Chi's Sweet Home, volume 1 [Paperback]

Kanata Konami (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 29, 2010 | Series: Chi's Sweet Home (Book 1)

Chi is a michievous newborn kitten who, while on a leisurely stroll with her family, finds herself lost. Seperated from the warmth and protection of her mother, feels distraught. Overcome with loneliness she breaks into tears in a large urban park meadow., when she is suddenly rescued by a young boy named Yohei and his mother. The kitty is then quickly and quietly whisked away into the warm and inviting Yamada family apartment...where pets are strictly not permitted.

Editorial Reviews

Review

 
A Publishers Weekly Big Graphic Novels for 2010 selection!
 
 
"Chi's Sweet Home seems to have that feline je ne sais quoi that could fill a niche in the existing market." --Comics Reporter
 
 
"Chi's Sweet Home has been a fan-favorite for a while...Now American manga readers (and cat lovers) will get a chance to enjoy this wonderful manga." --About.com

About the Author

Konami Kanata (pen name used by Kanata Konami) was born on July 3, 1958, in Nagano, Japan.  A veteran manga artist Konami made her professional debut in 1982 with the serialized comic Petit Cat Jam-Jam for Kodansha's semenal shoujo manga magazine NakaYoshi. The daughter of an elementary school teacher, most of Konami's stories are for readers of all ages making her one of the most accessible artists in recent history.

In her nearly thirty year career, Konami has penned more than a dozen comic series, with the majority of them focusing on cats and pets. Konami is well regarded within the pet-manga community for her keen sense of cat ecology. Her ability to observe and render feline behavior has earned her respect from the Japanese manga community as a whole. While most of her properties were published for a younger female demographic, her most recent series Chi's Sweet Home is currently being published by Kodansha's Morning magazine, Japan's leading comic magazine for adult readers.

Proving that quality can be found even in the cutest of sources.
Chi's Sweet Home will be Konami's first translated work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Vertical; 1 edition (June 29, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934287814
• ISBN-13: 978-1934287811
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.4 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chi's one cutie!, July 1, 2010

By 

Lady Thoth Reviews (Beaverton, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chi's Sweet Home, volume 1 (Paperback)

This manga is a must have, for anyone that loves animals, and loves to have them as the main focus and characters in the story. I grew up with cats, so I may be a little biased here, but I thought little Chi was adorable! I think the translation job done on the comic was good, too. Nice to have the kitten talking like a little person. Personally, I think there should be more manga focused around animals, and available in English!

I think the United States is sorely deprived of critter-based comics. And good ones.

Beyond the art being cute and well done, and the accuracy of cat behavior and what they seem to be thinking, the story actually has a heart and a complexity that I think is appropriate for a book mostly for children. It really makes you think about what the cat must be going through when it's adopted, or found, and how important it is to treat the cat well. Also, you feel bad for Chi and also confused about your own feelings as you're reading. You're not sure what you want more: Chi to find her momma, or for her to stay with the family that obviously loves her, and is taking a big risk in keeping her in an apartment that doesn't allow animals.

Definitely looking forward to the next volume!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely gift, June 29, 2010

By 

arisu9 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chi's Sweet Home, volume 1 (Paperback)

I bought this as a gift for my mother and she loved. She has been watching the 5 minute episodes and she was delighted to able to read it now to practice her english.

I was surprised at the quality of the manga when I picked it up at Borders today. All the pages are colored and printed on thick paper.
It really is a lovely series, I'd recommend it to everyone. ^_^

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adorable!, June 30, 2010

By 

Hakajin "Ecclectic Student" (GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Chi's Sweet Home, volume 1 (Paperback)

One day, a kitten is separated from her mother and siblings. She looks for them, but only gets more and more lost and encounters scary dogs and cars on the way (yikes!). The kitten finally plops down in a park where she meets Yohei Yamada and his mother. They take her home, but Mr. and Mrs. Yamada don't think they can keep her with their apartment's no pet policy. But they can't find anyone to take the kitten in. When they start calling the kitten Chi, it's apparent that she's become a part of the Yamada family.

This is a really cute series. The chapters are linear but pretty episodic. They follow Chi as she finds her new home and has all kinds of new experiences- using a litter box, playing with bouncy balls, and visiting the vet. It's all seen from Chi's perspective, but the manga avoids becoming cutesy. We read her thoughts, but they're very simple, kitty thoughts, the kind of things you would imagine your own cats thinking. She does turn Rs and Ls into Ws in her speech, which is heading into cutesy territory, but that's negated by the fact that she also sometimes turns S into Sh or Z (as in "Whazzat?). Chi has a lot of misunderstandings with the Yamadas, like what the purpose of the litterbox is, and this is all realistic and funny. The manga-ka is obviously a cat owner.

The artwork is simple, but cute and energetic. It's a bit like what you might see in a comic strip, though it's not written in four panel style. It is cartoonish, but the characters aren't drawn in the stereotypical manga style. The characters are very expressive. Chi's facial expressions are both adorable and funny. You can tell exactly what she's thinking, and you really sympathize with the little cat. Her physical expressions, like folding her ears back and bristling her tail, are also right on. The human characters show plenty of personality, too, and are easy to identify with. One really nice thing about this manga is that it's printed entirely in color. Everything is bright and cheerful. The paper and binding are well done. This manga is smaller than most, but it's fine like that. Manga fans may not like it that this translation is printed left to right, but this manga has a broader appeal than most. Printing it in this way makes sure that those who are unfamiliar to manga won't be confused and turned away (though I will never understand exactly why reading right to left confuses so many people).

"Chi's Sweet Home" is a really sweet manga. It's happy and funny, and appropriate for all ages. In fact, I think it's a great series to read with your children. The plot is simple enough that even the youngest children will understand it. Cat lovers should adore this series, and anyone who reads it will fall in love with Chi and her new family.