Cat + Crazy Volume 1

ねこったけ! / Nekottake! #1

by Wataru Nadatani

From Wataru Nadatani, the creator of Cat + Gamer, comes Cat + Crazy, a humorous cat manga for all animal and cat lovers!

When cat fanatic and high schooler Kensuke Fuji meets the Ultimate Cat Whisperer, he decides to become their disciple to learn everything about cats!

High schooler Kensuke Fuji adores cats, but others in his family are allergic, so he’s never really been able to spend time with any. When he meets a mysteriously skilled cat guru—who seems to be able to understand everything about cats—Kensuke finds a kindred spirit who is also “absolutely kitty bonkers,” so he decides to study under this Ultimate Cat Whisperer! Come along with Kensuke and learn the secrets of the Cat Fist Way!

A silly but sincere look at humans who adore cats—and seek to learn more about these mysterious creatures—Cat + Crazy is another impressive series from Harvey Award nominated manga creator Wataru Nadatani (Cat + Gamer)!

Genres: Manga, Animals, Graphic Novels, Cats, Young Adult, Humor, Contemporary

Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 2016

About the author

Name (in native Japanese): 灘谷航

Reviews

[DianaRose · Rating 5 out of 5]

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!!

this new series is just as fantastic as the cat + gamer series — full of adorable cats and the people who are absolutely crazy for them!

i really just love the way the mangaka draws cats in such a balance of realism and cartoon!

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wataru Nadatani’s previous manga, Cat + Gamer, was a very fun look at the joys and foibles of pet ownership viewed through the lens of a hardcore gamer with a sometimes questionable grip on reality.

This is so very not that, to such an extent that I was struggling to believe it was from the same writer. The art style kind of gives it away, but what worked the first time does not work this time around.

Oh, the cat parts are super cute. Honestly, this would work better if Nadatani eschewed plot completely and just went with a full-on artbook dedicated to various species and poses of cats. I would absolutely read that.

This commits the mistake of trying to be hilarious with an absurdist slant that is roughly as effective as carving a turkey while submerged in the Bering Strait. Which is to say, it is neither sensical nor achievable.

Cat loving Fuji cannot have one of his own, so he stalks all the strays in the neighbourhood and learns their patterns and behaviours. Koharu, who is actually our lead, cannot figure him out. She thinks he’s a stalker and she’s not entirely wrong.

The story makes a massive misstep by not sticking with these two. Fuji is more than extra enough to push the boundaries of a series’ reality. Cute rom-com with cats? Let’s go! Then the cat whisperer guy shows up.

Fuji’s new guru, Jin, would be a lot in any story and what I hoped was just a silly cameo soon became the focal point of the whole thing. He acts like something out of Dragon Ball and his cat style martial art is cute once and then offers nothing.

The overall plot of Fuji being sucked into this lunatic’s wake while Koharu becomes fond of him and learns to love cats is… not awful. But it dies in the execution, which tries to mix realism and sincerity with a story where somebody uses a toebean based kick attack.

There’s also a truly annoying habit of the story calling Jin ‘Maestro’, which feels like a very awkward mistranslation of the term ‘Master’. Especially when the manga uses the term ‘Maestro-student’ relationship. Even if it isn’t mistranslated, it’s inelegant any way you slice it.

From styling crow feathers to sitting on rooftops, this quickly leaches most of its charm in pursuit of the notion of being ‘wacky’. Well, it’s wacky, sure, but that doesn’t truly translate into good.

Look, I like wild nonsense in my manga. I happily devoured numerous volumes of Marriage Toxin, read Blue Lock into the double digits, and the completely deranged Can’t Stop Cursing You is one of my favourite series ever. This one isn’t even close, probably because it is far too self-aware for its own good.

You may very well enjoy this if you are super into cats and just want more - I did like some of the parts when the kitten shows up, plus Fuji’s family has potential that, admittedly, quietly gets wasted. For me, well, I live with two cats and have owned at least one for over twenty years and this just made me appreciate mine more because very little of this reminded me of them.

