The comfort and chaos of a kitten.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Konami Kanata
Translation/Adaptation: Marlaina McElheny, Ed Chavez
What They Say
Stray kitty FukuFuku has been adopted into the home of a widowed grandmother and the two quickly begin to develop a relationship viewed through the kitten’s eyes.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having been a big fan of Konami Kanata’s work for a while through Chi’s Sweet home, Vertical’s acquisition of the 2013 short story series Fukufuku was definitely a welcome thing. Serialized in Be-Love magazine with two volumes produced over forty-eight chapters, the book is one that certainly feel familiar to fans of Chi but will also stand on its own as it’s not trying to replicate that. Which can be a problem at first because you have a certain set of expectations even knowing that it’s a different work. The similarities are certain there and it’s definitely a blood relative of Chi’s Sweet Home. But what we get here is another facet of life with a cat and the kind of importance they can have, and receive, as a companion.
This book focuses on a cat named Fukufuku that’s grown up nicely since the elderly woman who adopted him first brought him home. While we get some material kicking off the book showing us where Fukufuku is now, it shifts back to those early days as the recently widowed grandmother brought her home and began organizing her life around the cat. Having seen my own mother do this, Kanata captures it perfectly here in how there’s a great relationship that develops. The grandmother here is invested in the kitten in wanting to give her a great home and healthy life while receiving a lot of joy and pleasure in watching them experience the world. There are certainly parallels to a newborn in a way yet a cat is (arguably) easier to manage overall. So the stories work this by showing how she figures out the right kind of food, teaching her how to use scratching posts, and other familiar rites of passage for young kittens as they discover everything around them and want to get into it in a big way.
The book works the progress of time well throughout this so that we see the months pass and recognize the growth of Fukufuku through it with how she grows more confident. The holiday side of things is fun, such as the first small Christmas tree, but just the changes in temperature with the seasons has Fukufuku learning a lot. The use of the kotatsu throughout it is really nice as she really gets into it when she first experiences it and then starts turning everything into kotatsu’s once the season is over. But really, the main fun here is in seeing how this “couple” operates as there’s a lot to like with it. They bond well over the course of it but it takes time. Fukufuku naturally doesn’t clamber all over her from the get go, but she realizes eventually that the grandmother is the place to be and really enjoys all the comforts that come from it. And watching that bond grow is just delightful.
In Summary
While similar in some ways to Chi’s Sweet Home in how we follow the growth of a kitten, the dynamic here is very different between the grandmother and the kitten. With no kids or other adults showing up and only a brief nod toward another cat and a quick dog exposure, it’s about these two more than anything. And it is very different in seeing an elderly woman with a pet as opposed to a young family and all that goes on there. Kanata’s style is essentially the same here as we’ve seen with other works so there are no surprises, but that’s not a bad thing as it’s essentially what I had hoped for here. There are some slight deviances in style so as to be its own work, but fans of her other series will definitely enjoy the visual design here. Vertical did a great job with this and fans will love owning this work in such a great little package.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Vertical Comics
Release Date: February 23rd, 2016
MSRP: $10.95
