So apparently, it was time for Riko to expand the party. Have a player three join the game. Get a new unit to join the crew. Continue ruining her gaming time by adding another cat. Relinquishing all rights to have a normal life by adopting a new cat.
Insert any other video game logic that accurately fits Riko now leveling up to ruin her household. Or I guess make it warm and cute!
Seems Wataru Nadatani felt it was time to mix things up a bit. Riko and Musubi would be a fine manga to keep reading as is, however rather than change things up drastically — like add a new friend for Riko to interact with or try a new storyline — the decision was to double up with cats. On her visit to Riko’s home, shopkeeper Obayashi suggests that Riko considers getting another cat. After some convincing Riko goes for it, and despite getting into train traffic troubles, she makes it to an adoption fair and finds a new cat. But what will this new cat mean for Riko and Musubi’s current life?
Well territorial battles for one!
More cat hijinks where a gamer has a cat cause chaos in their home!
A new cat companion for Musubi to be with!
More additional bonus stage chapters, this time with a new cat!
Oh right, according to Riko the new cat’s cuteness levels are too high! She mentions that her new cat, who she later names Soboro, is overpowered in cuteness and how it acts. Even got the not-Pokémon stand-in in this volume as she recalls her days of being a Pokamon Master!
Anyways, volume 4 of Cat + Gamer opens this series’ ceiling with the introduction of Soboro, originally called Tama as a temporary name until Riko completed the trial period of owning a new cat. Through this we learn a good amount about the process of adopting cats, the benefits of having another cat at home, and naturally, not all cats are the same personality wise. So it makes a refreshing change as we see how Musubi and Soboro get along; how they then both react to anything Riko does whenever tries to game; and because of their different personalities, how they affect Riko differs as well. This even includes when Riko goes to sleep, as we see Musubi sleeping comfortably at her side, yet Soboro ends up biting Riko’s ankle. Oops!
In other words, a new era of cat jokes, cat facts, and how cats affect video games has begun. More variety should in store for the series moving forward. I will miss it only being about Riko and Musubi, but ultimately, the party has a new crew member on their journey. We’ll have to see where it goes from here!