Life may continue to be one big adventure for Chi, but there’s plenty of dangers along the way.
Creative Staff
Story: Konami Kanata
Art: Konami Kanata
Translation/Adaptation: Ed Chavez
What They Say
Chi finds herself in her biggest predicament yet! While exploring her new neighborhood with a new young feline peer, she becomes lost as a downpour has masked the scents she was so heavily relying upon for direction. Confused and hungry, the two decide to hunt around the community for scraps as sustanance. After searching for leftovers and meals left for other unaware pets turns fruitless, Chi and her new friend Cocchi resort to more extreme measures to keep their energy flowing.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
There’s a lot to like with Chi in being able to just enjoy seeing the world through the eyes of a young kitten. Chi’s had quiet a few adventures over the first six volumes of its run, though some of the charm changed a bit when they moved to the apartment that let them keep pets. I was glad to see it wasn’t a gag they’d run forever like a Rumiko Takahashi series, but it did put a bit of additional pressure on the book to be creative and keep things flowing. With the new place, that lets Chi have plenty of new adventures while still being able to touch on familiar areas since they didn’t move that far away. But with the way Chi is, it doesn’t take her long to make new friends through sheer force of presence.
The latest is Cocchi, a cute young cat who doesn’t have a home of his own and spends all his time traveling around to various bases he’s got set up around the area. It’s actually a cute little gag and one that lets Chi hang out with him in fun ways. Chi’s pretty much just inserting herself into his life which is adorable, though it’s an education for Cocchi as well. With him not having a home, he gets a bit of a crash course in it and can find a lot appealing about it. But he has to put up with Chi for awhile too with one of the best sequences involving the two of them trying to stay dry as it pours outside. The way they work hard to stay dry is utterly adorable as they push back and forth against each other.
Chi’s home life has no shortage of weird and wacky situations either, when she can actually make it back inside the apartment after a night out. The challenges she runs into this time around are pretty adorable as well, especially as Chi discovers that the dad has given in to his own desires and got a goldfish. Starting in a bowl but moving to an aquarium, they have a whole lot of fun with this as Chi just sees it as prey and everything dad does just reinforces it. The stalkings are so precise and slick in the view of Chi’s mind that seeing it unfold under dad’s watch is comical. That they decide to try and top it with a whole fondue segment just takes it to a whole other level. Kitty paws and fondue cheese. Oh my.
In Summary
Chi’s Sweet Home manages to hit another very solid volume where watching this little kitten go about her life just leaves you utterly charmed. The adventures are a little creative here, especially when she gets locked out and we get to see it from two different angles. The general days and life of the cat covers a lot of ground as she gets around and we get to know Cocchi a bit more here, though it’s Blackie that once again seems to shine in the best way as he always shows up to save the day. Similar to previous volumes, this one just let me smiling throughout it and enjoying all the little jokes, the expressions and the structure and artwork of it all. Few series feel as well crafted as this one was from the start and then works to polish it even more quickly. Very recommended.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Age Rating: All
Released By: Vertical, Inc
Release Date: October 18th, 2011
MSRP: $13.95
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