Tomcat's Big Adventure - An Anime Rarity at The Beacon ★
(Posted July 5, 2025)
YouTube throws countless video titles at viewers about “obscure” or “rare” video games, shows, or movies that are extremely well documented. Heck, there are folks who claim certain movies or shows are “lost media” when they’ve had widely circulated releases just because they aren’t easy to download online. That only made the chance to witness Tomcat’s Big Adventure — an elusive anime gem unavailable in its entirety online — even more extraordinary as it returned to U.S. screens for its second showing here. I’m thankful I didn’t let the chance to see it slip through my fingers because this almost-forgotten masterpiece brought to life by industry legends lived up to its mythical status.
It’s bittersweet that what was supposed to be Ryūtarō Nakamura’s theatrical debut is finally getting recognition and more theatrical screenings so long after his untimely death from pancreatic cancer in 2013. While he passed knowing he secured his status in the canon of anime history having led beloved projects like Sakura Wars and Serial Experiments Lain, I could imagine the fate of Tomcat’s Big Adventure being a thorn that stuck in his side. He grinded for fifteen years in the anime industry only for his first shot at helming a theatrical project to barely be seen across a smattering of theaters and local television stations when the production company behind it faced bankruptcy.
He might not have gotten to know that dedicated fans would rally to get the film remastered and screened internationally, or that new merch would be made for his anime over 20 years after its release, but we can still honor his skill and passion by watching his creation today. So I won’t be fully recapping the film here, in hopes that those reading will do all they can to watch it themselves. (Though if you truly can’t resist, another amazing blogger has a write-up covering the plot here.)
Instead, I’ll share some of the highlights of the evening, from heading into the theater to the movie itself, which will hopefully get across why you should bother your local indie theater and tell them to work with Wamano Nights to bring this stunning movie to more local communities. A small spoiler, but I enjoyed it so thoroughly that I’ll be talking to folks at my own local haunt because I badly want to see Tomcat’s Big Adventure again!
Rolling Up To The Beacon
Truthfully, I wasn’t sure my partner and I would even be able to make it to the screening. Not because we couldn’t get tickets, or even that it’d cost a bit to take the train from Portland to Seattle just to see the movie, but because wildfires ended up keeping the tracks completely closed for quite some time. We were fortunate enough to only face a several hour delay (thanks to the incredible firefighters out there working hard, we could literally see them from the train window) and were able to get through the mountains, see our girlfriend for the weekend, and eventually get down to Seattle to see the movie!
As a wheelchair user, I wasn’t sure what to expect at such a small indie theater in terms of accessibility, but I thankfully had nothing to worry about! My chair was easily able to get through the door and the cozy little screening room at the Beacon (which ended up being packed to the brim) had plenty of space for me to roll into and watch from it if I wanted. I didn’t end up trying the bathroom though, so I can’t report on that one! The lobby itself was a wonderful cozy space too. With lots of fascinating books and local zines about cinema to potentially purchase alongside enough classic concession goodies to make anyone happy. Oh, and also a very special light up football, no I’m not kidding!
I was able to snag some of the newest amazing merch for the movie, one of the shirts for my partner, and the pink and black tote for myself (which perfectly matches my everyday color scheme I always wear, which felt like a sign of some kind). Wamano Nights had a special set of previews prepared that were absolutely delightful! It was fun watching vintage idol performances, commercials for Japanese toys, and anime openings that staff of the movie had worked on. The scene was set, everyone was warmed up, and the whole crowd inside the theater was buzzing with excitement.
Tomcat’s Big Adventure On The Big Screen
After a brief introduction about the movie, we settled in to see what all the fuss was about. And by golly, that fuss was well deserved! Kenji Kawai’s impressive compositional skills were on display from the first swelling of notes to the final musical motifs of the film. If you regularly watch anime, you’ve heard his work. Mob Psycho 100, Ranma ½, and Ghost in The Shell? All of them were done by Kawai. He didn’t hold back at all with the score for Tomcat’s Big Adventure either. I remember extremely early on in the movie having to whisper to my partner about how amazing the music was and them highly agreeing with me. His music set the stage perfectly for the epic adventure to come.
