A Cute Story about a Cat Girl
Creative Staff
Story: Miyuki Nakayama
Art: Miyuki Nakayama
What they say
Neneko Iizuna is a shy girl with a secret: cat ears. Embarrassed over her feline appearance, Neneko’s retreated from the world. But when she receives a letter asking her to become the miko of an infirmary, she finds herself taking on the unexpected challenge of exorcism!
Is this young cat girl up to the task of taking on the spirits, can she get along with her new co-workers? And how exactly does she feel about being chained up by a leash? It’s an opportunity for new bonds to form!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Spirits & Cat Ears is a manga that immediately reminded me of another manga I once read called Inu x Boku SS. No, these manga aren’t made by the same mangaka. However, the artstyle is very similar. Characters have a similar design, and the backgrounds bear a strong resemblance with each other. There is also a supernatural elemental involved, though this particular series is about Miko and Shikigami.
We’re introduced to our main character right off the bad. Neneko Lizuna is a shut-in who, at some point in her life, gained cat ears after she was possessed by the Kuda-Fox, which is a mischievious fox spirit that’s said to be an ill omen. She displays an almost exagerrated attributes of a shut-in. During the first few panels, Neneko is trying to gather her courage to go outside. Apparently, she’s heading to a place where she’ll become a Miko who exercises evil spirits. The problem is that she can’t even step out of her house because she’s afraid of what other people think.
Neneko, while somewhat frustrating, is a very endearing character. Right off the bat, we’re given her biggest weakness. The fact that she’s also adorable definitely brings out a person’s protective instincts. She’s the kind of girl that you see and immediately want to shield from harm.
Enter Sagami Shishikage, her Shikigami, who she randomly summoned one day when she was bored. He bears some very typical bishounen traits. He’s quiet, passive, and doesn’t display much emotion. That said, he has a strange habit of putting a collar around his master’s neck. I’m not sure if this is merely for humor or if there’s a deeper reason for it. Sometimes I feel like it’s a habit, but other times I feel like he just has a fetish for restaining Neneko.
Of course, Shishikage is a chain Shikigami. I’m assuming bondage play is a part of his nature for this reason. I’m also glad he’s so up front about his feelings for Neneko. He doesn’t beat around the bush, revealing that he likes Neneko within the first chapter.
The first chapter is mostly an introduction. Neneko and Shishikage travel to the clinic, where they are introduced the fellow Miko and the clinic owner. There’s a lot of romantic tension between Shishikage and Neneko, especially when Shishikage tells Neneko that he likes her. Nothing really happens. Of course, Neneko is a shut-in and can’t really deal with people, so a confession is probably too much for her. Later that night, they are attacked by other Mikos, though it turns out to be a test to see how well they work together. It seems Shishikage cannot work unless he’s given the “words of power,” which I believe have to do with restraining.
The next chapter we’re properly introduced to a character who was in chapter one, Miya, a fellow Miko. While Miya appears cold on the outside, it seems that much like Neneko, she’s very shy. She has an extreme fear of strangers, which makes her avoid people. Of course, this causes a missunderstanding and Miya gets possessed by a knife, but that’s how these things go. In the end, she and Neneko become friends, so it all works out. She even becomes very attached to Neneko by the end of chapter 2.
Chapters 3 and 4 involve school and learning more about exorcism. I’m kinda surprised there is going to be a school setting since Neneko is a shut-in, but I guess this is a manga about high schoolers, so there was probably going to be this at some point. The exorcism that happens in chapter 4 teaches us a bit about how this world works, but there are a few problems with it—namely, the lack of tension during the exorcism itself, and the obvious use of foreshadowing that Shichikage is somehow tied to the Kuda Fox.
In Summary
This is a cute story overall, but it’s not very original. The story starts similar to most romance manga of this nature, and it has the very obvious goal of ending the series by teaching the main character, Neneko, that the important things in life are the bonds she forms with her friends—and Shichikage more specifically. I can already see how this series will conclude, though I have been surprised on occasion.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13 & UP
Released By: Yen On
Release Date: February 21, 2017
MSRP: $12.99
