Call 1: I Can't Even Explain¶

So it opens on Jax's boots. Just boots. In a puddle. And there's blood in the puddle mixing with the neon reflection and it's raining and the sound design is—okay I'm getting ahead of myself. Boots. Combat boots. Black with like buckles and they're worn and there's blood on them and the camera just holds there for like ten seconds while this music builds and it's just boots and rain and neon and blood and—

Then it pans up.

And you see the look. Like THE look. Ripped jeans with fishnets underneath, oversized hoodie that's always falling off one shoulder, these mismatched arm warmers—one's hot pink, one's black with green stripes—and I need you to understand the character design here is INSANE. Like somebody really thought about every single piece. Nothing matches but it all WORKS, you know? It's like punk but also—

The clicking sound? Oh that's just the recorder, same as always. I told you I'm sampling everything for— yes I know I keep saying that. Can we get back to the murder now?

So the camera's still panning up and you see cat ears. Real cat ears. Like growing out of his head, and they're wet from the rain and they're twitching and then you see his FACE and—

He's really good looking. Like objectively. Good character design. That's all I'm saying.

Stop laughing. I can appreciate good animation quality. Can't a guy say another guy looks good without it being a whole thing? How old are you, ten?

ANYWAY. His face. There's blood on it, smudged eyeliner running in the rain, wet hair with cyan streaks plastered to his face, and he's just standing there over this body. Dead guy in a business suit, looks super confused about being dead. And Jax just wipes his blade on the guy's jacket, slides it into his boot, and walks away.

Just walks away. Doesn't even look back.

And the CITY. Oh man the city. It's this massive cyberpunk thing, neon everywhere, rain everywhere, and there's catpeople EVERYWHERE. Like working at food stalls, cleaning streets, doing deliveries. This is just normal. They're just part of the world. And Jax walks through covered in blood and nobody even notices—like they're invisible or something. Maybe because there are so many catpeople? Or maybe it's just a Tuesday in this city. I don't know, we'll probably never know.

He stops at this automated cigarette vendor. Uses a stolen credit chip. And he's got this lighter with a little cat sticker on it which is—it's kind of cute, okay? Shut up. And he just stands there in the rain smoking and the way the light hits him—

I'm just saying the cinematography is really good.

So then he's walking and he stops. Just stops dead. And he's looking up at this massive tower and the sign says DIGNITAS HUMANA in huge letters and his face just—it goes from nothing to pure HATE. Like you can feel it. And he says—

"Found you."

That's it. Just "Found you." And then BOOM. Title card.

BLOODY CATBOY in this glitchy neon font with industrial synth music that absolutely SLAPS and I know you're thinking the title is ridiculous but it WORKS okay? It works for what this show is.

So after the title card it jumps to a different building. HELIX GENOMICS. And Jax touches his cat ears like he's remembering something, uses another stolen chip to get in—

Where's he getting all these chips? I don't know, he steals them, it doesn't matter. What matters is he gets into this building and it's empty, all sterile and blue lighting, super corporate, and he finds this file room and just kicks the door open. Alarm starts blaring but he doesn't care. He's searching through files frantically and then he finds it.

His file.

And oh my GOD. Okay so there's a photo of him but younger, empty eyes, medical gown, and at the top it says "SERIES GAMMA - UNIT 1 (PROTOTYPE)" like he's a PRODUCT. And stamped across it in red "STATUS: DEFECTIVE."

His hand is shaking when he's holding it. Like actually shaking. And his face breaks for just like two seconds, you can see EVERYTHING, and then it goes hard again. Blank. And he keeps reading and it gets WORSE.

It says "Defect: Non-responsive to command protocols / Will not execute kill orders" and "Unsuitable for military deployment" which means he was made to be a FUCKING soldier, to follow orders, to kill when told. But he won't. He CAN'T. That's his defect. The writers really had a good idea here!

And then it says "Reassigned: THE DOLL HOUSE - Field testing (alternative applications)" and we don't know what The Doll House is yet but it's fucked up, I'll tell you later. What matters is there's a stamp at the bottom.

Approved by Cardinal Lawrence.

Cardinal Lawrence. Remember that name because he's the bad guy. Like THE bad guy.

And then he reads that in the basement of this lab is The Hatchery and bro, this is so fucked up because this is where they MAKE the catpeople!

Jax is so in rage, he just sets the whole room on fire. Lights it up and walks out. And how the animators did the lighting here with the fire and his face and how it mirrors in his eyes before he turns around, bro, they made good.

And THEN. Okay so then there's this ending sequence and this is the reason I had to call you right now at 2am because–He's walking away from the burning building. Fire trucks in the distance, alarms, smoke. He lights a cigarette and walks into an alley and just stops. Stops and looks at his reflection in a puddle. Rain is washing the blood off and the water's pink and his face is all distorted in the ripples and he just stands there.

Existing. Just existing.

And the music changes. Gets soft. Intimate. And the lighting is PERFECT—blue neon from behind him, pink glow from the puddle—and then he starts purring.

Bro, I can't. I mean he just burned a building down and now he purrs like a cat? Okay he IS part cat but what? And the music! THE MUSIC! The lighting when they show his ears growing out of his head and his hair and this smile and together with the music it's—I've never seen anything like this.

Am I okay? NO I'M NOT OKAY. Have you even listened to what I just told you? They made the technically best anime in like... forever and nobody knows it exists? Like anyone who wants to make an animated series should watch this episode and take notes. This should be a fucking blueprint for how you do lighting and music and character design and pacing. But it's just sitting there on some anime streaming site and nobody's ever gonna see it.

Anyway. ANYWAY. The purring. He's still purring. Camera just holds on him, rain and neon and that smile. Then it cuts to black. Credits roll.

And when I watched this the first time, that moment just—it did something to me. And it still does. Like I've watched it twice now and it still hits the same way. I can't even explain it properly. The way he looked. How the light hit his face. The purring. Just him being himself after everything. And I needed to know everything about him, so I immediately started episode two because I had to know what happens next.

Wait. Wait I'm doing this completely wrong. You don't even know WHO he is yet or why he's hunting people or what the hell The Doll House actually is or how he escaped in the first place.

I need to back up. Episodes 2 and 3 are flashbacks—But... but... Bro, just watch episode one, okay? And if it's bad I won't talk to you about episodes 2 and 3. I need to sleep. I'll call you tomorrow. These episodes are so damn dark.

[Click.]