The Fall 2024 Manga Guide

Nukozuke!

What's It About? 

A pocket-sized cat-human: have you met a Nuko? In a world where these curious creatures evolved from ordinary cats, part-timer Yuya finds two abandoned nukos on the side of the road and brings them home out of the rain. Kei needs his ducks to be in a row, while Sasame charms everyone she meets. Yuya's got the cooking and sewing skills to take care of these adorable new housemates, but when he's the one falling asleep in any warm spot of sunlight, who's really taking care of who?! Kick back and let this human, his nukos, and their ameowsing life warm your heart!

Nukozuke! has a story and art by Yugi Iro, with English translation by Laura Egan. Published by One Peace Books (September 24, 2024).

Is It Worth Reading?

If My Boyfriend is a Dog feels like it's for people who want to have a romantic relationship with their pup, Nukozuke! gives the impression of being for people who want to talk to their cat. Needless to say, I'm more than okay with this, as someone who currently lives with six cats (and a dog), there's a lot of appeal in the idea. And Yugi Iro manages to capture a lot of the quirks of sharing your life with felines – Kei's attempts to be standoffish are pitch-perfect examples of how some kitties are determined to act as indifferent as possible, only to be unable to help themselves when a wand toy is brought out, while both nukos adoration for the person who rescued them is nicely tempered with the fact that they are still cats, and therefore unwilling to show that love all the time. Other elements of the story, such as the off-hand way it comments on the nukos parenting their hopeless human, are also familiar and conjure up memories of cats who have decided that their humans are unable to take care of themselves and take it upon themselves to help.

The problem is that this book is almost too adorable. Kei and Sasame are precious, Yuya is a delightful picture of a doting cat dad, but there just isn't enough plot to make this feel like one hundred sixty-odd pages worth of story. It's not repetitive in the sense that the same things keep happening, but it is repetitive in that nothing really changes, and you can only get so much mileage out of things like “feeding cats” or “snuggling with cats,” even when those cats are teeny humans with cat ears and tails. It's cute, but it lacks the staying power and emotional drive of something like A Man and His Cat, the ultimate cat manga in my opinion.

The best way to read this book is probably two short chapters at a time, preferably spread out over a lot of days. It's sweet and charming, but that'll only get you so far. The idea of having cats who can use a toilet rather than a litterbox and can talk to you in more than meows is endlessly appealing, the execution just isn't there. I feel horrible and mean writing this, but that's where we are: Nukozuke! is nice, but it probably did better in its web and magazine serializations than it does collected into a volume.

Truly, the one thing that brings everyone around the world together is our shared love for our pets. The squishy paws, the floofy tails, the way these little devils completely dominate every aspect of your life. Nukozuke!'s big twist is that our protagonist Yuya doesn't just adopt a pair of cats; he adopts a pair of “nuko”, cats who have evolved to be more human-like. Kei and Sasame can talk and look like tiny ambulatory Nendoroids with cat ears, while also doing amusing cat things like chilling out in tight spaces or poofing out their tails when they're scared. So Nukozuke! has all the best parts of a “pet” manga combined with a childrearing manga!

The chapters are bite-sized, each with a fun little adventure in Yuya's daily life, from his weird sleeping habits and his pets having to wake him up to Yuya spoiling them rotten with his tasty meals and homemade toys. The pronounced personalities make the stories fun, from Kei's suspicious nature around other people (he'd been given up for adoption by previous owners) to Sasame being the hapless little sister. It's a cozy slice-of-life series that doesn't get too saccharine with the cat jokes—although the chapters are called “chat-purrs”, as in “chat” (the French word for “cat”) and “purr”. It's a great read for adults, but also a phenomenal book for someone looking to give their kids a manga to try out. Strongly recommended.