REVIEW: The Evil Secret Society of Cats (manga, vol. 1) story & art by Pandania, translated by Alethea and Athena Nibley

The Evil Secret Society of Cats is a collection of humorous 4-panel comics. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

The Evil Secret Society of Cats is all around us. Their goal is to teach humans to fear the feline race...by taking over our lives with their cuteness. If you've ever been late to leave the house because of a cat who was too cute not to pet, you've experienced the Society's nefarious activities. (Or you're a human member of the Society, because that's an option too.) Some recurring characters are: Feline Commander (the leader of the secret society), Dr. Meow (the cat who develops all of the society's technologies), Queen (a high-level cat operative), the Destroyer (a secretly sweet former stray cat), Robocat (a robot created by Dr. Meow), and the hero Doggoman and Doggoman's little sister. There's also a hedgehog cafe owner who pops up occasionally, and who reminded me of the Cat's Cafe comic.

Do you like Bananya but wish it focused more on cat behavior as opposed to "cat who lives in a banana" behavior, while still retaining some of that series' quirkiness? If so, then this series may be for you. I enjoyed the cat-related humor but found the experience of reading the whole volume in one sitting to be a bit like shoving a huge wad of cotton candy in my mouth. It was very cute and sweet and about as substantial.

Which is fine! Sometimes you want something that's sweet and light and doesn't have anything more stressful than a cat who's a little wistful that she wasn't adopted by a particular person. I'd probably have been better off reading smaller portions of this over a longer period of time, though.

The characters are all pretty basic, but if I had to pick a favorite, it'd probably be the Destroyer. He's one of my favorite types: the tough guy who's actually a secret softy. You can bet he'll always be there to watch out for the elderly lady who took him in and gave him a home. Even if that doesn't technically qualify as villainous Secret Society behavior.

Whatever. It's not like the Secret Society is all that villainous when it comes down to it.

The artwork was full-color and reminded me of Neko Atsume, although I don't think Pandania had anything to do with that game.

Extras:

A one-page comic style afterword by the author, and a "bonus artwork" gallery that features additional artwork and some enlarged panels from the comic.