2.5 stars - if you like the sound of this, round it up and enjoy. I just couldn’t get into this at all. I felt the last series got out just in time, but now the role is reversed as I’ll be getting out just in time because I have no desire to read a second volume.

[Victor The Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the creator of “Cat+Gamer”, we follow high schooler Koharu who catches fellow student Kensuke watching stray cats that includes one he remembers when he was younger. Usually more closed off at school, Kensuke turns out to really love cats and watches strays because his mother and older twin sisters are severely allergic to them but he surprisingly gets guidance from buff cat expert Neko-Yajin to fully connect with them through body and mind. Koharu will see Kensuke doing whatever it takes to connect with cats and maybe find a true companion while getting in some funny and furry moments.

Like his other series, “C+C” is another funny and interesting cat story that’s also pretty informative. It’s very relatable as well as some of us must have or want to have a pet. The story is full of funny moments while having some heartwarming one too. For now, it really does look like Kensuke has a big chance at getting his wish thanks to his cat trainer and friend by his side. A- (91%/Excellent)

[Mersi · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! So silly and the most adorable thing! This is what it's like to be a cat parent.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love cats. So when I saw this, I knew I had to read it. It’s ridiculously fun and entertaining. Cute beyond words. Can hardly wait for volume 2.

[:¨·.·¨: `·. izzy ★°*ﾟ · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I sadly just couldn’t get into this. It was quite bizarre and the plot style and art style were so different to cat + gamer.

Just not for me.

[Laura Cns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Très bon début et un univers qui me correspond totalement ! Je ne vais pas décrocher !

[Tara Cignarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this almost as much as the first book of Cat + Gamer

[Clodjee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ce manga nous offre un bon récit avec un graphisme plutôt traditionnel qui suit le style shônen mais avec des touches plus charmantes et détaillées dans ce qui a trait aux chats. Ce manga est donc une agréable et amusante lecture, qui se lit vite et bien (d’autant plus que c’est une courte série de seulement six volumes), en plus d’être un peu éducatif. Un bon manga à lire pour se dé-stresser en temps d’apocalypse viral!

Voir mon commentaire complet sur https://clodjee-blog.com/2020/04/03/f...

[Myriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je me suis beaucoup reconnue dans le personnage principal, frustré de ne pas pouvoir avoir de chat chez lui, et qui épie donc les matous de son quartier dans leur environnement naturel.
C'est mignon, mais les dessins et le côté "shonen" de l'histoire avec l'entraîneur qui le coache m'a un peu ennuyée.
Une lecture sympa mais sans plus, je ne lirai pas la suite.

[Brenda Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was obsessed with Cat + Gamer, so I didn’t hesitate to start this new manga. I’m so happy it lived up to my expectations, and then some. I am so invested and my heart feels full :,)

[Olivia H · Rating 5 out of 5]

totally different from cat + gamer but this genuinely had me cracking up, this is what i imagine my mom does with her free time

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cat + Gamer by this mangaka is definitely one of my faves. It's cats plus nerds and if that's you, then you get all the in-jokes and it is both relatable and laugh-out-loud funny! But Cat + Crazy is quite a different thing. I did laugh out loud a few times still, because the cat behavior is so relatable and funny, but the human characters are just frankly bizarre. There are two high school kids: one is so hyperfixated on cats that he keeps a notebook to sketch and catalogue all the neighborhood strays, notating everything from their appearance to their habits, to the exclusion of keeping up with his actual school work; the other is a girl who is actually a dog person, but she becomes hyperfixated on this weird classmate of hers who is obsessed with cats! Cute enough, but then this "superhero" dude shows up and he is SO into cats that he has invented his own martial arts based on cat movements, and he seems to have an uncanny ability to communicate with felines to the point where they can converse and the cats follow his commands, which is just plain silly. The Cat Whisperer takes the high school boy under his wing to teach him the way of cats, and the teenage girl tags along by proxy. And that's the plot.

This manga is available on Hoopla so I'm going to read it for free, but I don't think I would buy it to reread. If it were just the teens, I think it would be fine. The superhero guy is way over the top and I'm not terribly amused by him, and this book is nowhere near so relatable as Cat + Gamer because the humans are just so atypical. But it was still a pretty good time.

[Cassandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love this author's other series which are very short stories about how a gamer relates her gaming ways to cat ownership. I am not a gamer but I found it so cute and I loved it. But this series.... I was excited when I saw that it was more traditional in the manga style (4 chapters in a volume and it seemed to have a real continuing story line) but the plot is chaos and it wasn't enjoyable. We have a young boy who loves the stray cats in his neighborhood but can't have a cat cause his family is allergic. His school mate (kind of the main character), sees his behavior as over the top and strange. Which is all fine but then there is also an Adult male who is teaching the young boy a cat type of karate. The MC (I think), has no point. She is just there and doesn't really have plot around her nor does she help move the story along. She is kind of just a narrator in a way about the young boy but that means that we are less in his head to make all this seem less crazy.

My library has the second one on order already, I think I might try that one and decide from there if I want to continue.

[Dustyloup · Rating 2 out of 5]

read in 🇫🇷 👇🏻 2.25+
Cat Gamer was so much better in terms of narrative arc. this one is kind of bonkers and would please fans of manga like One Piece with its focus on mastering the way of the cat.
Anyway, I only have myself to blame bc my son warned me that it was weird (he stopped reading after ch one)
Quelle déception après avoir lu La Gameuse et son chat ! mieux adapté aux lecteurs de One Piece que des seinen et/ou josei.
C'est ma faute car mon fils m'a prévenu que c'était pas comme l'autre avec des batailles etc. mais j'avais besoin de l'expérimenter moi même 🤣

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

so cute please let me pet all the kitties

[jude · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is very silly

[kristyn ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's okay, fuji and nekoya are just autistic

[Babs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good silly cat fun.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So light and fluffy and silly (in a good way)! It makes me want to start a cat observation journal.

[Mac]

so silly, but heartwarming

[Susanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The journey to become a cat-whisperer is a long one--but it's full of feline fun."

On the outset, this looked to be a fairly typical manga about deep enthusiasm, cats in this case. But by the end of first chapter, it had taken a turn to absurd and stayed there.

Kensuke Fuji, a high school boy, loves cats more than anything. To his upset, his mother and sisters are all allergic and he can't have a cat. So he spends all his spare time observing and photographing stray cats in his neighbourhood. One morning, his classmate, Koharu Yamada, sees him in action and thinks he's a peeping tom. His explanation doesn't make much sense to her, but his enthusiasm manages to draw her in.

The turn to absurd comes when the pair meets Jin Nekoya, a self-proclaimed cat-whisperer who has created the cat's way martial arts for the sole purpose of learning to understand cats. Fuji is instantly sold and begs for Nekoya to take him as a disciple. The volume follows Fuji, through Yamada's eyes, on his path to become a cat-whisperer, which contains anything from exercising to bonding with a wild kitten. It doesn't go entirely smoothly, but Fuji's enthusiasm never wavers.

This was a fun volume, but not necessary something I'd be compelled to read more. The author seems to know a lot about cats. Art was good.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Katell BOUALI · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je n'avais pas lu de manga depuis une éternité, le challenge « Un mois au Japon » m'a donné l'occasion de regarder de plus près les rayons « mangas » jeunesse de ma médiathèque et mon œil a été attiré par un titre « Félin pour l’autre ». Un manga sur les chats ! Ni une ni deux, les trois premiers volumes ont atterri dans la besace de Chatperlipopette.

Le synopsis :
« Kensuke Fuji est un amoureux inconditionnel des chats, cet amour n'est cependant pas réciproque, les chats ayant tendance à le fuir comme la peste. Il fait un jour la rencontre de Jin Nekoya, un « maître-chat » prêt à lui enseigner ses techniques secrètes pour se faire aimer des félins. »

