20 Great Asian Cat Movies

11. The Cat Returns (Hiroyuki Morita, 2002, Japan)

Coming-of-age themes are riddled throughout the works of Studio Ghibli, and Hiroyuki Morita's “The Cat Returns” is no exception – though this time applied to the world of cats, or should I say the Kingdom of Cats? Haru is a 17 year-old girl struggling to find her place in the world when, unwittingly, she saves the life of a prince from the Kingdom of Cats. She is then transported to a parallel world to marry the prince she saved; herself gradually turning into a cat. Unhappy in this role, however, she enlists the help of the Baron, as featured in “Whisper of the Heart”, to save her. A smaller-scale production by a novice director, think less along the epic lines of “Spirited Away” and more the Ghibli TV-movie “Ocean Waves”, with a short and sweet tale of good humour and creative character design. (Andrew Thayne)

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12. Rent-A-Cat (Naoko Ogigami, 2012, Japan)

This charming movie mixes a bit of drama with unassuming comedy, telling the story of Sayoko, an eccentric girl who easily gets on with cats, though not so well with people. She runs a cat rental – assuming that contact with fluffy living creatures may help those in need to fill a void in their hearts. Every day, she pulls a cart full of cats along the river, looking for possible clients. Warm and bittersweet, it shows different forms of loneliness and strategies to deal with it. An emphatic journey through the tales of interesting characters and tails. (Joanna Konczak)

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13. Kedi (Ceyda Torun, 2016, Turkey)

This Turkish-American documentary unexpectedly won the hearts of festivals' audiences. In equal measures, it is a story of a vibrant metropolis of Istanbul, stray cats wandering its streets and alleys and… people, who take care of them, irrespective of class, gender or religious differences. The camera closely follows furred seven subjects, showing them eating, hunting, cuddling, and playing about, in a way, that a viewer may feel like a cat himself. Technical purrrrrfection! (Joanna Konczak)

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14. Kuroneko (Kaneto Shindo, 1968, Japan)

While not the fastest-moving film around, there's still plenty of stuff to like about “Kuroneko” making it one of the top entries in this genre Give it a shot if you're into that kind of film or a fan of Asian horror cinema or looking for the origins of the Asian ghost genre. (Don Anelli)

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15. Samurai Cat (Yoshitaka Yamaguchi, 2014, Japan)

The familiar trope of the unlikely buddies is taken to a whole new level in “Neko Samurai” as this comedy samurai drama's superstar is a fluffy cute white cat. Along her, Kazuki Kitamura stars as feared (and very grumpy) lone ronin Kyutaro Madarame in old Edo period. Kyutaro is having a hard time and would do almost anything for money. In fact, when he stumbles in the middle of a fierce battle between cat-lover and dog-lover gangs, and he's commissioned by the dog gang to assassinate the opposition leader's pet cat Tamanojo, he just cannot refuse. However, when Kyutaro sees the little super-kawaii feline, his determination crumbles and – after sparing the kitten – he takes her with him. Forget the plot and the secondary characters, “Neko Samurai” is all about the odd contrast between a grumpy sexy samurai and an adorable bundle of fluff. Take it as a 100min-long cat GIF and enjoy it! (Adriana Rosati)

16. Neko Ninja (Takashi Watanabe, 2017, Japan)

The cat in “Neko Ninja” is not the typical Japanese movie cat: it is fat, red and rather lazy. Also, it has a red nose and this distinctive feature leads Kagerota, a young ninja, to believe that the cat is actually his long-lost father. His quest to reunite with his father by changing the cat back to his human form combines action and comedy. This all makes “Neko Ninja” funny and heartwarming, a film that will not only please lovers of cats and ninja movies (Nancy Fornoville)

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17. Cat Girl Kiki (Akiyoshi Sugiura, 2007, Japan)

Part of the ‘Akihabara Trilogy', which looks to celebrate different cultural obsessions attributed to the otaku haven, “Cat Girl Kiki” delves into the obsession of ‘cat girls', when a young man rescues a cat and has it transform into a hybrid. Where the film deviates from the normal male fantasy, is in some of the more questionable moral decisions and observations made by the protagonist. Our hero is far from being a sympathetic character through hateful speech, which makes his creepy demeanour towards his new toy and the cat's unwavering devotion in the face of some horrific observations, oddly unsettling. The final conclusion is rather baffling, defying logic and painting an even more disturbing picture of the protagonist. It is not a perfect film, and a bit of a head scratcher, but it is a memorable one of a kind experience. (Adam Symchuk)

18. No 7 Cherry Lane (Yonfan, Hong Kong, 2019)

For his first venture into animation, the Hong Kong- Taiwanese director Yonfan was awarded the Best Script Award at the 76th edition of the Venice International Film Festival. “No. 7 Cherry Lane” is a complex love triangle story set at the backdrop of the Hong Kong protests in 1967. Highly erotic and brave in exploring the mechanisms of love relationships, the film is loaded with film, literature and art references and never short of surprises. It also “stars” a wicked gang of cats who populate the apartment of the former opera diva Mrs. May, a mysterious ageing woman with magical powers and a cougar-like interest in a hot young man Ziming, her neighbour's lover and one of the film's leads. One of the most memorable scenes in the film includes Mrs. May's cats scratching Ziming's bare chest and licking his nipples. (Marina Richter)

19. If Cats Disappeared from the World (Akira Nagai, 2016, Japan)

What if you could prologue your life by a day, and then another, in exchange for a disappearance of one random item? Our young protagonist with a terminal diagnosis decides to accept the offer. But as it happens, the offer comes with a catch: he cannot choose what will cease to exist, and with the item everything connected to it including people will disappear. The story of a dying man becomes a small celebration of little moments that constitute our lives. Of seemingly silly things that makes us feel, that makes us alive. Should they not exist, our lives might become meaningless. (Anomalily)

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20. Inland Sea (Kazuhiro Soda, 2018, Japan)

In this case, Soda takes a 122-minute look at Ushimado, a fishing village in the Inland Sea, which seems to walk steadily towards extinction… Kazuhiro Soda has chosen a rather difficult path for his works, which have value but are difficult to watch, at least for the whole of their duration. However, watching at least one of his movies is definitely an experience, if only for their uniqueness. (Panos Kotzathanasis)

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