(no subject)

[skygiants]

When izilen visited this summer, she left me a bunch of digital scans of Cat Street, so that became my Kindle manga test case! (Conclusion: great for being able to devour a ton of manga at once, terrible when it freezes up my Kindle.)

Cat Street focuses on Aoyama Keito, a former child star who got All About Eve'd by another child star and froze up on stage. Fast-forward ten years and Keito is a recluse who refuses to attend school, has no hobbies, and dislikes everything and everyone (especially herself.)



Then she gets introduced to a School for Socially Awkward Weirdos, and, for lack of anything else to do with her time, she starts going. Eventually she becomes friends with three other "stray cats": Rei, a soccer prodigy who bombed out due to being an asshole to his teammates; Momiji, a gothic lolita who dreams of starting her own fashion line; and Kouichi, a genius computer programmer who is even less interested in people than Keito is.



So the plot begins with Keito re-entering the world and learning how to interact with people, and then it becomes about Keito finding herself again without basing her identity on other people, and finally it's about Keito and her friends re-building their relationships based on their growth as people.



Which is a character arc I very much appreciate; becoming a whole person is a long and complicated and ongoing process, and it's never too late to start. I love that.

(I also really like the stuff about Keito's career as an actress because I have a huge weakness for behind-the-scenes stories about performance and meta about acting, see also Skip Beat!)

I also like how the eventual romance goes, for a couple of reasons

- the guy who spends a lot of time worrying about how to protect Keito and getting jealous about the time she spends with other guys and shouting at her for taking risks turns out to be the decoy love interest
- the actual slow-build love interest, on the other hand, repeatedly shows that he trusts Keito to handle situations by herself, explicitly states that who she decides to spends time with - romantically or otherwise - is totally her decision, and supports her in her life choices, offering assistance when requested

How often do we see that shown in a shoujo manga? I LOVE IT.

I also really appreciate the examination of the too-common phenomenon "I'm gonna date this guy because he's my friend and he likes me and, like, I guess I might like him, and if I say no it'll ruin our friendship," because have I ever been there.

So basically it's adorable, and my only complaint is that Momoko -- the one other girl in the group of four -- doesn't get anywhere near as much focus as the rest of the kids; her friendship with Keito is great, but there's clearly less time spent on its development than on Keito's relationships with the guys, and she doesn't get as much of a serious plot and character journey of her own, either.

(But I do really love the development of Keito's relationship with her former child-actress-bff-turned-life-ruiner-turned-sort-of-friend-again. SHE'S AWFUL AND I LOVE HER.)

Comments

[inkstone]

This sounds great! ::puts on her list::

[skygiants]

It's really lovely! Also nice and short and complete at eight volumes.

[izilen]

I am as always super pleased when you follow up on my recs and GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS. We have already discussed them but I definitely agree with your on your assessment of how unfortunate it is that it doesn't focus so much on Momiji as a person and on Momiji's relationship with Keito.

I REALLY ENJOY your succinct synthesis of the plot. Possibly because it is so close to me, I have never thought about Cat Street in terms of its structure, and...IT'S A REALLY NICE STRUCTURE.

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[skygiants]

I always follow up on your recs eventually! I have not yet been steered wrong. :D

And yeah, I love the structure! Especially because I wasn't expecting it; I was sort of figuring it would be friendship-school-story all the way through, so the turn it took was something of a surprise - a surprise that I appreciated, since it makes it a much more truthful and complex story, I think. (Haha I am glad you thought the synthesis was accurate, it's hard to summarize in one paragraph!)

[dimestore_romeo]

I think I remember taking a lazy try at this a few years ago, but you've convinced me! I shall start reading it again.

[dimestore_romeo]

Ah! The more I read the more I remember how much I loved it! I must have forgotten about it because I lost so much manga when my computer died on me. <3

[skygiants]

Oh, yay, I'm glad this post could bring it back to you then! :D