Chi’s Sweet Home Volume One is a manga by Kanata Konami, and it was published in North America by Vertical, Inc. in 2010. I don’t see a rating printed anywhere on this volume, but I would recommend Chi’s Sweet Home for all audiences.
The main character of Chi’s Sweet Home is a kitten who ends up separated from her mother and becomes lost. She is found by a little boy named Yohei; his family takes the kitten home to take care of her while trying to find her a new home. Yohei’s family lives in apartment home where pets aren’t allowed. Unfortunately, they are unable to find her a home, so the family is forced to try to take care of the kitten while hiding her from the super and the other tenants.
During the first volume, Yohei and the kitten are being toilet trained. Whenever either one has an accident, Yohei calls it “chi.” The kitten hears “chi” so much, she decides that must be her name; the family, noticing that the kitten reacts to the word, officially name her Chi.
There are a couple of very noticeable details when you first read the book. First, the volume is “flipped,” which means that it reads more like an American book than a traditional Japanese manga. Also, the entire book is published in color.
The art style used in Chi’s Sweet Home is on the simple side, but this art style works with the tone of the story. Chi the kitten looks really cute, and her design will appeal to younger readers.
Chi’s Sweet Home is a rather quick, yet enjoyable, read. Each story is a realistic depiction of a family caring for and loving a pet, while being in a position of needing to keep the pet a secret.
While the dialogue is more on the simple side, I understand that this is due to the fact that the main character is a young kitten. The simpler dialogue makes the story easier to read for younger readers, yet it’s written in such a way that it doesn’t feel like the dialogue is being written down to a younger audience.
Chi’s Sweet Home is a manga series that I can safely recommend for younger readers who are just starting to show an interest in manga; in fact, I’m letting my seven-year-old read it. I would also recommend this series to manga readers who are cat lovers.
Article comments
1 - Lesley Aeschliman
I apologize for flipping the mangaka's name. Unfortunately, I can't find a way to edit this myself, and I don't have a contact email for the editor to let them know I made this mistake. I have no idea how I came up with Konami Kanata instead of Kanata Konami. Sigh.
2 - Christopher Rose
I'll fix this for you, Lesley, but surely you have the Blogcritics Writer's guidelines, which includes details on how to contact the editorial team?
Christopher Rose
Blogcritics Comments Editor
3 - Lesley Aeschliman
I must have them somewhere. The link is probably buried in email somewhere, so I'll need to find it again and put it in an accessible spot for future reference.