Apocalypse Meow
Encyclopedia
Apocalypse Meow is a three volume manga
series written and illustrated by Motofumi Kobayashi. It was originally published in Japan
as in 1998 by Softbank Publishing, but was renamed for the US release to parody the title of the film Apocalypse Now
, which also took place during the Vietnam War
. It was published in the UK (printed in Canada) in 2004 by ADV Manga. It was also released in Poland
in 2006, also under the title Cat Shit One. It has been released in France
, Belgium
and Spain
, as Cat Shit One, by Glénat
in 2006.
In 2008 Kobayashi released a follow-up to Cat Shit One – Cat Shit One 80. Currently three volumes have been published in Japan.
A computer-generated original net animation
series of Cat Shit One by Studio Anima began release on IDA Entertainment's YouTube
channel in Japan from July 17, 2010, and in North America, Australia and New Zealand on February 5, 2011. The animated version is set in the Middle East rather than Vietnam, and a trailer indicates that the action takes place after 1991.
named Botasky, Perky and Rats. All three are in the recon
team called Cat Shit One. Each mission (or chapter) shows the daily activities of the reconnaissance group in Vietnam. There are sections of the manga which give brief history and truths behind the war, such as the types of weapons used by different countries and the activities of forces in the war. At the end of volume one there is a chapter called Dog Shit One — separate from the main story — showing human characters.
In Cat Shit One '80, the story continues to follow the three main protagonists as they became involved in various low intensity conflict
s in the 1980s. Perky, now a member of the elite Delta Force
, was attached to the Special Air Service
and was involved in various SAS operations while Rats and Bota were involved with the US operation in Afghanistan against the Soviet invasion.
An animated adaption of Cat Shit One was released in 2010. only one episode has been released.
as follows:
The following are new animals depicted in Cat Shit One '80:
The depiction of Americans as rabbits is actually a pun
on the Japanese
word for rabbit. The Japanese word for rabbit is "うさぎ", which can be romanized as "usagi", or USA GI.
The British characters were depicted as rats
to honour the Desert Rats, the nickname of the World War II British 7th Armoured Division. Similarly, the Germans were depicted as Foxes to honor Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
, nicknamed the Desert Fox.
adaptation of Cat Shit One was developed by IDA Entertainment. So far, only one episode has been released on Japan's YouTube channel on July 17, 2010, with plans for a 12 episode series currently in production. An English dub was released on YouTube on February 5, 2011, and will be independently distributed on DVD and Blu-ray Disc via Amazon
in North America.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Motofumi Kobayashi. It was originally published in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as in 1998 by Softbank Publishing, but was renamed for the US release to parody the title of the film Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
, which also took place during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. It was published in the UK (printed in Canada) in 2004 by ADV Manga. It was also released in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in 2006, also under the title Cat Shit One. It has been released in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, as Cat Shit One, by Glénat
Glénat (publisher)
Glénat Editions SA is a French publisher with its head office in Grenoble. The company publishes many things, including comic books and manga in France, Benelux, and Spain; it was founded by Jacques Glénat. The Spanish subsidiary has its head office in Barcelona. The Benelux subsidiary, Glénat...
in 2006.
In 2008 Kobayashi released a follow-up to Cat Shit One – Cat Shit One 80. Currently three volumes have been published in Japan.
A computer-generated original net animation
Original Net Animation
An original net animation is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animation, a term that has been used in the anime industry for straight-to-video...
series of Cat Shit One by Studio Anima began release on IDA Entertainment's YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel in Japan from July 17, 2010, and in North America, Australia and New Zealand on February 5, 2011. The animated version is set in the Middle East rather than Vietnam, and a trailer indicates that the action takes place after 1991.
