Taking a look at Tsubasa Yamaguchi later work, I surprisingly found that Yamaguchi (the mangaka of Blue Period) and Makoto Shinkai (director of Your Name) combined efforts and produced an OVA about a young woman and a cat. Going a bit further, I decided to give a chance to the original, let's say, script. In this review, I'll mainly focus on aspects such as the plot and artsyle, so do not expect to see something really elaborated. I'll go with the flow, savouring each word and portraying every nuance that come up to my mind. Hope you enjoy it.
As a briefly introduction to the characters, I will focus on the two main characters. We have Miyu, a young woman, which appears to have finally settled up her adulthood period: a job, house, and enough money to survive. And then Chobi, a CAAAT OMG I LOVE CATS AND THIS ONE IS WHITE anyway.
At first glance, It may seem you will know were things were going: woman meets cat, they become best friends forever blablabla. I would agree with you, but the main plot-twist is how the events are seen; in this one-shot manga, the one who describes the events is not Miyu, is Chobi! Literally this blew up my mind, and my expectations raised up to the clouds.
Taking a further look at Miyu, I want to draw the line at her character development in psychological terms. I assume that most of the people that will read this review are young adults which are studying a grade or currently working. Most of us have experienced profound despair towards the future: how I am going to obtain money? Will I work in the job of my dreams? Will I have, in other words, good luck and do not finish living aimlessly? Miyu is not far from this reality, as she actually works in something that lets her to fulfill basic needs but does not make her feel complete. Just as the story keeps evolving, the anguish is more and more palpable.
I will not gut all the story here, instead give you, dear reader, the chance to discover it by yourself. However, I would like to say that I have never felt so connected with a character and her problems. It is so humble, so profound... I don't want to cry about it, but I will say that I had a lump in my throat during each time I related to an event.
The main delight of this production relays in how well combined is the graciousness of how Chobi views everything with how the events flow. This cat, despite actually lacking the abilites to fully comprenhend what Miyu is going through, has a sixth sense to understand its owner's feelings. What makes those descriptions clearly sensitive is the metaphorically use of smells so as to describe accurately how Miyu is feeling. Subtle, yet powerful. This writing recourse brights with its own light. Moreover, Yamaguchi has a sensitivity to, with simple strokes, represent the truth behind skin, the feelings behinds an action. What a master is he.
What would be a better conclusion than mentioning that, sometimes, things do not finish perfectly? The ending of this manga will led you to shout: "that's all???" I personally ponder that just making one step more can be enough to value yourself a little bit more.
What matters is to keep up, no matter how hard It may seem (and also learn to ask for help). That is the best lesson I could getting from this reading, even though applying it is easier said than done. ;)