Review: Chi's Sweet Home

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Chi's Sweet Home 

by Konami Kanata

I'm not a manga person (not counting my brief, enthusiastic teen affair with Magic Knight Rayearth and Sailor Moon), but when I picked up Chi's Sweet Home for the first time a week back, I could not put it down.

Chi is a lost kitten who meets a young boy named "Youhei" of the Yamada family. They decide to take the abandoned kitten home, even though pets are strictly NOT ALLOWED at their apartment complex.

There are a lot of cute, quirky things about the kitten that make her endearing. Chi acquires her name when she answers to the Japanese word for urine. She also speaks in "meows" to the humans, but the translations of what he is saying are adorable, since she speaks in a cute-toddlerish-speech-impediment kind of way.

As someone who owns a cat, I enjoyed the kitty antics immensely, as they reflect real things kitties do! I'm pretty sure if I didn't own a cat of my own, I wouldn't be so invested in the book, however, the book holds its own, even for those who may be (gasp) dog people.

Chi is the cutest cat out of Japan since Hello Kitty. Image Source

This book appeals to readers of all ages. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and my four year pried it out of my hands. Also, just because it is filed away as "children's lit" at libraries and bookstores, doesn't mean that it isn't a quality work; it is. It builds and develops an amusing dynamic between this sweet family and this adorable kitten, though they don't grow a relationship without a set of unique trials (like when dad takes Chi to the vet!).