A Lovestruck Cat Wants to Be Petted

by Nira Kaneyuki

Sweet and skittish Kotetsu has been stopping by the pet store lately just to see Okazaki! When Okazaki asks to see pictures of Kotetsu's cat, Kotetsu is overjoyed to finally exchange contact info with his crush... but what Okazaki doesn't know is that Kotetsu IS the cat! Having suddenly turned half-human, half-cat, Kotetsu must hide his cute ears and tail as he adjusts to his new lifestyle and pursues a blossoming friendship with Okazaki. But what will Okazaki think when he finds out the truth?

Cat-lover takes on a whole new meaning in this adorable, feel-good love story!

Genres: Manga, Romance, LGBT, Yaoi, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Boys Love

176 pages, Paperback

Published February 11, 2025

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would love to give this a higher rating, just alone for the art - it is absolutely adorable and some panels are just artworks in and of themselves. But unfortunately, I felt the story completely lacked in substance. Naturally, I picked this up because cats. Having shifters as love interests is always a hit or miss for me but I will say that it fell in well enough here - the main character Kotetsu is a black cat who has become human (or half human as he says, he's definitely still got his ears and tail) because he has taken a fancy to a pet store employee, Okazaki. The two strike a friendship but Kotetsu is worried because, while Okazaki loves cats, he doesn't like black cats.

The premise is fairly simple and I usually have a low bar when it comes to standalone manga as there's only so much depth you can add. But I just felt entirely disconnected from this; we are only told how these two met as opposed to seeing things unfold. There's no sense of when or how they started liking each other and things just move at a ridiculously fast pace. Individual scenes looked super cute on paper but they had no real impact on the story as a whole - it just felt lifeless.

Most BL will have some explicit scenes so it shouldn't come as a surprise that this one has too. While I am not the biggest fan, I do think it's more than just personal bias when I say the explicit scenes in this one felt wholly out of place. The story is so tame and cutesy and then next chapter over it's fairly graphic. It just did not fit the whole rest of the book.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

My enjoyment of this manga was almost guaranteed. It combines cats and romance into an adorable story of the innocence and tenderness of first love (with some horniness of course). I especially loved the explanation for Kotetsu's transformation, and the sexy bonus story.

[Daesy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually really cute. Rated 4.5 stars only bcs the story went too fast.

[Katrine Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may have been the cutest ever Yaoi manga I've ever read. OHMIGOODNESS.
Delicious! I'll have another!

[Addy Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love that my public library had this for me to read. it was so funny, not of a plot. but a good time.

[.•°•MonaLisa•°•. · Rating 5 out of 5]

☆ 5 stars ☆

Definition of ''ITS SO FLUFFY I COULD DIE''😻
Absolutely precious. A little bittersweet pining that gives way to such a gentle, pure relationship. Literal and figurative fluff. Kotetsu is the cutest thing in the entire universe.😭❤️

[Hayeley Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly what I wanted it to be and I love that.

[Rebecca Turk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giggling and kicking my feet this was so cuuuuuutteeeeeee 🥺🥺

[BL reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty short but with what it has in heart and loveliness is incomparable, it really is a 10/10. Story is fun and there is enough world building to want to get to know the side characters too. I’d really love another volume for this book, id like to get to know more of the characters more in depth.

[Katie Morriss · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Cute overall, but some parts felt rushed or just weren't well explained.

[Jon Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

justice for catboys

[Eponine821 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average

This book was about average. The premise is ridiculous, but if you suspend your disbelief, it’s tolerable. What I mean is, if you can get past the part where a cat spontaneously turned mostly human and can now speak and read human language and figure out how to use a smartphone….well, everything else is completely rational. ;p
The art is good, but not awesome. There were several panels where I struggled to understand what I was looking at.
The love story was shallow - which is to be expected for a single volume story - but it wasn’t terrible. There were plenty of instances of the characters expressing fascination for each other, it just felt really rushed.
I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that this is an early effort by the artist. Based on what I’m seeing here, I suspect they will improve with time. They obviously have skill and imagination.

[Ana Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought it on a whim in real life because finding good BL in manga stores where I live is astronomically hard (it's becoming easier, but still). Anyways, once I saw the cute cover, I had to grab it! Also, always support independent local stores if you can 💅😭 I'll become a broke bitch in the future for BL i swear ...

Moving on, I have to say the more I read it, the cuter it becomes 😭💗💗 Like, I bought it 2 months ago but decided to read it again, and it's like it became 100x cuter than the first time I read it?? Probably also because at the time I read it at the food court of a shopping mall ahahaha, not the best vibe but anyways...

