away. Kaneta Shiozawa died of a cerebral contusion on May 9th, 2000 and Nachi Nozawa died from lung cancer on October 30th, 2010. They were both great talents in the industry. The director, Shin’ichi Tsuji, is relatively obscure online. The most that I could dig up on his discography, other than from his work on Wata no Kuni Hoshi were credits on a couple of Scooby-Doo movies, key animation on Superman: The Animated Series, as well as him being listed as staff on Tenchi Muyō: Midsummer’s Eve and Gekijōban Jungle Taitei (EN: Jungle Emperor Leo) but it was unclear what his position was in those films. Tsuji is sparsely credited for anything on internet databases. It’s not surprising because his directing on Wata no Kuni Hoshi isn’t bad, but the pacing is abysmal. You would think that the premise of a surreal film about a cat who believes she’s a human girl would be engaging—despite that, the story is dragged out languidly, causing any casual viewer to immediately disengage. The still-frame visuals were gorgeous but every other aspect of the visual presentation was an absolute slog fest. I give Wata no Kuni Hoshi a 5/10.

About as interesting as tepid, watered-down soup. Oh, except for the creepy vibe you get through the whole thing. Little kitten is adopted by a depressed adult student who can't get his life together. And yet, his mother (who has one of the most over-exaggerated cat 'allergies' in existence) thinks that he may regain his spark by taking care of this cat. And so, all sort of cute little misadventures ensue, as the kitten gets mixed up in all sorts of mischief. Except, as I mentioned, the creepy part. Which is, thelittle kitten is a young girl in a dress. Or at least, she thinks she is. And that she will grow up to be a human! This is truly the meaning of 'anthropomorphism', as she engages in all sorts of human behavior and actions. But, of course, everyone else sees her as just a cat. If you can get past that...well, then you're left with a lazy, meandering, and largely meaningless story. Feh.

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