I’m eating up this manga like candy. Cat + Gamer is a great world to dip your toes into at the end of a long day. The art is crispy and cute and the story is homey.
In this volume Musubi starts to grow into a bigger kitten and Riko begins to learn what it’s like to ‘level up’ a cat. Riko deals with the trials and tribulations of having a cat being able to reach surfaces that were safe when they were a kitten.
We also deal with the conflict that came up at the end of the last volume of the manga, where Riko is worried about being discovered by her coworkers doing cat photos. However she is saved for now when her co-worker thinks the social media account belongs to a man. Despite her concern, she can’t help taking pictures of Musubi and soon she isn’t the only one who wants to photograph him.
This volume introduces her sister Mai, who is a social media influencer focused on the likes but thanks to Musubi and Riko, Mai manages to take a day off to just enjoy playing games with her older sister and sitting in Musubi’s company.
Another thing that Musubi does that is familiar to pet parents is his tendency to knock things off surfaces. In this case he knocks over some of Riko’s gaming figurines. This leads to him getting a giant cat tower because Riko realizes he needs a ‘dungeon’ to keep him busy and for him to protect and explore
There are many funny moments in this manga however one of my favorites is when Riko is concerned about Musubi not having ‘armor’ and she goes to the store for clothing advice, only to learn that cats don’t need clothes as such but that it is important she get Musubi a collar.
Another plot that is brought up in this volume is Riko’s friendship with the pet store worker, Obayashi, the woman from the pet store who has helped her with things for Musubi, she meets Obayashi at her house and learns about taking care of multiple pets and finds out some more about cats and the things they need in a home.
Again I enjoyed this volume for many reasons, Riko’s use of game metaphors for life is handled playfully so it doesn’t get old and the bonus chapters done from Musubi’s point of view are always a nice treat. I’m going to give this four stars. It gives exactly what is advertised the manga, is a cute romp for gamers and pet owners alike.
I can’t wait for Volume 3 where I think Riko will either get another cat, or have to take care of one and I can’t wait to see the chaos that ensues when she adds another member to her party so to speak.
Expect to see more reviews of the manga as well as more graphic novel reviews in general.
What is your favorite go to read for when you are looking for something comfy?
Image by Nathan Osman from Pixabay
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