The drawings are beautiful, so SO SO CUTE!! AND I DIED A LITTLE BIT EVERYTIME KOTETSU SMILED UGHHH HE'S IS SO FREAKING CUTE LIKE UGHHH
The ending panel with them in bed laughing is engraved in my mind, it's such a pretty drawing style 💗
The cover is also worth mentioning! The manga is staying on my nightstand as of now because I can't get over how cute the cover is lol lol🤭💗 Kotetsu is just too cute 😭💗

Storywise, it's just cute!! It's obviously rushed because it's a one-shot, but well done nonetheless. I die for half cat/half dog, half wtv the fuck there is type of trope - though I do love cats the most, and it delivered. Not earth-shattering, just a pretty simple and cute love story between 2 boys with beautiful art, that having a physical copy of only makes me treasure it more 😭💗 abhbasfajs

It's the second physical BL manga I bought, and I'm 24 💀 ahaha been a BL/Yaoi fan since I was 12 and only read stuff online as the majority of us fujoshis😭😭💀 so this is very special 💗 and at this point this is not really a review, but me telling my life story - lmaooo - and slobbering over BL as a die hard fujoshi, but whatever. Nothing beats this feeling 😭

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kotetsu was originally a cat when he suddenly found himself in half human form after wishing he could meet Okazaki, his crush who works at the pet store. Thanks to Okazaki's love of cats, he's able to finally exchange information with the promise of sending pictures of his cat.... except he is the cat. Luckily he can still communicate with other cats, so he's able to get pictures and offload some of his frustration. Even though he's now living as a human, Kotetsu definitely retains a lot of feline traits, most not nearly as obvious as his ears and tail. Lucky for him, he's just cute and awkward enough that even being a "scary black cat" isn't enough to drive away his crush. This is a really cute and funny story all in all as all of the characters are a little awkward in their own way, but also all seem to genuinely be good people, and conveniently also love cats.

[Meagan (FranticVampireReads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

............. 4.5 stars .............

Okay, this was so sweet that I almost got a toothache! I had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading it. I love that Kotetsu was just an ordinary cat until he saw how Okazaki was so sweet with the pets at the pet shop and made a wish to be human. I loved that they were both very obviously into each other but didn’t want to scare the other away. The adorable awkwardness was…well, adorable. The awkward first date and the slight misunderstandings, all of it was just so cute! I also really loved that Okazaki was so down bad for Kotetsu that he was completely unfazed by the cat ears and tail. Anyway! I loved this and it’s getting four and a half stars!

[suvi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one is on me, I know I don't like shape-shifting or half-human-half-animal stuff in the first place but I got excited when I saw this on the library shelf because any kind of queer manga is a quite rare sight around here so I forgot about that for a hot minute.

Stand-alone mangas also tend to be quite simple as there isn't really time to go in depth with anything as it is just one volume. Which I don't really mind that, sometimes it's nice to read a story that starts from the front cover and ends on the back one. But. I still feel like this was very surface level on their relationship and how they ended from point A (meeting for the first time) to point B (falling in love).

The art is cute so points for that! And I love cats.

[libraryofthecrypt · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*
Not sure how I feel about this version of a neko to be honest. There was quite a few moments where I got second hand embarrassment but I loved the little black cat illustrations. If this had been longer I probably would have enjoyed it more as it felt like it had moved too fast.

Feel very meh about this volume after sitting on it for a few days. It’s not very memorable and I don’t think it’s one I’d recommend. I was thinking I would give this either 2.5 or 3 stars after finishing this originally and nearly decided on 3 stars but with how unmemorable it was and me not liking this version of a neko I think 2.5 stars is okay maybe a little generous to be honest.

[Bee C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read with a simple story. Kotetsu is a half human half cat that falls in love with a pet store employee name Okazaki. They become friends and little by little Okazaki falls for Kotetsu. He sees Kotetsu’s ears and readily accepts what he sees. No explanations are given as to why Kotetsu became part human and the romance just takes off. It didn’t feel rushed but it also could have given more of a story than the one we got. All that aside I did find it cute.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure at first, but I like the pacing and abandon with which these two main characters collide. It’s the same kind uninhibited and quick attachment that a cat is inclined to form with someone. They don’t waste time questioning their feelings; they love without hesitation if they connect with and feel safe with that person, and I think that’s what this author did a nice job capturing.

[Halon W · Rating 4 out of 5]

wasn't looking for plot and didn't find any--just ridiculously cute cat dude trying his absolute best. gotta say, i adore how kotetsu's drawn in scenes where he's in the background and is just. a cat. it's absurdly delightful. would've gone 3 stars but he got an extra star just for being so damn cute

[Rebecca Whaley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute

Cute and weird and funny and spicy at the end. A cat who turns half human because he falls for a human. Its due and fun. It has some spicy scenes towards the end that are pretty hot. Other than that its a cute and sweet romance.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted a cutesey story about a half cat/human that falls in love with a cat lover. I also wanted undertones of pet/owner with some patting human/cat. I got all of these and it was great. Nothing else I could ask for honestly.

[LelandraTheLazyReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually complain about this but you don't need to have smut for the first romantic interaction, it kind of came out of nowhere and ruined the moment for me. like "oh cute their first kiss 🥰 . . and his penis is out 😅"

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO cute.

[Astoria (Jax) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute, slightly spicy and full of cats!
Not a whole lot of plot and somewhat insta-lovey but a little fun read to kick off my first manga of the New Year.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

Very, very sweet and fluffy. I was surprised there was smut. My soul would have been fine with domestic cuteness. Not a whole lot of story, but if you wanna be enveloped in wholesomeness.... 🥰

[Mella aka Maron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awww this was super cute! ☺️ Very wholesome and sweet with a bit of spice in it. A nice one volume story.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute!

[Jourdy · Rating 3 out of 5]

More for people who like something super non serious and fast paced. It was sweet, but I won’t be keeping it.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple and cute. A bit rushed, but it gets the job done. Just don't think too much about how this cat got settled in as a human in a snap lol.