Plot
The manga follows three American soldiers (who are anthropomorphic animals) in the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
named Botasky, Perky and Rats. All three are in the recon
Recon
Recon may refer to:*Re-Con, alias of Mike Di Scala, a UK dance music producer*RECON , the River, Estuary and Coastal Observing Network*Reconnaissance, a military term for gathering information...
team called Cat Shit One. Each mission (or chapter) shows the daily activities of the reconnaissance group in Vietnam. There are sections of the manga which give brief history and truths behind the war, such as the types of weapons used by different countries and the activities of forces in the war. At the end of volume one there is a chapter called Dog Shit One — separate from the main story — showing human characters.
In Cat Shit One '80, the story continues to follow the three main protagonists as they became involved in various low intensity conflict
Low intensity conflict
Low intensity conflict is the use of military forces applied selectively and with restraint to enforce compliance with the policies or objectives of the political body controlling the military force...
s in the 1980s. Perky, now a member of the elite Delta Force
Delta Force
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
, was attached to the Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
and was involved in various SAS operations while Rats and Bota were involved with the US operation in Afghanistan against the Soviet invasion.
An animated adaption of Cat Shit One was released in 2010. only one episode has been released.
Character depiction
The manga depicts the characters as different animals according to their nationalityNationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
as follows:
- AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
– RabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
(Rabbit is Japanese "うさぎ: USAGI". In a word "USA-G.I.") - VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese – CatCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests... - FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
– PigPigA pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
(from pig that looks for French Ingredient truffleTruffleA truffle is the fruiting body of an underground mushroom; spore dispersal is accomplished through fungivores, animals that eat fungi. Almost all truffles are ectomycorrhizal and are therefore usually found in close association with trees....
) - ChineseChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
– PandaPandaPanda or Panda bear most often refers to:*Giant panda, an animal in the Bear familyPanda may also refer to:*Red panda, the only living member in the Ailuridae family-In biology:* Species related to the Giant panda... - JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese – MonkeyMonkeyA monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
and GorillaGorillaGorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies... - RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n – BearBearBears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern... - KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n – DogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in... - BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
– RatRatRats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
(from The Desert Rats) - AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n – KangarooKangarooA kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
The following are new animals depicted in Cat Shit One '80:
- GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
– FoxFoxFox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
(from Desert FoxDesert fox-Animals:*Another name for the Fennec Fox*Common name of Vulpes vulpes pusilla, a subspecies of the Red Fox that is found in the vicinity of the Thar Desert.-Games:*The Desert Fox, a 1981 board wargame published in Strategy & Tactics magazine...
) - Middle Eastern – CamelCamelA camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
, GoatGoatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
and Sheep - Latin AmericansLatin AmericansLatin Americans are the citizens of the Latin American countries and dependencies. Latin American countries are multi-ethnic, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds. As a result, some Latin Americans don't take their nationality as an ethnicity, but identify themselves with...
– Cow
The depiction of Americans as rabbits is actually a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
on the Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
word for rabbit. The Japanese word for rabbit is "うさぎ", which can be romanized as "usagi", or USA GI.
The British characters were depicted as rats
RATS
RATS may refer to:* RATS , Regression Analysis of Time Series, a statistical package* Rough Auditing Tool for Security, a computer program...
to honour the Desert Rats, the nickname of the World War II British 7th Armoured Division. Similarly, the Germans were depicted as Foxes to honor Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
, nicknamed the Desert Fox.
Main characters
- Sergeant Perkins (aka Perky)
- An American soldier and leader of the Cat Shit One recon team, later receiving the rank of Captain. In Cat Shit One '80, Perky, now a major, continues to serve in the Army under Beck with the newly formed Delta Force. He is attached to the British Special Air ServiceSpecial Air ServiceSpecial Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
under the command of Sir Michael Rose as the American exchange officerExchange officerAn exchange officer is a commissioned officer in a country's armed forces who is temporarily attached to a unit of the armed forces of another country....
and develops a close personal and professional relationship with GSG 9GSG 9The GSG 9 der Bundespolizei , is the elite counter-terrorism and special operations unit of the German Federal Police.-History and name:...
commander Ulrich WegenerUlrich WegenerUlrich K. "Ricky" Wegener is a retired German police officer and founding member of the counter-terrorist force GSG 9. He was born in Jüterbog, Brandenburg...
and GIGNGroupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie NationaleThe National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, commonly abbreviated GIGN , is a special operations unit of the French Armed Forces. It is part of the National Gendarmerie and is trained to perform counter-terrorist and hostage rescue missions in France or anywhere else in the world.The GIGN was...
commander Christian ProuteauChristian ProuteauChristian Prouteau is a French officer of the Gendarmerie Nationale. He was involved in the organisation of the GIGN and the GSPR.- Biography :...
