January 14, 2024

This is an extremely cute manga about an excitable cat that becomes obsessed with the friendly duck that lives next door and they have little adventures around the neighborhood. I bought this for the simple fact that I love ducks and I wasn't disappointed. Not only is this extremely cute, but I think it might actually be the ideal first "real manga" for beginners. As far as language and grammar goes, I barely had to make any lookups (and the words I didn't know were mostly pet/animal words that are repeated a lot), and I think anyone who's finished genki 1 and 2, or is around the N4 or N5 level would probably be able to dip into this without too much trouble.

But while the words and stories are simple, it never feels stupid or childish. This is an enjoyable series that I think readers of any age will enjoy and there's an unspoken depth to the characters that comes out in their actions and expressions even if it isn't explicitly stated in the dialogue. Each chapter generally revolves around the kitten, Chibi, visiting his duck friend, Gohan, and trying to play around the neighborhood or discover things.

Even though it's about talking animals, it's all very grounded as far as the kinds of things they get into and the animal behaviors all feel like things cats and ducks do. Gohan never actually speaks, there's kind of an implication that either different species have their own language, or the quacks are sort of like Groot language where everyone kind of implicitly understands what's being said even if the reader doesn't. I'm of the opinion that cartoon ducks actually work better the closer they look and act to real ducks (vs. something like Daffy or Donald) since real ducks are naturally very funny and adorable, and it's apparent this author has spent a lot of time watching ducks, the body language and poses are on point.

While the early stories are fairly self contained, there is a bit of character development clearly going on and we gradually get a broader view of how the neighborhood's animal society works. There's a stray cat named Rasubosu (last boss) who Chibi views as a scary tough guy, but actually has a heart of gold, and Rasubosu adds a lot of hidden emotional depth to the series. You can tell the older characters like Rasubosu, Chibi's mom, and Gohan do certain things out of worldly experience and wisdom which adds a satisfying something extra that tugs at the heartstrings a bit without going to far or becoming on-the-nose.

I think this is a great series that anyone can pick up and it would be a great first pick for making the jump to native material. I've held off on purchasing physical manga because I feel like I can't read smoothly enough to enjoy it, but after reading this first volume I've decided to pick up an actual paper copy of this and the rest of this author's cat manga because I feel like it's something I could actually sit down and enjoy smoothly without the aid of PC tools like Kanjitomo or Yomichan. The artwork is gorgeous, the characters are fun, the stories are cute, and it's just good reading practice. I can't think of a reason not to recomend this.

Gradings:13
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on April 13, 2024
on January 24, 2024
on January 14, 2024
on January 14, 2024
similar in difficulty toマーベル・ミャオL16
on January 14, 2024
easier thanハピネス 1L15
on January 14, 2024
on January 14, 2024