Chi's Sweet Home by Kanata Konami is such a beautiful series. I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did, but I ended up sobbing by the end.
Chi is an adorable kitten who accidentally loses her cat family but is found by a human family who decides to care for her. The writing is obviously done by something with a lot of experience with cats; everything Chi does is something I've also noticed in my own cats throughout my life. It's a serialized story, but still with an overarching plot that I wasn't expecting. The length of the story was perfect. The art style was very cute; I especially adored that it was full color. A lot of manga isn't like that because of budget constraints. Despite being from 2004, I don't believe that it's particularly dated other than the technology. Cats will be cats for all of time.
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I didn't know if I wanted Chi to be with her cat family or go to Paris with her human family. It was such a beautiful commentary on making your own family. I'm sad she won't see her mother or siblings again, but it was a satisfying ending. I really liked the large cast of characters. Seeing Chi and Yohei's relationship was so sweet; it's like they were actually brothers. The bond between them was immeasurable. The mom and dad were lovably goofy, especially with Chi's wacky shenanigans like how she always tried to eat their food. I found it quite endearing how Chi saw them as her own mom and dad because having a pet can create a similar feeling as having a child. Seeing Chi interact with the other pets was quite adorable as well. Her relationship with Blackie was so sincere and I became heartsick when they moved away from Blackie, then so overcome with joy when they were reunited. Her friendship with Cocchi was a great way to show the differences between street cats and domesticated cats. I was often upset on his behalf, and on the behalf of the other street cats, and I think it's a great adoption message, although it's tragic how he was ripped apart from his sibling like Chi was. I adored her being introduced to the other apartment's pets and how afraid she was of the dog and how different she was to the prissy cat (but then eventually quite similar). It was great for Chi to have someone to teach her how to be a cat. Overall, Chi's Sweet Home had a profoundness that I wasn't expecting. I am excited to watch the anime and see how it differs from the manga and I can't wait to share this story with the people in my life that I know are fans of cats and understand how they behave. I have also just discovered that there's a spin-off series called "Chi's Sweet Adventures" that I know I'm going to devour. I also plan to read more of Kanata Konami's other mangas; Before I read Chi's Sweet Home, I read the first volume of Sue & Tai-Chan and found it so adorable.