Le premier tome nous familiarise avec le jeune héros, Kensuke Fuji, lycéen souvent dans la lune. Il adore les chats sans pouvoir en avoir un chez lui car ses sœurs sont allergiques au poil de chat. Fuji en est réduit à observer les chats des rues sans pouvoir les approcher pour les caresser. Notre jeune homme voudrait bien câliner les chats mais ne parvient pas à leur plaire ce qui le frustre d’autant plus. Il s’est attaché à une jeune chatte de gouttière qu’il a appelée Tamako. Un jour, elle disparaît, Kensuke part à sa recherche en compagnie d’une camarade de classe, Koharu Yamada.
Ils tombent sur un homme étrange, Jin Nekoya (en japonais, neko signifie chat) qui se présente comme un « Maître-chat ». Il étonne nos deux lycéens par sa connaissance aiguë des félins et sa facilité à dialoguer avec eux. Il n’en faut pas plus pour que Kensuke lui demande de devenir son disciple au grand dam de son amie Koharu.
Commence alors l’initiation de notre héros qui acceptera les défis les plus incroyables pour apprendre la Voie des Chats. Le tout sous le regard interloqué teinté de bienveillance de Koharu qui est un peu la « voix » de la raison.
Koharu est le personnage d’emblée méfiant : elle a envie de ne pas se laisser embarquer dans les aventures de Kensuke tout en ne souhaitant pas le laisser seul, persuadée qu’il a l’art de se fourrer dans les pires ennuis. Elle trouve Jin Nekoya très louche, elle ne lui fait pas confiance car les deux lycéens ne savent rien de lui.
Un des premiers défi que devra relever Kensuke sera celui de faire bouger un gros matou de gouttière, Yatarô. Bien entendu, le défi sera réussi sous le regard halluciné de Koharu qui n’en revient pas du caractère fantasque des amoureux des chats.
Le manga a la particularité de montrer les êtres humains dessinés à la manière des dessins animés japonais alors que les chats sont dessinés de manière très réaliste.
Autre élément intéressant à souligner, l’auteur utilise, en les détournant, les codes du shonen nekketsu, c’est-à-dire l’apprentissage, l’entraînement, les épreuves, le dépassement de soi, la force de l’espoir et l’amitié, pour amener un discours pédagogique quant aux relations à instaurer entre humains et chats. Kensuke a rempli de nombreux cahiers d’observation des chats de gouttière pour tenter de comprendre leur fonctionnement et parvenir à s’en approcher, d’abord sans succès puis avec réussite quand son Maître lui donne quelques éléments de compréhension.
Au fil des défis du jeune héros, le lecteur apprend de nombreuses choses sur le comportement des chats, les gestes à faire ou ne pas faire, et ce pour son plus grand plaisir même s’il connaît, ou croit connaître, les chats.
Le début du parcours de Kensuke peut commencer : le Maître-chat lui offre un chaton, Tora, à éduquer. La suite ne pourra qu’être croustillante.

[Daniel Shellenbarger · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the author of Cat + Gamer, Cat + Crazy is about Kensuke Fuji, a boy whose sisters and mom are deathly allergic to cats but he's always wanted a cat and he spends his free time stalking the town strays trying to make friends with them. Eventually he has a run-in with a self-proclaimed cat whisperer and Kensuke begs to become the man's disciple as he wishes to understand cats so he can play with them. Cat + Crazy is simultaneously a bit more dramatic than Cat + Gamer and a lot more nuts. The story strangely feels more like a shonen action series than a slice of life comedy what with the whole master-apprentice element and Kensuke facing a series of challenges. I wasn't entirely sold on that as it seemed a bit weird given the mostly realistic setting. I'm also not sure about the more dramatic tone as I'm very... picky about animal stories, as I absolutely hate dead pet stories as I like stories which entertain me not make me feel melancholy. Not saying the book is headed that way, but because it has a more dramatic tone than Cat + Gamer, I wouldn't be too surprised if it did. Another element which I can't really decide if it works or not is the third main character, Koharu, Kensuke's classmate, who is not a cat lover but finds Kensuke interesting and serves as the more grounded perspective as she tries to decide if Kensuke's cat-craziness is a good thing or not. All in all, not a bad first volume, just not sold on the series.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess Nadatani ran out of gamer ideas? Or heard my friend asking me if the gamer cat book was good for younger readers* and made a "younger" version.

