Monday, February 29, 2016

Manga Monday: A pretty calico remembers her kittenhood

Now that Chi's Sweet Home has come to an end, there is a distressing absence of cat manga. Thankfully, Konami Kanata has one more surprise up her sleeve with FukuFuku: Kitten Tales.


Here, a doting elderly owner comes across the photos she took of her cat's first year with her, and brings them out to show Fuku Fuku.

What follows is an adorable look into the first year of a kitten's life. From discovering that human food might not be quite as tasty as her kibble to the amazing warmth that is a kotatsu on a cold day, Fuku Fuku has a lot to learn, and a lot to teach her well-meaning owner as well.

Unlike in Chi's Sweet Home, we're not privy to Fuku Fuku's thoughts being translated into English. Luckily, Kanata's clean, simple art style lets her expressions and thoughts come through nearly as well as if they were written out.

As a reader who never wanted Chi's Sweet Home to end (wouldn't Chi in a beret be adorable?), this is a welcome callback to the simple, lovely stories that made Chi so loveable.

Highs: Watching her owner delight in Fuku Fuku learning her name, and promptly learn what it is to be ignored by her cat, is a feeling universal to cat owners.

Lows: The odd 'Alice in Wonderland' dream sequence seems more out of place than it perhaps intended.

Verdict: FukuFuku: Kitten Tales is a must-read for fans of Chi's Sweet Home who have a manga-kitten-sized hole in their reading lives.

Further Reading: Chi's Sweet Home, Yotsuba&!, Milkyway Hitchhiking

Monday, February 22, 2016

Manga Monday: Has Yokoi completely lost her ability to focus?

It's possible that Yokoi's imagination has grown as large as Seki's in My Neighbor Seki Volume 6.

Note: My Neighbor Seki Volume 6 is part of an ongoing series. Check out the review for Volume 1 here, and Volume 5 here. Otherwise, read on!