(t.o.L., 2002, Japan, 92 minutes)

Arguably the only anime ever made inspired by both Hello Kitty and Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49, Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space is a futuristic techno fever dream that flows back and forth in time, following the adorable wide-eyed kitty Tamala on her home world of Meguro City, Cat Earth, a Blade Runner-like mega-city controlled by the Catty & Co. corporation. Escaping into space, she’s waylaid by the God of Death and crash-lands near Hate City on the Planet Q, where she meets a new boyfriend, goes bowling and shopping in a thrift store – and realizes she may be the latest reincarnation of an ancient Greek cat cult with ties to the omnipresent Catty & Co. A heady, conceptual work of psychedelic sci-fi, influenced by the style of classic manga and anime such as Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy and Takashi Murakami’s postmodern art movement Superflat, Tamala 2010 is also a savage take on modern consumer culture: in Meguro City a giant Colonel Sanders stalks the streets with an axe buried in his head, and Tamala’s eerie cat’s eyes are everywhere, advertising chocolate, toothpaste and drugs for forgetfulness. Written, directed and composed by the two-person team of t.o.L. – their incredibly addictive electronica / space-lounge score is worth the price of admission alone – Tamala 2010 is equal parts Philip K. Dick, Metropolis and A Clockwork Orange (with a few sly nods to The Shining thrown in for good measure).

In Japanese with English subtitles.