Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

This is an adorable manga, in which you can read Chi's thoughts, and read what her new family is saying, but they can't understand Chi.  Usually this doesn't work for me, not when you're getting both of them at the same time, but one can't understand another.   Usually it feels gimmicky and like a cheap trick. 

Then again, authors don't usually use it to this effect, in which the tension between what Chi wants and what the family are saying is so cleverly used to create some of the cutest bits of hilarity ever. 

See, Chi is lost, and gets picked up by a new family that lives in an animal free zone.   They have to hide her while they try to find a new home for her, but also quickly fall in love with her.   On the other hand, Chi remembers her mother licking her, her previous family and has trouble adjusting at the beginning, continually asking to be let out, focusing solely on finding her mommy.   Of course, the human family can't understand: they believe Chi is an abandoned kitten and simply want to keep her safe.

It's usually not down in a manga that draws you into both Chi and his new family, doesn't have such rich characters.   Chi is a kitten and she 'speaks' in baby talk and it's rather endearing, if only because Chi is so sweet.   Yes, she gets upset and will sulk, but in general she does things that the family gets upset at without realizing why they're angry with her.   (And that inability to understand their frustration is shown from Chi's side; she wonders, and worries, if something will make people mad at her.   She understands that the family /is/ mad at her, but not why.)

But the cutest bit has to be when her new daddy takes her to the vet, and she gets scared of him.  The way he tries to win back her trust is just the cutest thing I've ever seen and when he does?  I had to laugh at how much he put up for Chi.   Poor daddy!   But at least Chi loved him again, and that's all he'd really wanted. 

And the art style is simplistic, but gorgeous and lush for all that.   I've come to really appreciate a light touch in art; Chi's Sweet Home didn't need anything more than what it had to offer.   Simplistic art, but it was in the spirit of the rather simple storylines, bolstered by the full characters and complexities that can be teased out of this: it's about vying desires, about found family, about how strongly you can bond to a kitten like Chi without being able to directly communicate with them, about family life in general.   Too much complexity in the art would have bogged this down and stolen that sense of a family trying to simply live and live simply.   This is a manga full of light, and lightness, and the art gets that across perfectly.   

I needed a cute read.  I was shocked after waking up multiple times last night (so tired today) that I had gotten sixty or so pages in.   This is lighthearted fun that really goes by far too quickly, but it really bolstered my spirits right now.