The voice cast is its own veritable smorgasbord for the ears as well. A small chuckle rang out through the audience as so many recognized Masako Nozawa’s performance as Mark in the film, sounding just like her iconic rendition of Goku in Dragon Ball. Ryusei Nakao, the voice of iconic villain Frieza (and several others) in the same series played Bob in the movie. (There was even another iconic voice actor from Dragon Ball here too, but we’ll get to that later.) As a big Ghibli fan, I could hear parts of Minami Takayama’s performance as Kiki in the tones of Alex’s voice. The voice cast also features alumni from Lupin III (Akio Otsuka), Mobile Suit Gundam (Chika Sakamoto), Inuyasha (Kappei Yamaguchi), The Rose of Versailles (Katsunoke Hori), Naruto (Nobuo Tobita), and Pokemon (Mika Kanai and Yūko Kobayashi).
Was the writing perfect in spots? Not entirely. I’m sure for folks who had read the book series Tomcat’s Big Adventure was based on would be able to totally understand everything, but to the average audience, there were giant leaps in logic and moments that were honestly a bit baffling. However, almost all of those moments ended up with the entire audience laughing so I can’t even say those were entirely bad things! There are plenty of kids movies from the US with weird leaps like this at times too, it’s nice in a way knowing as much as things are different, they can often be the same. In general, there were many moments of laughter throughout the film in a room full of adults, showing the humor was completely on point.
The animation was absolutely glorious as well! As to be expected with not just Ryūtarō Nakamura at the helm, but an incredible staff list of talented animators and artists working on the movie. I don’t want to list off a ton of names again, so just check out the credits and let your jaw drop at the names included. I’m not ashamed to say I literally gasped at just how incredible some of the moments in the movie were, with one fantastic example for your viewing pleasure below.
Right there at the end, you can see her… Sure, it was nearly impossible to not quickly fall in love with the entire cast of characters (though the fat jokes about Bob got old as soon as they started) but Chloe? Oh my goodness Chloe… The leader of the Evil Cat Gang, the woman of my dreams! Listen, I might be a lil gay for evil ladies in general, but something about this incredible character design by Manabu Ōhashi (often better known as Mao Lamdo) stuck me in the depth of my queer little heart. It doesn’t hurt that she was perfectly voiced by the late Hiromi Tsuru (the voice actress of Bulma) with just that perfect villainous flair to make any heart swoon. Sure she wants to destroy the entire world, but I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs!
There is a single scene where she has her hands clasped together and tears in her eyes that I cannot describe further for risk of spoiling the film. And I need the crew behind Wamano Nights or anyone that has the full restoration on Blu-ray that is somehow reading this to know that I want to tattoo her from that scene onto my body. I am dead serious. This is not a joke. If the folks from Wamano Nights are reading this specifically and send me a good screenshot of this frame for a tattoo artist I will also include the Wamano Nights logo as part of the tattoo. Again, I am being 100% completely serious and am willing to permanently grace my flesh with this glorious image if possible. You can post it on your social media to brag about it and everything. Do with this information what you will.
In Conclusion
If this movie is in theaters anywhere within reasonable traveling distance, I plan to go see it again. I'm not the only one who has had an amazing time with it either! Dawn from the Anime Nostalgia Podcast wrote about her fantastic experience seeing the movie when it screened in Texas as well as Austin at Heisei Etranger. When I wrote earlier that people should ask their local indie theaters to bring this movie in, I truly meant it. I get it, it's easy to see a kids film and even with such amazing names behind it, question if it would really hit home that hard to an audience. But everyone packed into The Beacon to watch it was excited coming out of the theater and I overheard nothing but praise as I patiently waited for enough space to wheel myself back out onto the street and begin my journey home. I had such a good time that I also plan to keep an eye on other movies The Beacon is showing and am seriously considering paying for another train ticket to make my way back there and enjoy what they have on offer again because it was just that wonderful.
So please, if you ever have the chance to see Tomcat's Big Adventure, don't miss out on the opportunity! And if ever you find yourself in Seattle, make sure to give The Beacon your patronage and see one of the amazing films they have on offer.
