Itou Junji no Neko Nikki: Yon & Muu
Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon & Mu

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This is the first review I've done so I'm sorry if it isn't longer than other reviews on this website. As I write reviews, I'll make them longer each time.

Ito Junji no Neko Nikki: Yon & Mu is the first-ever manga I've read by Junji Ito. I enjoy his art style since you don't typically see that kind of style in other mangaka's works. I also enjoyed the story of having to deal with cats on an everyday basis since I own two cats myself.

For the characters, I'm gonna review the humans and then the cats. The humans, J-kun and A-ko, were fun to ... watch as they dealt with their two cats. I can't really relate to J-kun since he is just learning how to deal with cats but I've had cats ever since I was a baby. I definitely relate to A-ko better though since she already knows how to deal with cats. Now for the cats, Yon and Mu. Yon was way more creepier than Mu and I can see why J-kun was scared of him at first. On the other side, Mu was much more cuter. Mu also reminds me of one of my cats named Honey but Honey is vastly different from Mu since she is always angry, except for when she has just woken up.

My emotions throughout the manga varied a ton of times from being happy to being sad. I did cry like 2 times during it as well

Overall, I really enjoyed this manga and I want to read some of Junji Ito's other works. If you have some spare time to read a quick manga I recommend reading this one.

How can cats be so terrifying?
Because Junji Ito!
The Master of Horror made a manga about super cute creatures, so he had to make them evil and scary.

There is not much of a story, the whole thing is a slice of life, about Ito moving in with his wife Ako and her cats, Muu and Yon, whose name can be read like “Death” and who has a skull shaped spot. That’s enough for Ito to decide that the cat is not only evil and malevolent, but also out to get him! So it begins a story of horror and tension between the Master of Horror ... himself and the two cute (actually all but cute, in his art) felines, which hasn’t got that many interesting plot points, even though the premise is fine, the story is nothing special, 5/10.

Speaking of art, though, it’s a very different matter, and I’m surely not the one who has discovered that Ito’s unique style is great, even though, for how much I could ever love it, there’s no denying that drawing cute things made scary with it, lets it down a little bit. The cats lose a lot (if not all) their cuteness and become really unsettling at times, but some other times they are not really scary enough to sell the scene well (Mu in particolar, who looks really fluffy). Nevertheless, the art style does miracle on the cats, and also on Ako, who is drawn with blank white eyes and is REALLY creepy, almost everytime she is present. Even though is does a great job at it, monsters and body horror, certainly suit it best, 9/10.

Human characters are fine, nothing spectacular, nothing terrible, they are stereotypes of Ito and Ako’s personality, but the great characterization of the cats bumps it from total mediocrity: they truly are the main characters of the story and it feels like it, they are perfectly normal cats who happen to be evil and inconspicuous (just like normal cats) and never feel fake, it’s just very evident that they are a bit exaggerated by Ito’s iagination (both at the time and when writing), 7/10.

In the end, I found it really enjoyable, even though it isn’t Ito’s regular work, it’s light hearted and funny, and the horror is twisted in an unusual (but often very nice) comedic way, without letting you forget how Ito earned his nickname. The book is also very short, both in chapter length and in chapter amount, so it’s very light and relaxing to read (if only it wasn’t 12€ for only 120 pages…).
The little inserts in between chapters (little Q&A that was published along with the chapters in the original release, with some very funny scenes and facts) also add to the score.
Keeping the price out of the equation, it’s very enjoyable, 8/10.

Overall, a deserved 7/10, it’s not incredible, but it’s something different that any Junji Ito fan should read and could enjoy

Today, we’re looking at his cat diary that he wrote when he and his wife first got married. In the manga, he dubbed over their names and called them like J-san, A-ko, Yon, Muu, etc. It actually hardly matters because the focus on the story on how he’s trying to cope living with cats, since he’s a dog person.

What makes this pretty funny is that he’s telling a non-horror story using his signature horror style. It kinda makes things creepier than he intended but once you’re stuck in a style, it’s hard to get out of it.

There are a lot of moments where we can ... relate to – trying to get the cat’s affections, when cats do weird things, when cats run away. The cats themselves definitely have their own personalities and honestly, I think Junji wasn’t entirely serious on doing this manga in the first place. It says what it is right on the tin: a cat diary.

He learns things that people like him would learn about cats and how people are with them. I don’t have much to say about it because it’s really cute and it’s really funny. Within the manga, there’s also some questions some fans would ask him and he’d earnestly answers them!

If you’re a cat fan, you’ll relate to this manga. If you’re a Junji Ito fan, then this is a funny piece of trivia to have in your arsenal. It’s a nice and light read to kill some time but I wouldn’t really want to pick it up over and over again unless I can truly relate to the antics (which I probably won’t since I have cat allergies).