Two American special ops soldiers, Packy and Botasky, have zeroed in on the compound in which American P.O.W.s are being held by Middle Eastern forces. When things turn nasty, and with backup still miles away, they are forced to make a move, unaware enemy reinforcements are almost upon them. What follows is some top class action unlike anything you’ve seen before.
Cat Shit One is a computer generated anime based on the manga series Apocalypse Meow, but unlike the manga, in which the action takes place in Vietnam, the setting for Cat Shit One has been changed to Iraq. This modernisation makes the series more relevant to today, which increases its potential fan base, but also adds some controversy.
All of the characters in Cat Shit One are animals. What’s that all about you ask? Well, there’s a different animal for each nationality: Americans are rabbits, the Japanese word for rabbit being usagi or USA G.I. (clever); characters of Middle Eastern origin are depicted as camels, goats or sheep (controversial); the British are rats (from the S.A.S. Desert Rats of W.W.II) and so on.
An uncomfortable feeling arises when people of different nationalities are portrayed as being from separate species; it smacks of biological racism, but coming from a homogeneous country like Japan it is not surprising. By the end or the episode you may be surprised at having forgotten that the characters are animals at all. The reason for this is a combination of factors: the animation of is exceptional quality; the show is well scripted; the main characters, Packy and Botasky are likable; and the action really is that good.
Unfortunately only one episode of Cat Shit One has been released to date, but if episode two is of the same standard as this it will be worth looking at too. Although it’s short, at only 22 minutes run time including intro and credits, it’s definitely worth tracking; these rabbits kick ass!
4 out of 5.
You may also want to check out the original manga series the link to which is provided below.
