Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space

"Tamala - Punk Cat in Space" is quite a trip, and for any who enjoy this genre, I highly recommend this anime. Story Tamala is about a pretty little female Cat, Tamala, who sets off from Cat-Earth on a journey to get to her home planet where she was born, Orion. Along the way her spaceship is damaged and she lands on a Planet, where she meets a male cat Named Michelangelo(Though Tamala keeps calling him MoiMoi). The movie basically follows what happens while Tamala is on that planet. At first the story sounds very simple, and the animation style can trick an individual intothinking its an anime for younger audiences. That is far from the case. Despite its initial appearence, Tamala has loads of adult themes in it and there are deeper mysteries behind the plot. The biggest of these mysteries is "Who/What exactly is Tamala? Who is the Robot in the dream sequences in the movie?" There are other mysteries too, many concerned with the omnipresent Catty & Co. company that dominates the commercial/political universe of Tamala. Art As I said before, don't let the art decieve you. As a matter of fact, though many seem to be put off by the simplistic art style, I think that for this movie it fits nicely because it lends beautifully to the Surreality of the atmosphere. Add to this the fact that there are spots in the movie that suddenly shift from the standard, simplistic style to CG rendered hyper reality, and it completes the formula that makes this movie such a strange and interesting journey. Sound Unfortunately I didn't really notice anything special about the sound, though it didn't seem to detract from the movie either. There is one song that recurs at multiple points in the movie that has an ethereal sound to it. I thought it was okay. Character The character development was very well done for a 1.5 hour movie. Tamala comes across as a very spicy character despite her youthful appearence and childish way of speaking. That too is part of the surreality. Tamala speaks like a small child in the way she pronounces her words and phrases her sentences, like at one point in the movie when she says he has to go to the bathroom. She uses the japanese word a child would use, kinda like a little kid telling his parents he has to make pee-pee. But then there are times where she says some really adult things in this childish tones, even dropping the f-bomb(in english, mind you). This uneven matching of innocence and maturity makes Tamala an interesting character. The supporting characters come across very nicely too. Michelangelo has a common-sense, mellow feel to him, and it's cute at times to watch his growing attachment to his new friend Tamala. Kentarou comes across well as being the mean jerk he is, though even he is shown to be a human character in the end. Enjoyment I gave this a little lower scoring because of the fact that it took me a good half hour of thinking "what in the world am I watching, and why?" before the pieces started to fall together sufficiently to get me interested. The harsh language/content matter combined with the simplistic style almost threw me off. Once I started to get interested, though, I enjoyed this movie thoroughly. Other than that My only real complaint is that the movie seemed to end on to much of an open note for me. Overall I really enjoyed this movie and hope that others manage to find it and give it a good shot.

This flick's an acid trip of cutesy meets crude, and not in a “oh, isn’t that quirky” kinda way, but more in a “why?” kinda way. It’s a half-assed dystopian universe, and there’s this chain-smoking, punk-ass space cat named Tamala. This cat’s got attitude in spades, a vibe that’s somehow both ‘fuck society’ and ‘let’s nap forever.’ I’ll give ‘em credit for the artsy black-and-white style—it’s got that slick, underground comic vibe, and the creators didn’t hold back on the existential dread. Now, don’t get me wrong, the plot… if you can call it that, is a total clusterfuck. Tamala’s out here exploring dystopian planets, butit’s less a story and more like a weird collage of “what the hell did I just watch?” moments. There’s some half-baked corporate satire, a sprinkle of weirdly violent scenes, and a tone that’s all over the damn place. It’s basically like a series of twisted memes strung together. You don’t watch this thing for a clear storyline, you watch it to feel your brain slowly melt and ooze outta your ears. So, yeah. Worth a look if you’re into trippy, dark humor and cats with a whole lotta attitude, but let’s just say you might feel like you need a shower—or a shot—afterwards.

