Review by Frank Plowright
The suspicion is that Watanu Nadatani is aware that it’s the cat aspect of her comics that sells the material rather than starring personality Riko Kozakura being a gamer, and this collection barely mentions games.
Astute readers will have noticed that’s not Musubi on the cover. It’s Tama, a female cat Riko takes for a month’s trial adoption after it’s mentioned her flat is big enough for two cats. What she rapidly realises is that cats can have very different personalities, and still being a kitten, Tama is active to the point of intimidating Musubi. Given the type of story Nadatani writes, it’s inevitable the cats will get along eventually, and for cat lovers that means twice the cuteness in every chapter, with the bonus of Tama being even cuter as a kitten.
Following the series pattern, there’s an educational aspect to the adoption process. Perhaps the idea of cat adoption meetings is unique to Japan, but the remainder of the advice given is likely to be universal. A month’s trial period is advised when adopting cats into a household where one already lives as the two cats might fight rather than bond. That process is illustrated by Nadatani as a series of brief battles as the cats compete with each other for food, bed and privacy. Will Tama survive the month’s trial period? Well, her presence on the cover to Cat + Gamer 5 suggests so, and by then she’s renamed Soboro.
As ever, when the cats look this cute, readers probably aren’t greatly interested in the plot so frequently not being anything more than Riko observing the cats doing what cats do. In fact the chapter titled ‘One Calm Day’ is nothing but that.
Game scoring systems occur on a couple of occasions, but the gaming aspect is only prioritised in the final chapter when Riko notices she’s put on weight since the arrival of a new cat. The solution? A new boxing exercise game, except playing it isn’t simple with two cats in the house.
With four volumes in print you’ll know whether Cat + Gamer is for you. It’s light on plot, but the art is delicate and beautiful, and a love of cats and all that they do seals the deal. On to Cat + Gamer 5.