This is still not really my friend's target audience (still late elementary to middle school-ish at the moment) but is at least about school-age students... and one rather weird ailurophile. Nekoya reminds me of Kunagi but not in a cat-pandemic (nyan-demic!): cat-themed martial artist with encyclopedic knowledge of cats! A fun read for any diehard cat lover!

*not really—it's not INappropriate for younger readers, but it's too "adult" in that it deals primarily with having a job... and a cat

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yamada has noticed a boy in her class, named Kensuki Fuji, acting very suspiciously on the walk to and from school, so she decides to confront him... only to realize he's been "stalking" cats! As she gets to know him, she finds out that he loves cats but hasn't gotten to be around them much because most of his family are badly allergic to cats. Then they meet "The Cat Sage", a guy who understands cats so well it seems he can communicate with them! Kensuki begs to become his disciple and after Kensuki completes a task to show he's in earnest, the Cat Sage agrees, giving Kensuki a new challenge: a kitten that is completely his responsibility (though it will live with the Cat Sage to not kill Kensuki's family).

Imagine a martial arts movie mashed with a cat lover comedy and you pretty much have this book. I enjoyed it, but I've grown up with cats since I was 2 years old, so a lot of the dramatic reveals on body language/vocal tones/preferences, etc. are obvious to me, which meant I had it figured out waaaaaaay before Kensuki. I'll still get the next volume, if for no other reason to enjoy the beautiful, detailed cat drawings!

No content issues that I remember; some cat peril, but it is handled.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to believe that this is created by the same person who did Cat + Gamer. This is just so over the top compared to Nadatani's previous work, even though Cat + Gamer is kind of a silly book. It starts off ok, with a relatively normal high school student discovering that her classmate is super obsessed with the stray cats in the neighborhood. And then this bizarre character with a haircut straight out of a 90s RPG parachutes in and the entire thing takes a turn for the absurd. His weird "training" regimen for the cat obsessed Kensuke is just so silly that it almost entirely ruined the book for me. Fortunately, the art on the cats is still really good, and the cats themselves behave basically like real cats. The insights about cat behavior are pretty accurate, enough that I can see this book helping a young cat owner relate to their new pet. I just wish the packaging weren't so deeply uninteresting to me. It's also unnecessary. Kensuke and his classmate could carry this book by themselves easily enough.

[Alisha (booksmellz) · Rating 4 out of 5]

High schooler Kensuke Fuji adores cats, but has only ever watched the street cats from afar since his family members are all allergic. But then he meets —-, the ultimate cat whisperer guru. He proves himself worthy of being his student to be taught under the Cat Fist Way.

This is a rather cute, but silly look at the love people have for cats.

It did take me a moment to get into this because I thought it was going to be a bit “too silly”, but I turned out to love it and am excited for my new obsession from this mangaka. Speaking of the mangaka, I still adore how they are able to draw the cats in both realism and cartoonish at the same time.

Overall, another cute manga that all cat lovers are bound to adore and ultimately relate to as well.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The path of cats is not walked in a day.”

So, I LOVE this already.

Which, isn’t surprising. If you know anything about me, you know I love cats. Cat manga—especially—has a special place in my heart.

When I saw this author had another cat manga series out, I jumped for it.

In this series, we are going to follow high schooler and avid cat lover Kensuke as he studies under the Ultimate Cat Whisperer, working hard to uncover the many secrets and mysteries of feline kind.

This is SO my jam.

To me, cat manga occupies a particular niche in the slice-of-life genre that allows for both heartwarming moments and thoughtful reflections on what most gives life meaning.

I’m very excited to go on this journey of self-discovery with Kensuke and his merry band of cats and cat-lovers~

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5

I wanted to love this series as much as I have loved the cat + gamer series, but the concept ended up being too weird for me. I loved the cat and gaming aspect of the other series, but the stray cat obsession and martial arts is just not working for me. I’m sure that if you are looking for a cat whisperer type of premise, where the main character is obsessed with stray cats but unable to own a cat, this could be your type of story. The main character finds a “teacher” to teach him how to become a cat whisperer. The training method is not strange, but I just did not care for the execution of it.

I’ll just be happy for those that find a love for this series as it would be a great series for the right people.