Cat Girl Nuku Nuku Review By Rashad Moore
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	Audience:	PG
	Genre:	Sci-Fi/Comedy
	Contains:	comic violence, very brief graphic violence, mild sexual innuendo
	Rating:	B

Probably the most unrealistic and silly premise for an anime(what isn't?), All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku(whew! Cat Girl: Nuku Nuku for short.) The anime is brilliantly executed, and Cat Girl: Nuku Nuku is one of the most wackiest and memorable animes you'll ever see. (Think Project A-ko goes kawaii.)

On one chilly Christmas night, crazed inventor Natsume Kyusaku and his son Ryunosuke were on the run, from their mother.(Akiko, boss of weapon manufacturer Mishima) who escape with an unfinished android, in the aftermath of the chase, a stray cat Ryunosuke finds is mortally wounded in the crash. As an attempt to save the kittens life, her brain is soon transplanted inside the android, and thus Nuku Nuku is born. As super-strong as she is super cute, she'll need all her strength to protect Ryunosuke from over-protective Akiko(who's hell-bent on getting Ryunosuke back from dear old dad.) and her army of machines out to kill our favorite super cat girl android.

From the start you'll immediatly love the main character. Everything when Nuku Nuku is riding at supersonic speeds on a bicycle to chasing mice at a local restaurant. You''ll cheer Nuku Nuku on as she battles against those who threaten her happy world. Spirited and pure of heart, Nuku Nuku is an extremely entertaining character to see. Another major highlight come from the ultra-talented voice-actress Megumi Hayashibara, who plays the care free cat girl, is so perfect for comedic roles in animation that she seems like a total one-in-a-million commodity to anime. The other characters were very amusing as well. Akiko plays the role of the over-protective mother, who uses rather extreme methods of getting her son back, makes her an interesting, fun and different villainess. Her two henchwomen, Arisa and Kyouko were also fun characters who provide most of the comic relief as they wage war against Nuku Nuku, bringing chaotic and comedic "Road Runner vs. Coyote" results. Also later in the series come a rather psychotic female android named Eimi, also hell-bent on killing Nuku Nuku. (This brings out the really insane moments in the series.) Ryunosuke seems to be the only normal and dignified character on the series. (Dr. Kyusaku is also very hilarious, playing the part of the mad scientist.) Within the insanity the anime tended to get slighty more serious during Episode 3. Nuku Nuku is safe for most audiences, and the violence is mostly comical making it a safe watch for all audiences.

The animation and artwork are also excellent and the action scenes were very well animated and memorable as well. The character design is very cute, the colors were bright and everything was impressive considering this was an early 90's anime. The music is very good as well, the score which is J-Pop(very good J-Pop.), is as fun and light-hearted as the show itself, even better is the fact that Megumi Hayashibara lent her frantic spunk to the songs. (ex.the first opening theme, "Happy Birthday to Me")

All in all Cat Girl: Nuku Nuku is definitely one anime worth renting, no, make that searching out and shelling the bucks for. It's a fun entertainment worth returning to everytime. A pure anime gem.

Available from ADV Films. Image shown is not created by atek studios.   Review by Rashad Moore. Sept 99.