The Star of Cottonland

[MangaDex]

 

[xPearse]

Despite very few reading this, I am enjoying it. Ganbare! ?

 

[Kiraidesu]

I thought the premise sounded like a cute, fun trip. And it is exactly that, but also much more. Unlike many old manga, this one doesn't feel "naive" or "overly straightforward" in its storytelling (typically owing to advances in storytelling techniques since then -- paneling and all that). Instead, the story is told with dreamlike flights of fancy, imaginative visuals, fascinating glimpses of philosophical dilemma, and poignant subtlety delivered with a light hand. It seems to go here and there and everywhere, and yet the author never loses a handle of the narrative and you ultimately get to the destination safely, if a little worse for the wear...exactly like the little mischievous cat!

Speculation here, but I suspect the author also harkens consciously back to the legendary Natsume Souseki's I Am A Cat, a brilliant classic with its own eccentric narratives and catlike bemusement, and Japanese readers at the time would not have missed the homage.

Apparently it's also the originator and popularizer of catgirls in manga. If that is so, what charming progeny. Chibi Neko is such a charismatic, eccentric little thing you can't help but love.

Delightful. Absolutely delightful.