REVIEW: A Man and His Cat (manga, vol. 2) by Umi Sakurai, translated by Taylor Engel

A Man and His Cat is a slice-of-life series. I bought my copy of this volume brand new.

Review:

Fukumaru and Mr. Kanda continue to make an adorable little family, although Fukumaru has some leftover worries that Mr. Kanda might ditch him for a cuter cat. We see a little more of the pet store employee who first helped Mr. Kanda, Mr. Kanda's coworkers, Mr. Kanda's friend Kobayashi, and even some flashbacks to Mr. Kanda's time with his wife. We also learn a little about Mr. Kanda's childhood.

I was not quite in the right mood to read this volume when I first started it. It seemed very aimless in every way to me, and I kept trying to recall whether volume 1 had given me a similar impression. But I continued on, and after a certain point the volume grew on me. I'm still not really a fan of Fukumaru's design, although I suppose that's the point - he's an odd-looking cat for everyone except Mr. Kanda. 

The first half of this volume was very heavy on "Mr. Kanda thinks Fukumaru is adorable no matter what he's doing" scenes. The cover art is accurate - lots of Mr. Kanda snuggling Fukumaru.

The second half of the volume was a bit heavier, but still mixed with light and cute "Mr. Kanda cuddling Fukumaru" scenes. I found Mr. and Mrs. Kanda to be a charming couple - whereas he looked perfect and elegant, she looked a bit messier and was downright adorable when she saw that cat. I could imagine a shojo manga romance in which he was the cool and quiet male lead and she was the bubbly heroine who brought him out of his shell. The last couple chapters (pet store flashback, in which Mr. Kanda worried about his lack of experience with cats, and a flashback to Mr. Kanda's childhood) underscored that impression I got of him. Poor child-Kanda, I wish he'd gotten to pet that cat.

My primary complaint is that Square Enix Manga volumes are too short. This was over too quickly. Still, it was good and I'm looking forward to reading volume 3.

Extras:

A couple full-color pages, including an illustration of child-Kanda cuddling Fukumaru (aww) and a four-panel comic in which Chibi Mr. Kanda dresses up as a cat (weird, but still cute). Also, a one-page comic-style afterword by the author.