A Cat is a Cat in Any Life Review

Ema Tohyama is perhaps best known for her extensive work creating romance manga like Vampire Dormitory, Missions of Love and many more since her debut. However, for her latest work to make it to the English market, the focus shifts onto some of our favourite furry companions – cats! But is A Cat Is a Cat in Any Life worth a read? Let’s take a closer look.

Our story begins with an unnamed cat’s life coming to an untimely end due to a traffic accident. However, the gods see fit to reincarnate this Munchkin breed in another world where there are no cars and let her live out her life there in her kitty form. This new world is one of swords and magic, where there’s a demon king causing havoc and a young hero who isn’t amused when the king of her country tells her to go and defeat him. In fact, her family lineage has been repeatedly told to go and defeat him, but they’ve constantly turned the king down.

On the way home, our hero meets the Munchkin cat and takes a shine to her. After all, she’s just absolutely adorable, and there’s no way the hero can just leave her wandering around outside. So the cat comes home, but cats don’t ordinarily exist in this world, so it’s a lot of trial and error for the hero to work out how to look after her. And she quickly realises that cats have very expensive tastes in food, so maybe she’ll have to take on the quest to defeat the demon lord after all. Maybe she and the kitty could even go together?

Elsewhere, the demon king has found himself with his own cat problem when three Russian Blue kittens suddenly appear. They’re too young to fend for themselves and still need a lot of care and attention, and just like the Munchkin, they’re far too cute for the demon king to turn a blind eye to. Insisting that they must be a by-product of his one weakness, sacred magic, the demon king decides to raise them in a bid to raise his resistance, completely unaware that his ‘symptoms’ of sacred magic exposure are simply from the fact they’ve stolen his heart!

While this has a setup perfect for a fantasy adventure, let it be known that very little adventuring actually happens. The hero isn’t motivated enough, and her cat, being a fickle creature, isn’t particularly interested in leaving the comfort of the house. And the one time they do ends in a death and resurrection (of the hero, not the cat, don’t worry). Instead, each chapter of this charming manga follows the cast as they learn new things about their feline friends.

As we learn in the afterword, Ema Tohyama is no stranger when it comes to owning cats and has had many over the years. So her depictions of them are very true to life and relatable for those of us who have shared our lives with one. And even if you haven’t, you’ll find yourself smiling as you watch over the cast all the same. Each chapter is kept quite short, and we rotate through the cast often enough so there’s no chance of getting bored. And although the chapters can feel episodic, there is a story running through the book that comes to a heartfelt conclusion by the end.

Tohyama’s art for this release is in colour, with each of the three characters having a different theme. The hero is purple and salmon, the demon king is green, and there’s a knight captain who is yellow and blue. This helps clue you in to the main focus of a chapter, but it also gives good contrast with the appearance of the different cats. Panels are usually quite small, so the characters are often in a partial chibi form, which I think works well for the humorous nature of the story. And of course, it’s the cats who steal the show, and while they aren’t necessarily drawn particularly realistically (they’re quite round), they are depicted acting in the ways you’d expect of a cat.

A Cat is a Cat in Any Life comes to the West thanks to Square Enix Manga and has been translated by Taylor Engel with lettering by Arbash Mughal, who both do a fantastic job. This one feels like a real labour of love on the publisher’s part, as it’s presented with high-quality paper, cover flaps, colour illustrations to open and has sprayed edges, which is the first time I have seen it on a manga release. The series is complete with two volumes on the Japanese side, both of which have been included here to create a complete release. And despite all of that, it’s only £18, which feels like a bargain when other series have single volumes and come in around £14.

Overall, A Cat Is a Cat in Any Life is a great addition to the world of cat manga. Square Enix has put out a physical release that fans will be eager to add to their library. Readers will surely greatly enjoy watching over the adventures of these kitties as they make a home for themselves in this fantasy world.

A free preview can be read on the publisher’s website.
Our review copy from Square Enix Manga was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).

©Ema Tohyama / SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD