Chi continues to explore her world and there’s plenty of danger amid all that adventure.
Creative Staff
Story: Konami Kanata
Art: Konami Kanata
Translation/Adaptation: Ed Chavez
What They Say
In the eighth volume of Chi’s Sweet Home, Chi is growing up and now that she has a sense of her new surroundings, the little shorthair is ready to make this new neighborhood her own. With the help of her furry feline friend Cocchi she embarks on some of her more ambitious trips yet.
Being a curious and increasingly self-reliant kitty, priority number one has always been locating food sources. Sometimes achieving this is not very easy or safe for kittens, but lessons have to be learned. What Chi will have to soon find out is that doors are made to be closed. Strolling into random homes, sheds or cars is a big no-no because you may never make it out again. In one such case, Chi gets in; finds what’s she was not looking for; is locked in; and eventually has to face off with a grumpy old human!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Watching as Chi continues to grow and understand what her world is like, she makes some pretty fun discoveries. And those discoveries are going to prove more and more important to her as she gets out there into the big world. The book opens with one of the best bits yet as she plays with the mother as she dusts the apartment. The duster is definitely an attractive toy to Chi and that gets her to going to some pretty good lengths, and heights, to get her paws on it. What it also leads to is her falling off the stars and over the edge which freaks the mother out of course, but not as much as Chi. For at least a moment as Chi’s natural instincts take over as she twirls and lands on her paws. It’s a great bit of discovery as she realizes what she can do, though it’s not something she can consciously do.
The majority of this book deals with the adventures that Chi has with Cocchi out in the world and the two are definitely something you could call double trouble. Both are adventurous kittens except that Cocchi gets out there a bit more and has more street smarts, but not by much. The things he gets them into are often accidental more than anything else but they hit the right notes. The exploration of different areas leads them into some fun trouble, from digging into a closed in area that lets them play in the dirt to accidentally coming across a big dog that just wants to play with them. It’s utterly adorable as it plays out as the kittens get away into a tree and Chi gets licked big time by the dog. But that’s just the start of things as we get a big moment from Chi as she tries to put to use what she learned back at the apartment.
Where it’s interesting is that as Cocchi encourages her on, Chi really pushes back against Cocchi about being called a cat as Chi thinks she’s the same as Yohei and the rest of the family. It’s something that’s not too much of a surprise as we’ve seen her very much a part of the family the whole time and treated like that by everyone. She’s interacted with plenty of other cats, and other animals, but she’s always viewed herself differently. It’s a nice little flavor to things since it goes back to the thing people often say about their pets in that “they’re just like people” with a cute voice. For Chi, she definitely views herself that way, just a different one. But she shows us so many kitty ways here it’s just adorable.
In Summary
Whether she’s playing catch with frogs, licking some salty potato chips or going after the feather duster, Chi’s the kitten with a lust for life that really works well. Eight volumes in now and she’s just as charming as she was at the first. We still get instances of her dealing with the family as they haven’t been sidelined, but they’re not always a huge part of her day either. With the last move that as done, she’s able to get safely out into the world some and experience it all in a great big way. With a lot of this taking place outdoors and between just Chi and Cocchi, it does push things a little more than previous volumes which spread things out among more of the cast, but it works well to show Chi’s continuing independence and exploration. The book is just a whole lot of fun and continues to be an absolute delight.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Vertical
Release Date: February 28th, 2012
MSRP: $13.95
