Directed by: Osamu Tezuka, Eiichi Yamamoto

Synopsis: An adult animated adaptation of the historic story of Cleopatra with some sci-fi twists, random bizarre-ness and unexpected cartoon cameos thrown in.

Cartoon Cat: The film is filled with off-handed references to popular anime and manga which have no place in the story at all but are simply peppered pop references. Such is the case when we first land in Egypt while the Romans are invading. Sporadic scenes of violence are on display, some very realistic and serious, some completely silly. One such moment has a Roman guard next to a group of distressed onlookers, including a cat.

The cat leaps at the guard but is quickly kicked away.

The cat then crashes into the first boy who stands up in an odd position before falling over.

For any viewer not familiar with Japanese manga and anime this comes off as just one of another series of throwaway gags. But a little research uncovers that the characters are those created by cartoonist Fujio Akatsuka, including Bakabon’s Papa, Chibita and Iyami (the one who falls over). The cat is named Nyarome and was a major character in Akatsuka’s Extraordinary Ataro manga and was also included in the artist’s Star System.

Nyarome enjoyed a period of extreme popularity in Japan which spawned a generous amount of merchandising.

Final Mewsings: Even famous cartoon cats can make cameos!.

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