I like to think I've at least heard of most animated films, but US distributor Deaf Crocodile licensed a bunch that were completely new to me. "Tamala 2010 - A Punk Cat in Space," an obscure cult indie anime film, was a complete blind buy for me, receiving its first English Bluray release in 2024, more than two decades after its original release. The timing wasn't an accident; I learned later it included a teaser trailer for a long-in-development sequel, which would receive a premiere in the Fantasia Film Festival the following year. Seeing the festival schedule was just the excuse I needed to finally pop the disc in and watch the movie. And... it saved me the cost of a ticket, as I didn't bother seeing the sequel. That's not a great sign, especially coming from me: good or bad, if it's 2D animation, I'll see just about anything!"Tamala" is a sprawling fictional universe developed by artist duo t.o.L., centered around a Hello-Kitty-esque talking cat named Tamala in a future controlled by the mega commercial entity Catty And Co. Tamala is cute, dainty, foul-mouthed and lazy, with the voice of a child, and with a calm cynicism to everything around her. Tamala runs off away from her nasty human owner (the only human depicted in a movie full of cats and dogs), taking a spaceship from Cat Earth to seek the planet Orion. As simply as driving from Japan to a run-down Slavic country, she arrives on a planet halfway along the journey, wasting time with a friendly cat named Michelangelo in a decidedly unfriendly city. The film cuts between her and bar patreons reminiscing about their friends, and visions of detailed CGI cityscapes and robots, hinting that there's more to the inexplicitly sinister Catty and Co. than meets the eye. Animated with a low budget, the film tries to do a lot with a little. In its dialogue and narration, big ideas seem to be present. It's hard to put my finger on what those ideas are, however. Aside from the foul language, there are bursts of sometimes shocking violence and even sexual content, although these are tame enough, and cute enough, that it's easy to forget this is not a children's film, although children definitely shouldn't be watching it. Pacing is slow, at first without any particular meaning. After the halfway point, the story drops in a bizarre plot about conspiracy and a cult, told almost entirely through exposition. This is where the movie gets interesting, and perhaps is where the movie would earn its cult status. But that doesn't mean it's well told. I guess the themes of the plot are... the evils of commercialism and capitalism? Maybe? Aside from the plot heavy twist, watching the film felt like wandering through a modern art exhibit with a vague tone and theme. Tamala's crude and selfish demeanor, contrasted against her cute appearance, is the only real source of comedy in an otherwise depressing world. It's a bit one-note, summarized by her catchphrase "it's the start of another f***ing day." Absent-minded and without drive to do anything in particular, she's not quite quirky enough to keep the viewer's interest. It's perhaps only because of her simple design and against-social-norms attitude, paired with the story's twist, that she could be an easy symbol for tattoos or keychains for the few viewers who have seen and became fans of the movie. 
The film is primarily 2D animation, in what appears to be Flash animation. Designs and animations are cute and simple, not offensively bad in the way other solo or low-cost films can be, but not meaningfully interesting. Colours are black-and-white for most of the story, aside from key scenes that use bursts of colour for effect. The CGI visions on the other hand are surprisingly detailed and hold up well even today. Music is eletronic and synth-based, and fits the movie fine, as does the limited Japanese voice acting. The ending theme song, sung in mixed English and Japanese, is quite nice though, and the song's style is reused in companion short films.It's worth mentioning, if this movie still interests you, that the Deaf Crocodile Bluray is plump with extras. These include two short films made AFTER "Tamala 2010" (an abstract work called "Tamala on Parade" where the cat is stuck in a series of commercials, and "Tamala's Wild Party" with three short stories animated by non-other than Studio 4C - a slight improvement over the visuals of the movie), a long-form 2024 interview, and a commentary. Because of the wealth of content, and the abstract but oddly coherent depiction of its fictional world, the collection as a whole feels more meaningful than the sum of its parts. And for what it's worth, the trailer for the sequel ("Tamala 2030 - A Punk Cat in Dark") does look more promising, with more modern production values for it's chibi art style and promising a more engaging plot. I'm mixed on the value of "Tamala 2010 - A Punk Cat in Space." I can see from where the plot goes, and where the story promises to go in sequels to come, how it would get a cult following eager to see where it all leads. But with a foul sense of humour and lacking art design, and what appears to be NO rush to get to a conclusion, I wonder if this is all just a self-indulgent exercise, to extend interest into watching as many wasteful minutes as it can. I guess if you're a fan of underground indie and rage-against-society-type art, this could be right up your alley.