The globalists have caused the cost of living to go so high that a lot of people choose not to get married. Many of those who get married decide not to have children. Those who choose to have children limit themselves to one. This is unlike half a century ago when almost every have couple had at least half a dozen kids.
Humans being humans have to shower love on someone. Animals seem to be a cost-effective alternative to children. Animals are very convenient. You can euthanize them if they become expensive, as happened during the lockdown. Millions of pets died or were abandoned.
There now exist a significant section of the population in developed countries who call themselves dog people or cat people. They own these animals and devote considerable amount of attention and resources on them. Tapping into this segment is this Japanese TV drama from 2013. It is for self-styled cat lovers.
Neko Samarai is about a samurai and his cat. The samurai is a ronin now, as he had left his former clan and master. To make ends meet for his wife and daughter, he leaves them behind to seek work in Edo (later known as Tokyo). However, Edo is in a peaceful era and there is no fighting. So, he books a narrow tenement and can barely make rent.
It is at this time that a manservant approaches him for a hatchet job. The guy believes his master is possessed by a goblin cat. He want the cat removed and killed. For this, he is willing to pay the ronin a few gold coins.
The ronin fakes the killing of the cat and takes the payment. Secretly, he accommodates the cat in his tenement. Unexpectedly, this is spoiled cat. (It is difficult to imagine a cat like that in Edo era. Most cats are potty-trained by their mothers to an unusual level. Cats dig a hole in the ground, do their business and bury the hole. They then sniff around to ensure there is no odorous leakage.)
After he sends the money to his family, he is back to living on scraps. Now, he has another mouth to feed — the cat. The samurai sports a permanent grimace. He has had a strict upbringing. No games. In all his adult life, he had been fighting. The cat makes him relax and reflect so he lets it stay with him.
One of his few friends runs a shopping stand selling … imported donuts! Yeah, she makes them herself … locally in Edo.
He builds up a tab at a friend who runs a cat-grooming shop.
Japan is a place where the old and the new work together in great harmony.
Neko Samurai was conceived and written by Kitamura Kazuki, the actor who plays the samurai. He has done a good job.
Recommendation
If you like this kind of historical drama set in Japan, then you might like the movie Tsukigami (The Haunted Samurai) from 2007.
Spoiler Alert
There are no sword fights lasting more than two seconds, although there were plenty of opportunity for longer ones. In the end, the cat comes back from its former owner to whom the ronin had returned it. The ronin does not give up wanting to be a samurai and he remains in Edo. He does write a letter to his family for the first time. (Why? Did he relax his facial muscle and soften up? Thank heavens for those small mercies!) I am giving the ending away so you do not build up expectations of a great sword fight in the end of 12 episodes. This TV serial was created strictly for kids and cat owners. It is a good program for its chosen audience.
Cat Samurai Movie
There is a movie too (Neko Samurai — Minami no Shima e Iku) of the cat samurai going to an island in the South (Shikoku prefecture). It started off with some toilet humour, I did not finish it. Because of the lack of fighting till the end in the TV series, I was not going to sit through the film.
Recommended Age Rating: Universal