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Feline ferocity is the latest craze after Twitter dug up an old Japanese movie trailer from 2014 in which a samurai hitman is hired by a dog-loving crime lord to slay his rival's beloved kitty. What?
With Samurai Cat making the rounds on Twitter and creating a viral sensation, it seems everything old is meow again.
Taking place in Edo-era Japan, Kazuki Kitamura plays the feared swordsman Kyutaro Madarame, who's luck has fallen on hard times. The destitute samurai only knows how to survive by raising his sword to earn a living.
But when Sakichi notices his slaying skills by chance, he hires Kyutaro to kill the adorable white cat, Tamanojo. Sakichi claims his boss, Yozaemon, has taken an obsessive liking to the cat and reverted him to a childlike sense of wonder. So, naturally, the kitty must be slain!
The post reintroducing Samurai Cat got over 30 thousand retweets.
Kyutaro initially declines the ridiculous offer, but money talks. When he finally finally comes face to fur with the wanted for dead kitty, the swordsman's sense of duty is called into question as he cannot bring himself to raise his sword.
Why couldn't he off the cat? Well, you wouldn't be able to kill such a cute creature, either. Just look at those eyes!
Now, the assassin-turned-cat-lover, is forced to reckon with unfinished business and confront the thugs in an epic street battle in this over-the-top drama that appeals to both cinephiles and cat-lovers.
Neko (means cat in Japanese) Samurai was directed by Yoshitaka Yamaguchi – the former assistant director to Takashi Miike, who's directed over a hundred theatrical productions since 2001– including horror pictures like Audition (1999), Ichi the Killer (2001), and 13 Assassins (2010).
Soon, Twitter wanted to learn more about this mixed-genre film.
The 2013 TV series of the same name was so popular, it spawned the 2014 film and the 2015 sequel, Neko Samurai 2: A Tropical Adventure.
If you thought the 2014 film's premise was preposterous, it gets better. The next installment involves lost tribes and scary pirates on a tropical island.
Neko Samurai 2 sees our hero wasting his days away and living with his annoying mother-in-law Tae (Hana Kino). She informs him of an available sword instructor position at the Tosa Domain on Shikoku Island. Desperate for work, he takes on his next assignment: killing a goblin cat that is said to be possessed by a man's soul.
Kyutaro won't be alone on this mission. He brings Tamanojo with him.
People were on a quest to satiate their appetite for kitty-action flicks.
There might be a purr-tential for a trilogy here.
Tamanojo has enough lives to keep inspiring a new slew of movies.
Stop the presses! Tamanojo's media appearance is arresting!
Samurai and kittens go hand in paw.
H/T - YouTube, Twitter, Imdb, JapaneseSociety, AsianWiki