Chi's Sweet Home (original) (raw)

Feb 3, 2023

I love this manga, it was one of the first manga I've ever read and I still go back to reread it every once in a while. My younger sibling loves this manga just as much as me, and we have a cat now, which makes us enjoy this all the much more. The story is very cute, but it's not like, super compelling with themes and stuff. It's just a cute cat being cute and interacting with other cute cats and animals. I think it's the exact inverse of something like Berserk, which works wonders for it. The art feels very cartoony and cute,... and while I haven't seen anything exactly like it, I do wish it was a little more stylized. Comparing it to another cat manga, Plum Crazy, I think that Plum Crazy's shojo-esque style works great for it because the cats still look unique, and I like the artstyle more.

Chi's Sweet Home has many characters, but most of them don't really matter except for Chi. Cocchi is the closest thing to an important character in my opinion, but maybe I'm just biased because I really liked him. Cocchi didn't have an explicit character arc but you can see him grow closer to Chi and become more friendly in general throughout the series, especially after their first meeting, and I see parallels to like the Sasuke archetype in shonen. Blackie was also a great character, and I loved how he was a mentor-type figure to Chi, keeping her out of trouble to the best of his abilities. The entire Yamada family is great too, I love how the dad tries to play with Chi but gets ignored, it's a very cute and fun dynamic, as well as Yohei's relationship with Chi, being a close friend to Chi. Yohei is very childish, which is fair, given that he is a child, and sometimes gets mad at Chi, but it's always heartwarming to see them make up. Chi's dynamic with the mother is also adorable, it's adorable how they have their small conflicts, like when the mother was vacuuming but Chi wouldn't move, it's just super cute overall. And as for Chi herself, she's just so cute!! The way she talks in the English translation with baby talk is really endearing, and her mannerisms as well. The little sounds she makes like "Mrr?" or "Mee!" are very cute as well, and while she is a mostly static character, I don't mind because of how adorable all of her interactions are.

I could go on and on about how cute Chi's Sweet Home is, but I've already used the words "cute" and "adorable" more times than I can count. I give CSH a 10/10 on enjoyment because I know I'm always smiling like an idiot while reading Chi's adorable adventures. It's a pretty calm read, and goes by fairly quickly despite the chapter count, and I highly recommend it to cat owners and cat fans.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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