All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku
Entry updated 28 August 2023. Tagged: TV.
Japanese Original Video Animation (OVA) (1992-1993; original title Bannō Bunka Nekomusume). Animate Film. Directed by Yoshio Ishiwata. Written by Yuzo Takada, based on the Manga by Yuzo Takada. Voice cast includes Megumi Hayashibara, Akiko Hiramatsu, Aya Hisakawa, Kazue Ikura, Akira Kamiya, Mika Kanai and Saeko Shimaz. Six 28-minute episodes. Colour.
One Christmas, on discovering the Android he has designed for Mishima Heavy Industries is to be sold to the military, Scientist Kyusaku Natsume (Kamiya) takes it and flees, accompanied by his son, Ryunosuke (Ikura). As his wife Akiko (Shimazu) is the company's CEO she is doubly peeved and sends an attack helicopter after them. Going into an alley to urinate, Ryunosuke finds an abandoned kitten and brings it back to the car: unfortunately the helicopter turns up and fires upon them – father and son survive but the cat dies. Ryunosuke is upset, so Kyusaku devises the ideal Christmas present for him: a sister, Atsuko (Hayashibara) – that is, the cat's brain transplanted into the android (see Cyborgs) and given the appearance of a teenager. She is usually referred to by her nickname Nuku Nuku and has the strength and toughness of the android with – though her intelligence is now at a human level (see Uplift) – the personality of a cat.
Nuku Nuku protects Ryunosuke from his mother's kidnapping attempts, undertaken by her assistants Arisa Sono (Hisakawa) and Kyouko Ariyoshi (Hiramatsu), using Technology produced by Mishima Heavy Industries, such as traditional and octopus Mecha and a brainwashing device. Arisa, who looks up to Akiko, is a little bit trigger-happy (thus the near-killing of father and son earlier); Kyouko is, initially at least, more a voice of reason. However, this set-up only lasts a couple of episodes: in the third, because Akiko wants to be with her son and he wants to be part of a traditional family, she attempts to provide one with Kyusaku – who insists she does all the cooking, laundry and other household chores. When Nuku Nuku points out to Kyusaku this is making Akiko unhappy he explains it is a test: she has always been haughty and selfish but now she is attempting to put someone else first, adding that Nuku Nuku's sympathy is a sign of her growing maturity. The arrangement comes to an end after Ariso points out to Akiko that all the housework means she has no time to spend with Ryunosuke – so nothing has changed; whilst Akiko also realizes by trying to conform to someone else's fantasy she has been losing her Identity (see Feminism).
In episode four Kyusaku, Ryunosuke and Nuku Nuku take in Eimi (Kanai), a young girl who says she is fleeing from Akiko: actually she is an android manufactured by Mishima Heavy Industries, but flawed – too much battling and she will explode – so Eimi has decided to steal Naku Naku's body. They fight to a standstill – which Naku Naku considers playing – and Kyusaku fixes Eimi's flaw. In episode 6 Mishima Heavy Industries put an armed satellite into orbit that can track down and destroy any chosen target (see Weapons); unfortunately circumstances – another fight between Nuku Nuku and Eimi – leads to Akiko's selection as its target. Nuku Nuku agrees to go into space to disable the satellite: this she does, with Eimi hindering then helping, whilst the threat to Akiko brings the family together.
Akiko and Kyusaku's battles often comes across as heavy flirting: as Ryunosuke observes, "I can't tell if they love or hate each other." This is partially because characters' motivations are liable to change to suit circumstances, with the stories often being frenetic and over the top – though serious points about marriage relationships can be glimpsed amongst the farce and violence. Some references are also made to Naku Naku's emotional growth – at one point Kyusaku apologizes to her, "I've been teaching you how to be human, but trying to use you like a machine"; whilst her cat personality largely involves being easily distracted, hanging about on roofs and chasing mice. This OVA series was fairly amusing (see Humour), but does not fully engage with the themes it nods to.
Two Anime Television series followed: All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku (1998, 12 episodes plus 2 specials) and All Purpose Cultural Cat-Girl Nuku Nuku DASH! (1998; original title Bannou Bunka Neko-Musume DASH!; 12 episodes). [SP]
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