The Walking Cat(ウォーキング・キャット) Japanese Manga Thoughts

 

     I don't believe that I need to go into much background detail about this title. The original manga was released as three volumes in Japan however, the three volumes were released as a full book in North America. The manga's creator is Tomo Kitaoka. 

   A cat tries to survive with the remaining humans in a zombie apocalyptic world. He's journey tells you of the various people he meets along the way to a safe heaven said to be on an island. 

   Anything that has "The walking" in its title tells you that inspiration from the mega popular series; The Walking Dead which is dealing with Zombies. This story tells a Cat's eye view of a zombie filled Japan. Nope, The world isn't specified to be the same shared world as the walking dead. I would argue that the story is told through the cat's eyes. It's more like the store revolves around the characters that have the cat as a companion. Most of the time, the cat is very moody and you don't really know what the cat is thinking but you have a front row seat into the thoughts of the the human characters. The Walking Cat is a page turner in the regard that the plot uses on the edge of your sit situations mixed with relatable characters to keep you engaged much like The Walking Dead did in the show's earlier seasons. I found myself reading the manga in on sitting since the chapters aren't very long. Page length isn't a negative thing even as the story throws in comedy throughout the story using the Cat as a medium. Cats are man's best friend but this book doesn't try to be a " you must love all cats" kind of manga. Some people might be turned off at the title. thinking that this series is a story geared toward cat lovers. There's a little sprinkled in for everyone if you take the time to read this Manga. 

  The artwork reminds me of the another older manga called Switch that was released in the early 2000s. That artist was Tomomi Nakamura. It's pretty much the same character design and world sketches. I love this kind of art style because the raw look fits the story tone. 

  The Walking Cat was the first manga that I had read in awhile where I was reading it in excitement to get to the ending. So much good content is in the story to keep readers entertained. I would also recommend this manga to people who like Zombies, cats, and real raw story telling.