The Fall 2024 Manga Guide

The Fox Witch's Pet Cat (18+)

What's It About? 

Mao was an adventurer who came to the East looking for a cure to the plague that spread through his home village. Now, he lives with the Fox Witch, a master of medicine. The young man has fallen in love with his savior, but he's afraid that she is only fond of him like a pet…

The Fox Witch's Pet Cat is produced by Momonigiri circle with art by Arie Suzu, and story and design by Kawashi, with English translation by Ashley D. This volume was lettered by Knight. Published by Irodori (September 23, 2024).

Content Warning: This manga is for 18+ readers only.

Is It Worth Reading?

If you like, or like to fancy yourself, a man who whimpers, this book is for you. Mao starts the morning with his magical Master straight jorkin' him awake, then spends the rest of his day stewing in his awkward uncertainty about the nature of their live-in libidinous arrangement. Is he attached to his Master because of the debt he owes her for saving his village? Can his love be reciprocated, or does she only see him as a housecat whom she occasionally jerks off? It can be an awkward, and awkwardly ordered, story setup before Mao finds himself in his Master's basement getting his kitty shaved and his prostate examined, which of course is the real reason readers are here.

As far as showcasing a submissive and breedable catboy getting topped by this magical dom-mommy, The Fox Witch's Pet Cat is very comfortable in its abilities. The tone of seeing this vulnerable little guy get corrupted by this powerful and terrifying woman is on-point, as the dialogue and especially Mao's expressions lean into the play and dynamics that audiences come to this genre for. Some of that dialogue does get a little overwrought—I chuckled probably more than I should have when Master presented her clit to Mao and dramatically declared it to be "the penis of a woman". It's all in the name of really pushing the hot'n'heaviness of the sex stuff happening here, which can come across as people doing role-play more than characters in a real situation. That could be a good or bad thing depending on how you like to interpret this kind of material.

That sense of set dressing extends to all the surrounding elements of the book though, which did take me out of The Fox Witch's Pet Cat a bit. The Master's hidden, magical fox tail doesn't need to be fully explained, but the writing doesn't do anything with her magical elements otherwise. Ditto the jiangshi wandering around that Mao has an encounter with once before being completely forgotten about. The story's short doujin status means there's nowhere to explore these setting elements, leaving them barely flavoring what is otherwise a fair femdom story. But maybe that's all you'll want from your time with this manga.

The Master servant dynamic is one that I've always enjoyed in my porn as long as all parties are consenting and know exactly what they are getting themselves into. I was originally a bit worried about the setup because we've seen this in numerous stories before. We have the sexy witch character and a young apprentice or underlying character that she sees no more than as a pet. It's a very short one and there are only about two sex scenes in the whole book, but the way they were handled was very well done due to how emotionally driven they were.

Mao has every reason to be affectionate towards his new master because of what she did for him and how she treats him. She constantly checks in with him during their sessions and some of them can get intense. You never feel like things are being done out of a sense of cruelty. There is this line about lonely people giving themselves to others during moments of vulnerability and I feel that. In sexual scenes like this, I feel like it's when those moments are communicated that elevate this type of adult content into something that isn't strictly there for titillation. Don't get me wrong, the book is titillating, especially if you're into the Mommy-Dom and twink sub dynamic. But I like how after the smoke clears, this was just a story of two lonely people admitting they didn't want to feel lonely anymore. Adult media doesn't always need to have a message or emotion at the end of it, but man is it nice when it does.