L'herbe du chat Jiru (2001)

Cat Soup (ねこぢる草, Nekojiru-sō, lit. Nekojiru Grass) is an experimental 2001 Japanese anime film directed by Tatsuo Satō, inspired by the work of manga artist Nekojiru. The surreal follows Nyatta, an anthropomorphic kitten, on his travel to the land of the dead and back in an effort to save his sister's soul. Cat Soup was released direct-to-DVD in Japan on 21 February 2001. Central Park Media licensed the film in North America under its Software Sculptors label and was released on DVD on September 9, 2003.

Synopsis

Nyāko (にゃーこ), the older sister of Nyatta (にゃっ太), lies very ill in her room. By accident, Nyatta drowns in the bathtub and, whilst being clinically dead, sees his sister leaving the house holding hands with the Japanese version of Ksitigarbha (known as Jizou in Japanese) and proceeds to follow them. Nyatta tries to take his sister back from Jizou but it holds on to her refusing to let go. Nyāko splits in two leaving Jizou with half of her soul while her brother runs away with the other half. Jizou sends a clue about a flower they must search for in order to retrieve the missing half-soul, then walks away with it.