Apocalypse Meow

Apocalypse Meow is a three volume manga series written and illustrated by Motofumi Kobayashi. It was originally published in Japan as Cat Shit One 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 anime adaptation of Cat Shit One by Studio Anima is also in the works. The animated version is set in the Middle East rather than Vietnam, and a version of the trailer that includes non-official English subtitles indicates that the action takes place after 1991. The series will be available exclusively on YouTube July 17th, 2010.

Plot
The manga follows three American soldiers in the Vietnam War named Bota, 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 conflicts 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 invovled with the US operation in Afghanistan against the Soviet invasion.

Character depiction
The manga depicts the characters as different animals according to their nationality as follows:


 * American – Rabbit
 * Vietnamese – Cat
 * French – Pig
 * Chinese – Panda
 * Japanese – Monkey and Gorilla
 * Russian – Bear
 * Korean – Dog
 * British – Rat
 * Australian – Kangaroo

The following are new animals depicted in Cat Shit One '80:
 * German – Fox
 * Middle Eastern – Camel, Goat and Sheep
 * Argentines – Cow

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 honor 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.

Main characters

 * Sergent 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, continue to serve in the Army under Beckwith in the newly formed Delta Force.  He was attached to the British Special Air Service under the command of Sir Michael Rose as the American exchange officer and developed close personal and professional relationship with GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener and GIGN commander Christian Prouteau.  Perky was heavily involved in the SAS operations during the Iranian Embassy Siege and the Falklands War. In the trailer of Cat Shit One, he is voiced by Hiroshi Tsuchida.


 * Sergent White (aka Rats) – 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 was recruited into the CIA and was sent to Afghanistan to serve as liaison and military advisor for General Massoud and the Mujahideen 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, Botaski began to expand his business to the Asian market and used his influence with the Chinese government to smuggle Chinese-made weapons into Afghanistan to Rats and Massoud's Mujahideens. In the Cat Shit One animation trailer, he is voiced by Satoshi Hino.


 * Chico – A Montagnard (or "Yard") trained by the Americans. He is featured frequently in the story, often bailing Cat-Shit-One out of jams.


 * Beckwith – Major Charlie Beckwith, the commander for the Special Force Detatchement B-52, was in charge of the recon team operations. Cat Shit One always receive their orders directly from Beckwith himself.  In Cat Shit One '80, Beckwith become the commander of Delta Force and was forced to retire due to the failure of Operation Eagle Claw.


 * Misha – Introduced in Cat Shit One '80. Misha was a young and inexperienced Soviet VDV second lieutenant sent to Afghanistan to reinforce the Soviet forces in the region.  It was later revealed that Misha was the son of a high ranking KGB general.