![\"Cat](\"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/files\/2014\/01\/Cat-Paradise-1.jpg\")
<\/a>By Yuji Iwahara\nPublisher:<\/strong> Yen Press
\nAge Rating:<\/strong> Older Teen
\nGenre:<\/b> Supernatural\/Action
\nPrice:<\/b> $10.99<\/p>\n
Usually ditzy lead characters like Yumi Hayakawa annoy me to no end, and make me dislike a series greatly.\u00a0 But not in this series.\u00a0 Why? Because Yumi has Kansuke, her no-nonsense, tough as nails cat to constantly berate her and keep her in line.\u00a0 And that’s the charm of this first volume; Yumi and Kansuke’s relationship and how it changes when the demonic forces come into play.<\/p>\n
When we first meet Yumi, we see how thoughtless and clueless she can be.\u00a0 Riding the train to her new school, she puts Kansuke in her suitcase, and forgets to let him out.\u00a0 It never occurs to her that Kansuke’s displeasure with her could be related to the outfits she likes to knit for him, even when it’s point out to her by her friend.\u00a0 She even gets lost on her way to the welcoming ceremony.\u00a0 But all of Yumi’s faults are tempered by very realistic reactions to the situation around her.\u00a0 She freaks out as one would expect a teenage girl would when confronted by a monster.\u00a0 She skeptical that her knitting skills can do anything to help fight the monster.\u00a0 She admits her fear at the burden suddenly thrust on her by Kansuke’s choice.\u00a0 All these things make her a more rounded character, more believable.\u00a0 And then there’s Kansuke.<\/p>\n
Kansuke seems to have a “tough love” kind of attitude toward Yumi.\u00a0 He’s always meowing at her, and showing his displeasure for her clothes for him by shredding them, but he also really cares about her.\u00a0 Even though she can be thoughtless, she can also be selfless, putting herself in harm’s way for others.\u00a0 In short, her stupidity annoys him, but it’s that stupidity that makes him love her as well, and want to protect her.\u00a0 It’s his intense feelings to be strong and to keep Yumi safe and happy that draws the pair into the battle against Kaen.\u00a0 This seems to be a theme, as is seen with Hasutani and Musashimaru, another pair with the power to fight Kaen.\u00a0 Kansuke and Yumi make a good pair, Kansuke’s pragmatic attitude balancing against Yumi’s more carefree attitude.\u00a0 Rather like an inter-species Odd Couple.<\/p>\n
The story moves at a good pace, balancing the action and the exposition nicely.\u00a0 There’s a lot of background given in this first volume, including how Yumi and Kansuke met, who Kaen is and why he must be stopped and Hasutani and Musashimaru’s background.\u00a0 There might be an element of romance between Yumi and Akifuji, the human part of another pair and good doses of humor are sprinkled around.\u00a0 The art isn’t like you’re typical shonen\/shojo title.\u00a0 It’s much more realistic, even with its fantasy elements.\u00a0 Even the bishonen aren’t that bishi.\u00a0 I especially like the way Iwahara draws the cats, their bodies often reflecting their personality.\u00a0 The spirit beasts are well done as well, as frightening as they are fantastic, and even they have their touch of humor.<\/p>\n
Cat Paradise<\/i> is a great action series.\u00a0 It’s mix of humor, drama and action all make it a series worth reading over and over.\u00a0 Cat lovers will really enjoy this series, as Iwahara really captures what it is to be a cat, and they get just as much, if not more, screen time as the humans.\u00a0 But the well-rounded characters and strong story make this a title anyone can enjoy.\u00a0 I highly recommend it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At Matabi Academy, students are allowed to bring their pet cats to the dorms.\u00a0 For Yumi Hayakawa, whose favorite hobby is making clothes for her kitty Kansuke, Matabi seems like a sure bet.\u00a0 After all, nothing can possibly go wrong with her best friend at her side! But on the first day of school, the two find themselves face-to-face with a murderous demonic minion on campus! Will Yumi and Kansuke be able to defend themselves and their school against an ancient cat demon’s thirst for vengeance? By Yuji Iwahara Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Supernatural\/Action Price: $10.99 Usually ditzy lead characters like Yumi Hayakawa annoy me to no end, and make me dislike a series greatly.\u00a0 But not in this series.\u00a0 Why? Because Yumi has Kansuke, her no-nonsense, tough as nails cat to constantly berate her and keep her in line.\u00a0 And that’s the charm of this first volume; Yumi and Kansuke’s relationship and how it changes when the demonic forces come into play. When we first meet Yumi, we see how thoughtless and clueless she can be.\u00a0 Riding the train to her new school, she puts Kansuke in her suitcase, and forgets to let him out.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15,20],"tags":[83,99,110,122],"class_list":["post-3554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews-reviews","category-yen-press","tag-manga","tag-older-teen","tag-review","tag-shonen"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2umma-Vk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3554"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3554"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4044,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3554\/revisions\/4044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/manga.jadedragononline.com\/village\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}