Donte Graves Lily C.A.T. is a science fiction/horror anime OVA from the ripe age of horrible anime like this one. The film follows the spaceship on a 40-year mission. Under the instructions of an unknown force (that remains unknown and is never address again throughput the entire anime) the ship's A.I. computer system accidentally introduces an alien bacterium into the ship while its human crew is in cryostasis. Naturally, both the ship and the unknown force want to eradicate the bacterium from the ship but also to cover up for this blunder. And that's what sets the plot into disarray.You have a misfit crew that doesn't get along at all and only wants to look out for their own selfish goals and they are attacked by man-killing bacteria that took over a cat. You can already see it coming. The story is typical horror; the mysterious, scary, evil pursuer picks off the crew one by one. The alien wants the humans dead. But that's not too bad, it's mundane, but typical horror, but so can still keep watching.But when you look at the characters, things start to get much, much worse. My main gripe with the characters is that not one of them, except the obvious couple, Hiro and Nancy, get along. Not one of these idiots. It's as if the writers made them forget that a dangerous, life-erasing bacterium is gunning for them, and they need to work together to survive. Then there's Hamilton, who defines the meaning of determination so hard, it has to be seen to be believed. It's very... BAD! None of the characters were in their right mind. In my eyes, characters as simple-minded as the ones in Lily C.A.T. deserve to be food for bacteria. Hamilton chases Hiro for pride, Hiro comes out of the blue as a murderer without any evidence that he was beforehand, and a complete lack of any back-story to boot, Nancy acts like a schoolgirl for almost the entire anime, Hiro comes off as a bad stereotypical stoic, Carolyn is awful, and for one member of the crew, it's so obvious he's not gonna make it, you consider him dead meat right after his first speaking line. It's all pathetic. One more thing, Guy is the only black male in this crew. His position like other characters that weren't the cop, the heroine or the lead males Hamilton and Hiro was debatable, and that says enough on its own.If it isn't a secret by now, Lily C.A.T. delivers a crushing, gut-wrenching, horrible experience for the viewer. It contains your fan service girl and an action girl, and the blood and guts that defined those ovas of the time, complete with a sub-par, rushed, but passable plot that is ruined by unsettled characters and holes that pop up in pivotal scenes (Pay attention to the background check interviews and Hamilton himself-- Believe me). To top it off, in order to screw with the viewer more there are two things from an actually good horror movie, Alien, that Lily C.A.T. adapts. Not going to spoil it or the "ending" as some might call it, but these elements that Lily C.A.T. graciously and proudly copies only complicate the story even more. It's almost a guaranteed re-watch to understand what is what and which is which, but this anime is not even worth the first time you see it-- it's a mediocre, gory, bloody, confusing mess. Its enjoyment factor is destroyed by its horridness and I'm dead serious. When Lily C.A.T. isn't boring me in the opening, or disgusting me through the "jump scares" (they suck, really), it's killing me throughout because it's a painful, confusing and pointless mess. The characters even lampshade how pointless it is in the anime. I apologize for this drawn out review, but it's better than wasting an hour watching the anime itself. Friends of mine have praised this series and call it a great horror anime. Some even claim it is an obscure buried treasure. The only place I want Lily C.A.T. buried is in the bottom of my crappy anime basket pile, never to see the light of day again.Read more at http://myanimelist.net/anime/3258/Lily_C.A.T#xIVlgC5qtoFWPYtZ.99

DarkStar84 Having stumbled upon a used copy of this piece years back, I bought it out of curiosity.For a production done back in 1987, it's very good. The character designs are decent, but it's surprising to know that the monster designs were outsourced to acclaimed artist and animator Yoshitaka Amano (Vampire Hunter D, Final Fantasy series). However, beyond this, you'll note a lot of hard work went into the visual presentation of it- there are countless scenes where multiple layers are used to create depth, people walk towards the camera and stay in perspective, first-person povs are employed, and so on.As for the story itself- it's a fun little jaunt through deep space- in the vein of "Alien" as we watch the crew of the Saldes try and figure out just what happened while they were in cryogenic suspension. It turns out a piece of organic matter got on board the ship and has caused a virus to spread through the ship. Things get bad as some of the crew start showing up dead and panic over possible infection sets in. The virus soon prompts the ships computer to begin taking measures to stop the virus- which endangers the remaining crew members, much like "2001". As more and more members of the crew turn up dead and the computer gets more out of hand, the survivors must fight to stay alive and try and find a way to escape to the planet just below them.This film is pretty gory, and a lot of the monsters are reminiscent of the creatures from the 1982 version of "The Thing". There are a lot of cool moments in it- like when the crew fights with homemade flamethrowers or when someone one of the things attacks (lots of gore). My main gripe is that it's only about 70 minutes long, so things happen pretty fast in this story.If you ever see a used copy, buy it- it's worth the money.

bard-32 I, too, loved this movie. Like the other reviewers, I first saw it on the Sci-Fi Channel's Anime Week's ROBOT CARNIVAL. Lily C.A.T., whose plot is directly lifted from James Cameron's Alien, is about the crew of an STL, (Slower-than-light,) starship, who age one year for every 20 years they're in space. The crew is told that there's a prisoner on board by Detective Dick Berry, who's come aboard to return an escaped criminal to Earth to face justice. Then there's a mysterious virus that's killing the crew. The ships captain asks Dick Berry if he's sure he wants to return the criminal to Earth for trial since it will be 20 years before they return to Earth, and all the witnesses will be either old or dead. H E R E B E S P O I L E R S The captain tells Dick Berry that they're all over a hundred years old though they look like they're much younger. Finally, Berry agrees with the captain that it's not worth it. Lily, one of the crewmembers' pet cat, is actually the source of the virus. It's Lily C.A.T., the ultimate biological weapon. Lily C.A.T. starts killing the rest of the crew. Finally, Captain Hamilton, tells Berry to save himself and his prisoner and says that there's a planet nearby and that they should leave before Lily C.A.T. finds them. He provides them with a means of escape, (an obsolete space shuttle that he'd kept as a souvenir.) and orders them off the ship. Lily C.A.T. senses that they're trying to escape, and goes after them. They finally and escape, and presumably land on the planet. That's where it ended.

kcsnipes The first time i saw this in the early 90's I loved it and I recently re-watched it (2002) and still loved it, it lost a bit of it's surprise though. The characters start get knocked off pretty quick, but the animation is good for it's time. Like Aliens series...then watch this!