Yukiharu Izumi’s life has gone from bad to worse to catastrophic lately: his parents died on vacation, his father had apparently just taken out a 50 million yen loan, AND his old house was torn down without notice. His only option left is to follow a note his father left him “if the worst should happen” with a house key, only to discover that his father’s loan was to buy a house for his pets!
His “pets” however weren’t what anyone would expect; his five “cats” are in fact rowdy bakeneko, shapeshifters who normally aren’t too fond of humans but, after some intense conversation, they agree to shoulder Izumi’s debt, if he waits on them hand and foot as their servant!
I am a little disappointed that these cats are in fact bakeneko with the ability to turn into so-so pretty boys (and who do so on a regular basis), I was hoping they would be more, well, typical cats! This set-up just makes the humor feel a lot meaner, as Izumi isn’t thrilled by his new living situation (not to mention, he’s more of a dog person to start with) and it seems like he doesn’t have a single ally in the world now. The bakeneko range from being passive-aggressive to being more neutral (but extremely chaotic) towards him and Izumi himself makes a number of typical teenager thoughtless, dumb comments and actions which only made me roll my eyes at everyone. The bakeneko play with him the way a cat may play with its prey and I get the feeling that creator Rat Kitaguni finds these gags way funnier than I did.
Izumi doesn’t even get a break at this new school since it turns out that two of the cats are his classmates and one of them is his teacher! Again, while both Izumi and his bakeneko classmates are the butt of jokes, the ones with Izumi just feel meaner, as if the story is saying “gosh Izumi, why don’t you just accept that you’re in a wacky comedy and roll with it?” While the cats, that is the bakeneko lounging around in their cat forms, are certainly adorable, with this kind of “comedy” I’m just not sure if I’ll come back for volume 2. Admittedly there are quite a few questions I would like to have answered, and knowing that this series is complete in four volumes (this basic premise is not one that can sustain a long series), do make me a bit more inclined to check it out.
But with the second volume of I’m the Catlords’ Manservant not due out until fall I have plenty of time to make that call.