The King of Horror Manga VS Two Cats (Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon and Mu Review)

Genre: Slice of life, comedy, seinen

Chapters: 10

Author: Junji Ito

Overview:

Junji Ito aka J-kun has moved into a beautiful branding spanking new home with his soon to be wife A-ko. Their time together in this new house would soon be interrupted by the mischievous felines that A-ko would bring into the family. Yon, a “weird” looking cat and Mu a calm, friendly little kitty would soon bring feline madness upon this manga artist.

Review:

I didn’t realise that Junji Ito could do comedy and slice of life so well whilst still keeping with his classic style which I see often in his horror work. Ito somehow turns everyday events into the most ridiculous, intense and often rather terrifying scenario of the day to day life of owning little feline friends.

As someone who spent the first 11 years of her life with two cats in the household I know the strange escapades of what it is like to own cats. They are furry friends who are fickle in nature and are independent creatures who keep you, their owner, around because they feel like it. Although the book states that its content is fictitious in nature it is obvious that Ito has had a lot of experience with cats and can tell of Yon and Mu’s behaviour perfectly.

One of the best things about this manga is the fact that Ito manages to turn small everyday occurrences and blow them into horrific and hilarious proportions. His horror manga style art bleeds through to this comedic slice of life and many of the faces him and A-ko pull are often looks of pure terror or creepy satisfaction. These over the top expressions make everything so much funnier as it is if he is projecting the inner emotions of a cat owner on the outside.

I found Junji Ito’s Cat Diary an absolute delight to read. The chapters are short but sweet and moments such as Ito hallucinating his cat being a giant snail made me laugh out loud. Other moments such as the worry pet owners face when their beloved furry friends are not feeling well was excellently portrayed and the reaction he had was the exact reactions I have in those situations. A collection of photographs were also included in the manga which I loved because, I mean who doesn’t like a adorable collection of cat photos?

My only real criticism with this manga was I wish it was longer. It only took me about half an hour to complete it and it would have been great to see more hilarious cat people problems in manga form.

I do recommend this series to anime and manga fans especially if you enjoy other stories by Junji Ito. If you have been or currently are a cat owner then this is the manga for you. If not then the jokes may fall a little flat but I think it’s still worth a read.

Overall rating: 7/10

Until next time thanks for reading and I hope you’re having a great day!

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