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
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!
No one represents the beginnings of the manga art form quite the way Osamu Tezuka does, and his anthology Clockwork Apple gives the reader a taste of the suspenseful.
In 'Miraculous Conception' a scientist and his domestic android are working on Saturn's moon Titan. They've lived alone together for seven years, and slowly they've fallen in love. After holding a wedding ceremony for themselves, the scientist Hiroshi is killed by escaped convicts who have decided to use his science station as a hideout. A tragedy, to be sure, but what explains the increasing waistline of the android?
The titular story 'A Clockwork Apple' shows the reader a town under siege. The roads in and out of town have been closed indefinitely for repairs, and cars are turned back by force if they try to get out. Food could be an issue, but the main employer in the area has plenty of supplies for its cafeteria, and the stores have a large stockpile of rice. Everyone seems okay with the situation and doesn't question it, except for Shirakawa, whose wife serves bread instead of rice. Even the pharmacist, who took a sample of the rice to the next town over to run a few tests, hasn't been seen in days. Is Shirakawa descending into madness, or is there a conspiracy at work?
Readers of Tezuka's Black Jack will find 'Sack' eerily familiar. The narrator meets a wonderful woman named Rika. After a whirlwind romance, he travels to her home to ask her mother for Rika's hand in marriage. Strangely, her mother doesn't have a daughter named Rika. Her only daugher, Mari, is a perfect copy of Rika, though, even though she professes to have never met him before. At a later meeting, Rika begs him to prevent Mari's surgery on the 20th, but can't explain why. Is there something sinister going on?
These stories of the late 1960s and early 1970s give the reader a snapshot into the thoughts and fears of postwar Japan. Throughout the collection weaves a distrust of the government and authority, as well as an undying optimism for the future, even if there are many ways for it to be derailed. Once again, Tezuka is able to mine the depths of the human psyche, and reveal more than a traditional author ever could.
Highs: Whether a statement about the follies of war or a creepy suspense story, all of Tezuka's works leave an indelible mark on the reader.
Lows: Even with the footnotes, it's hard to be familiar enough with the era in Japan to fully follow a few of the narratives.
Verdict: Best suited for a reader very familiar with manga in general, Clockwork Orange is a masterpiece.
Further Reading: Black Jack, A*tomcat, A Bride's Story
Somehow, in the process of growing up and having responsibilities, adults forget what it's really like to be a child. They forget the leisure, of taking a book into a field in the morning and only wandering back home when hungry or it gets dark out. They forget what it's like to have people tell you what to do, with arbitrary reasons that you're not allowed to question. They forget the discomfort of knowing that a situation isn't okay, but not having enough experience to know why it's wrong, or the experience to know what to do about it.
Neil Gaiman never forgot. And by not forgetting, he's written the truest young characters in The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
The book starts out with the narrator coming back to where he grew up for a funeral. He's dressed in the proper clothes, says the proper things, and takes a certain comfort in knowing what he's supposed to do and say during a difficult time.
As he drives from the funeral to the cemetery, he has a bit of time to himself, and finds his car pointing towards where he once lives. The fields and small homes have been replaced with housing estates, the flint-strewn country lane with tarmac. His childhood home is long gone, and the home of his adolescence isn't what has brought him back here.
As he rolls his car along, the road regresses to the lane of his childhood, and eventually to a footpath. He gets out, and walks up to a house he hasn't thought of in too long, and slides sideways into memories of his seventh year.
As with most Gaiman tales, to lay out the story before reading it is to take away some of the magic. It's not an easy read, because childhood isn't easy. There's monsters, and some of them are the adults he's supposed to be able to trust. There's heroes, even if they wouldn't call themselves that. There's bravery and fear, sometimes at the same time, and there's sacrifice.
There's the magic that Gaiman brings to his tales, which transcends description.
Highs: No one combines childhood, fantasy and fear like Neil Gaiman
Lows: Sometimes being reminded of the hard parts of childhood isn't fun
Verdict: Yet another amazing tale from one of the greatest fantasy authors
Further Reading: Coraline, Trigger Warning
Seki shows that he truly has no shame in My Neighbor Seki Volulme 5.
Note: My Neighbor Seki Volume 5 is part of an ongoing series. Check out the review for Volume 1 here, and Volume 4 here. Otherwise, read on!
Misunderstandings abound, and a few new characters are added to the mix as well in The Devil is a Part-Timer! High School! Volume 2.
Note: The Devil is a Part-Timer! High School! Volume 2 is part of an ongoing series. For the review of Volume 1 click here. Otherwise, read on!
The school club has long been an important part of the Japanese high school experience, but perhaps it's never been more important than for the girls of Megurigaoka Academy Private High School in School-Live! Volume 1.
The founding principles of the School Living Club are really pretty simple: to best utilize the facilities of the school, it is imperative that the members live their entire lives in the school.
It's not the largest of clubs; in fact, besides the faculty adviser Megumi Sakura, there's only three members right now. But they're the most earnest, devoted members a club could wish for.
Yuri Wakasa is the club president. She is in charge of all of the club activities, and plans the practical aspects of the club's adventures. She's also oftentimes found on the school roof, helping with the gardens that the Agriculture Club have there.
Kurumi Ebisuzawa is the tough girl of the group. She's the one who plows through obstacles, and makes sure that all of Ri-san's plans turn out as expected. She's never too far away from her shovel, so perhaps she likes to help out the Agriculture Club as well.
Which brings us to Yuki Takeya, the heart of the club. No matter what problems the School Living Club faces, from rainy days to possible ghosts, Yuki's smile is what gets her clubmates through the day.
While a club based solely on the school in which it takes place might seem dull, there's always something to do in this remarkably well-provisioned and self-sufficient school. And as the girls grow closer, they've made a pact to graduate together, no matter what.
Highs: Even though the girls and their teacher each fill a very traditional role in a schoolgirl manga, even in this first volume they each have enough personality to draw the reader in immediately.
Lows: It's still odd that a school would allow a group of students to live in a classroom though.
Verdict: A very cute manga that has more depth than it seems at first glance.
Further Reading: My Neighbor Seki, The Devil is a Part-Timer! High School!, Cromartie High School
