First off, this cover needs to become a poster. This is now my favorite picture of Chi. How can you not love this image of four cute kittens pouncing into action?
But while I totally support buying a copy just to mount in a frame on your wall, that’s probably not the best use of your money. Plus that would mean missing out on skateboarding kittens and zombie-like cats, and you wouldn’t want that.
This is the final volume of Chi’s Sweet Adventures, and it isn’t much different than the others, including the short length. As you might expect, the last story is a reminder that Chi’s home is with the Yamada family. It’s a cute happily ever after that leaves readers with a smile on their face.
I also liked seeing the return of Sherlock Yohei Holmes, chasing after Dr. Watson (Chi). I’ve said before that I don’t get people who just allow their pets to wander the streets, but at least Yohei is finally curious enough to follow Chi for a day. While Chi has a usual day of play and prey, later we get a reminder of the dangers of letting a pet go free: she and Cocchi end up in a trash bin for burnable items. Luckily, Blackie gets them out quickly.
Speaking of scary things, the chapter involving Chi and Cocchi trying to keep their fish from being stolen is a fun salute to the horror genre. Well, as horror-ish as you can get considering instead of everyone have dead, soulless eyes, they have sparkles. Dreaming of fish sparkles. The nighttime setting is very different from the usually bright colors in the comics. The full color visuals are still a treat, maybe even better than I remember. When Chi is watching some frogs, each letter in “ribbit” is a different color. It brings out the music-like wonder of the scene as the rain starts to fall.
Combine the art with the adorableness of kittens dreaming about a cat paradise or a hissing practice that goes about as well as you’d expect, and you have so much to make a cat lover’s heart melt. One, maybe two stories were a bit weaker than the others, but I wouldn’t call any of them lame or bad. It’s even nice to see some chapters “speak” to readers — Mom helps Yohei catch bugs (she’s braver than I am for sure) while Dad tries to get Yohei off the tablet. One is relatable to parents, and the other shows a housewife participating in a traditionally unfeminine activity. These may be minor things, but I liked them.
Really, I liked the whole volume, as Chi’s Sweet Adventures volume 4 gives this short series the fun farewell it deserves.