[Spoiler Warning] I learned of _Tamala_ from Anime Year by Year's 2002 entry, which describes the work thus: "Unbeknownst to her, she is genetically engineered to remain eternally young by the conglomerate Catty & Co., formerly the clandestine cult of Minerva, so that she can be used for advertising purposes. Even after she is killed mid-film by a pedophilic dog police officer, she remains 'immortal' with her face plastered over all of Meguro Ward, Tokyo in ads for cigarettes, matchboxes, and other consumables. One of her flings, a cat named Michelangelo (calling himself Professor Nominos later in the film), views the logographic Tamala in the same wayOedipa Maas does the muted post horn in Lot 49 and starts giving lectures on her hidden significance. To anyone who enjoys Pynchon's novels, this winding and nonsensical plotline won't be a deterrent. Tamala does a great job at capturing the essential elements of his art: conspiracy theories that go nowhere, riffing on the emptiness of semiotics (Tamala represents anything and everything to her observers a la the post horn in Lot 49), postmodern obsession with holocaust and atrocity (Tamala's only wish is to return to her home planet of Orion, origin of the massacre). Moreover, the cyclical structure common in the postmodern novel is contained in Minerva's belief that Tamala is their god Tatla: "Why can't Tamala die?" The reason is now visible. Tamala must live forever, the everlasting cycle of Destruction and Rebirth with Tamala as the centerless center - the icon of Death and Resurrection - must be retained so that Catty & Co. may continue to expand its network of conspiracy and worldwide capitalism...I also appreciated the unconventional B&W coloration and 1960's OST, and the use of Flash, far from being distracting, fits with irreverent attitude of the film's protagonist; naturally, a true punk anime shouldn't use the normal means of production. Many adaptations lazily copy the text of the original work. Tamala distinguishes itself by reproducing the spirit of Pynchon's work while grounding it in a fundamentally different context. Though the film alienated many of its viewers (the lengthy monologue towards the end is usually cited as a sticking point), I found Tamala to be a complete success thematically and an ideal example of avant garde animation." Intrigued, I checked it out. My impression was less favorable. I started off favorably inclined, as the artwork beckoned back towards the forgotten era of hyper-kinetic deformed black-white animation, before Disney's hegemony, and any revival gets kudos from me. The Pynchon paranoid mood also was OK with a number of creepy elements buried in the urban background (the giant robotic advertisements being a good example). Slowly, the artwork begins to wear as the sheer repetitiveness and minimalism and slow pans and static camera and unimaginative gray-scale coloring shows it's not some East Asian/Kubrickian esthetic, it's just low-budget cheapness. (I may like Flash animation well enough for short, but *92 minutes* of it?) The paranoid mood in fiction is exhausting, and to a great extent, depends on the payoff because you're setting up a mystery: what is really going on, or is the protagonist just crazy? _Tamala_ suffers from dwelling on a topic of little interest to us: the slow decay into riots of the random city (heavily reminiscent of _Taxi Driver_'s NYC - lots of casual violence, prostitutes, etc) she wanders into. Other choices alienated me (what was the point of the mouse sex-slave?) or irritated me as much as the art (Tamala only speaks in an immature monotone, no matter what she is describing or saying). We ultimately do get the whole framework laid out, in a single gigantic infodump at the end, as AYY alludes to. Infodumps usually indicate a failure of writing, and _Tamala_'s infodump is no exception: it comes too late for me to care, and when laid out baldly like that, my reaction is more "huh?" The plot... I don't even... well, I can't say I've seen *that* in worldbuilding before, so it definitely has novelty. The work ends abruptly after the monologue and from Wikipedia, it seems they had intended to complete the return of Tamala to Orion and come up with a real ending, but that has not happened and so (given it's an obscure work from 12 years ago now) the viewer will be perpetually in suspense as to the rest of Tamala's story. I'm willing to put up with weak entries in a series if the rest delivers, but unfortunately _Tamala_ has to be judged on its own. So, definitely unusual, definitely avant garde and experimental, but not much of a success. I don't regret watching it but it's probably best for those who want novelty and have run through most of the usual suspects in anime.

First review. Tamala 2010 is pretty much what I would call an experimental movie, likely auto produced. As such, the movie possesses strong points and weak points, which makes it hard to give it an overall mark. Looking for qualifiers, I first thought of "cyberpunk", but the visual simplicity makes it barely adequate here (compare to Tetsuo), plus the usual cyberpunk questionning of existence also lacks. Tamala nevertheless has a punk attitude, and is akin to a somewhat dreamlike SF black and white Happy Tree Friends (without the gore). That said, the mix is quite effective, and would probably have been awesome if not forthe lacks in direction/writing, with a cool but thin plot, cool but underdevelopped characters and an overlong moment which could have been splitted or handled differently. But then again, these things are secondary to an experimental movie probably realized with a very small team (2D Flash animation could have been done by 3-4 people), and shouldn't be judged with the usual anime eye. Fritz the Cat was my immediate comparison, but Tamala 2010 isn't as talkative, or as thought provoking. Its strong point is the art, and the clever use of contrasts and colours, which made me wish more than once wish I had experienced it in a movie theatre instead of my laptop. The OST is another very strong point: through drones and pads it succeeds in setting various moods that keep the viewer entertained. Overall, the parodic/symbolic elements inherent to punk entertainment (compare to Sunabouzu, Tank Girl) had a certain fun value, as had the visuals. So a lot of unrealized potential, but as far as experimental anime goes, an interesting experience .