. Perky is heavily involved in the SAS operations during the Iranian Embassy SiegeIranian Embassy SiegeThe Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy in South Kensington, London. The gunmen took 26 people hostage—mostly embassy staff, but several visitors and a police officer, who had been guarding the embassy, were also...
and the Falklands WarFalklands WarThe Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
.- Sergeant White (aka Rats)
- An American soldier, sniper, and interpreter of English and Vietnamese. Rats, who was born in the Bronx, comes from humble background and is sympathetic to the plight of those displaced by the war. In Cat Shit One '80, Rats is recruited into the CIA and was sent to Afghanistan to serve as liaison and military advisor for General Massoud and the MujahideenMujahideenMujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
under his command against the Soviet forces.- Botasky (aka Bota)
- American soldier and the radio operator for the group. In the story he is often portrayed as cowardly and racist. After the war, Botasky made a fortune selling fast food and became the chairman of a multinational fast food chain. In Cat Shit One '80, Botasky begins to expand his business to the Asian market and uses his influence with the Chinese government to smuggle Chinese-made weapons into Afghanistan to Rats and Massoud's Mujahideens.
- Chico – A MontagnardDegarThe Degar are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic...
(or "Yard") trained by the Americans. He is featured frequently in the story, often bailing Cat Shit One out of jams. - Beckwith
- Chico – A Montagnard
- Major Charlie Beckwith, the commander for the Special Force Detatchement B-52Project DELTAProject DELTA was one of three Greek letter special forces reconnaissance projects formed by the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, MACV during the Vietnam War to collect operational intelligence in remote areas of South Vietnam....
, is in charge of the recon team operations. Cat Shit One always receives their orders directly from Beckwith himself. In Cat Shit One '80, Beckwith becomes the commander of Delta Force and is forced to retire due to the failure of Operation Eagle ClawOperation Eagle ClawOperation Eagle Claw was an American military operation ordered by President Jimmy Carter to attempt to put an end to the Iran hostage crisis by rescuing 52 Americans held captive at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran on 24 April 1980...
.- Misha – Introduced in Cat Shit One '80. Misha is a young and inexperienced Soviet VDV second lieutenant sent to Afghanistan to reinforce the Soviet forces in the region. His position was under heavy suicide attack by the Taliban, and he was rescued by Packy and a small SAS detachment. Due to his bravery, he was assigned to a SpetsnazSpetsnazSpetsnaz, Specnaz tr: Voyska specialnogo naznacheniya; ) is an umbrella term for any special forces in Russian, literally "force of special purpose"...
unit. It is later revealed that Misha is the son of a high-ranking KGB general.
- Misha – Introduced in Cat Shit One '80. Misha is a young and inexperienced Soviet VDV second lieutenant sent to Afghanistan to reinforce the Soviet forces in the region. His position was under heavy suicide attack by the Taliban, and he was rescued by Packy and a small SAS detachment. Due to his bravery, he was assigned to a Spetsnaz
Anime
A CG animated ONAOriginal Net Animation
An original net animation is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animation, a term that has been used in the anime industry for straight-to-video...
adaptation of Cat Shit One was developed by IDA Entertainment. So far, only one episode has been released on Japan's YouTube channel on July 17, 2010, with plans for a 12 episode series currently in production. An English dub was released on YouTube on February 5, 2011, and will be independently distributed on DVD and Blu-ray Disc via Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
in North America.
| # | Episode Title | Original air date | English air date |
|---|---|---|---|