Neko to Ookami - Oneshot

[MangaDex]

 

[iceteaslayer]

This is sad and creepy at the same time

 

[nobodygattaknow]

This was darker than I thought

 

[Ozonosfera]

That was so beautiful and tragic.

 

[Extreme-Tactician]

What a tragedy. The cat can't see reality, and if it ever does, the wolf will eat him. The wolf just sees him as another meal, not as a friend.

 

[IrregularPerson]

• Neko sleeps in a birdcage, then Ookami wakes them up and pries them out by the hair. A the end of the day, Mr. Wolf carries them and gingerly places them back into the birdcage, then locks it. => Ookami is intent on having Neko take part in Mr. Wolf day-to-day life and secures them daily.
• Mr. Wolf eats eggs, bacon and a bone for breakfast. Pancakes, honey, butter and sausage for lunch. For dinner, "Mr. Wolf is going to have soup, bread, and his favorite broken stuffed animals, and a bit of red wine." => This means eating people like Neko is a choice.
• When Neko's parents leave her, there are some changes to their design: at first, they were blindfolded, Neko's tail is locked, their hands are bound, the bottom of their dress is bound. The only personal touch Mr. Wolf added was bells at the end of their dress ribbon. And when they go out, a red hood and chain around Neko's neck. => Neko was likely abandoned for reasons held against them. They had the intent for Neko to die in some manner or another.

• Mr. Wolf lives in a house, and eats people like Neko. Neko maybe a companion to Mr. Wolf for the sole trait that they're not scared of Mr. Wolf.
• Neko ate cereal with choco mint ice cream for breakfast. Pancakes, and lots of choco mint ice cream. For dinner, "I am going to have, lots, and lots, and lots of chocolate mint ice cream." => "Blue kinoko give you fun dreams. Black kinoko will lighten your heart. If you knead the kinoko together, you can make warm ice cream." => Neko is aware that the properties of these mushrooms make up the ice cream they increasingly eat plenty of. => !!Neko is in fact content with their relationship as by pg23, "I Didn't want to be thrown away anymore. I decided that I would only have fun dreams. That way I can always stay with Mr. Wolf."
• Neko's favorite food is (warm) mint choco ice cream which has hallucinogenic prosperities =>
  • Neko perceives the bodies of people like them, as stuffed animals. Neko was found with a stuffed pink bunny, implying that it bringing Neko solace and comfort. => 1) Mr. Wolf's is lain with pinned pigs, hooked rabbits, hanging foxes, chests full of cat, and jars full of stuffing. 2) At the end of meeting Neko for the first time, her pink rabbit plush is ripped to shreds. But it is seen at the beginning of this oneshot, is bundled up by Neko when they're asleep. And later at the end of their day, Neko isn't seen holding the rabbit plush prior, until Mr. Wolf tucks them back into their cage. => 1) Mr. Wolf's house is full of bodies. 2) Neko's doll was destroyed, repaired and given to them when they're secured in a cage.
  • And Neko perceives living beings as black monsters. => The little monster Neko meets at the end is likely a rabbit, as it likes carrots and turns into a rabbit doll when Ookami kills it.
  • Partaking in 'choco mint ice cream' for the first time changes ferns and weeds to flowers.
  • As for various home decor conversions made (pg3=>18): a barrel to a rocking horse, burlap sacks to pillows, a skull to a puppet, hanging meat cuts into balloons. => Neko sleeps in a room with 'preserved meat.' Neko also sees streamers, mobiles and ornaments.
  • Scars on Ookami are seen as mending on Mr. Wolf.
• The map around the forest (p10) shows a lot of depictions of mushrooms, and an instance of Mr. Wolf protecting her. During the confrontation with the six-legged six-headed monster, Neko's chain is broken by an axe (the only person depicted with an axe so far has been Mr. Wolf). Mr. Wolf gets injured fighting the monster. And in this scuffle Neko makes it out unscathed while Mr. Wolf is wrapped in bandages. => 1) Neko was scared of the monster taking her out of the forest and pleads for Mr. Wolf rescue. 2) Mutually, Mr. Wolf was willing to fight and confront the monster. => Neko also admires Mr. Wolf's 'magic' that "turned that monster Into a broken stuffed animal" => Later Neko befriends a non-hostile little black monster during outings with Mr. Wolf, and then Mr. Wolf turns it into a stuff animal. "I didn't tell Mr. Wolf about it." "It likes me now!" "Oh, it's just a stuffed animal. That's not the little black monster after all. After that, I didn't see the little black monster again. It must have gotten better and gone back to its nice, little home." => 1) Mr. Wolf doesn't want Neko to attach themselves to any one or thing else, as we know Ookami's dietary habits is actually varied. 2) Neko doesn't want to really form attachments to any one or thing else as she easily lets go of their attachment when Mr. Wolf turns it into a stuff animal. => I think red is a color of comfort of reality for Neko, as her plush pink rabbit is different from the green stuffed rabbit that Mr. Wolf ate for dinner.
• The kitchen/dining room is the only place with grubbier, crawlier elements like a hanging a spider, butterfly, grub, and ladybug.
• And fun thing about Neko's and Ookami's dialogue, the text bubbles for Neko is a bit wobbly while Ookami's one is sharp and clean. Like it's the 'hard' or truthful narrative. And unfortunately, after Mr. Wolf's narrative with the little monster, the dialogue is even shakier.
• I'm not sure what the dust is, what wood Mr. Wolf goes to chop, why the Neko's book is ominous, and what the true identity of the six-legged six-headed monster are.
• I also don't know the full intent behind a 'broken' stuffed animal. And Neko locks the door to this corner room after cleaning. => Neko has keys to the rooms which implies some trust with Mr. Wolf. And that Neko is complicit in having a barrier between them and a 'broken' stuffed animal.