Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu by Junji Ito
My rating: 4/5 cats
junji ito is a writer/illustrator known for his horror manga, and here he focuses his energies on the most horrible horror of them all – the domestic cat.
this is a comedic-horror manga, and it speaks to those of us who have invited these little devils into our hearts and homes, and the everyday horrors we endure as a result.
and
and
it is an autobiographical tale of what happens to a dog-person when his fiancée brings her two cats into their home
and his emotional journey from fear
and suspicion
and more fear
to eventually accepting their presence in his life to the extent that he is jealous of their relationship with his wife.
and even makes clumsy attempts to play with them and win them over to him, as we all do
until he ultimately succumbs to that monstrous, obsessive love that felines inspire in us
incidentally, it’s uncool of him to refer to this cat’s face as “weird” or “accursed,”
(actual photo of “weird, accursed” cat – awww!)
when this is how he draws his wife:
in one of the Q&A sections of this book, a reader addresses this:
Q: You draw A-ko’s eyes almost entirely without pupils. What does your wife think of this?
A: She got mad at me. It seems that she doesn’t like the haircut, either. I’ve also been instructed to remove unnecessary lines from her cheeks in a number of panels. Additionally, she pointed out that A-ko’s trademark striped pants are nowhere to be found in her personal wardrobe. Aside from these minor issues, my wife does not seem particularly displeased with this manga.
and i guess there are a few things about this cat that are weird…
i really enjoyed this book, especially as it addresses some of the finer points of cat-living, such as experiencing their stubborn, preternatural strength
the disruption they bring into our homes
and all the gross
and spooky
things we tolerate in order to occasionally be shown affection by them.
yup, she’s just radiating affection here.
it’s a pretty adorable, and very accurate account of the monsters that inhabit those little scraps of fur we spend all day feeding and catering to.
unless i’m just projecting here.
