This was an insanely busy week. I drove home from Missouri, found a cat, put it in a humane society, bought all my Christmas gifts, had Christmas, got the cat after it's owners weren't found, and took 12 inches off my hair. Thankfully, I am here to provide you with all my wit and opinions in this week's installment of TMHC.
Title: Baron: The Cat Returns
Author/Artist: Aoi Hiiragi
Where to find it: It's available in English from Viz Media in the Studio Ghibli Library.
Categories: Shojo, adventure
Summery: When awkward schoolgirl Haru rescues a cat on her way home from school one day, the last thing she expects in return is to be honored by a feline royal family! Before she knows what's happening to her, Haru is drawn into a world inhabited entirely by talking cats and recruited to be the next Cat Princess! Only the dapper cat Baron and his friends, a magical crow and a comical fat cat (Muta), along with a friend from Haru's past, can help her return home.
Related: The Cat Returns (Movie from Studio Ghibli), Whisper Of The Heart (Using The Baron, but no other characters, also a movie from Ghibli)
Review: Wow! This is an altogether great manga! Lovable characters, wonderful story, appealing art, this is a fun and fast paced item, great for any collection. It begins with Haru, a klutzy, cute, love struck high school girl. And, of course, the day isn't going her way. First she was late, almost got run over by a bike, got laughed at during the morning assembly, and accidentally dropped an eraser on her crush's head. And what was the incident that would top off this unfortunate chain of events? Walking home with her friend she saved a cat, breaking her friends lacrosse stick in the process. Plenty of material to allow the story to progress with all within the span of the first ten pages. And guess what? The cat talks! Let the race begin. Now, we have a confused Haru, a miffed friend, and a lost talking cat. Haru passes off the occurrence as shock, and goes home to her eccentric mother working on a quilt. Now, let me stop here. Haru is adorable. She is normal, but not overly normal, not completely ditzy, and enjoyable to read about. Why can't there be more shojo manga characters like this? There is nothing that really makes her different from any other girl her age. She isn't a complete beauty, but she is pretty, she's not overly athletic, but she is fast enough to get a cat out of the way of a car about 100 feet away. In my opinion, she is the ultimate shojo heroine. This one you can actually relate to, who knew it was possible!
Continuing, late at night, Haru finds herself outside of her house, greeted by a procession of cat. Here is where she learns of her destiny to receive gifts and ultimately become the cat princess. Strange things start to happen. The friend has a yard full of lacrosse sticks, the school has a yard full of cattail plants, the smell of catnip is everywhere, and Haru's house is full of canned mice (is that even real?!) Creepy! To top it all off, Haru has been followed by a strange voice for the past couple days, calling her name. That's all I'm gonna say about the story line, just enough to get you interested. ;)
Haru eventually gets to the land of cats, meets the Baron and Muta and her life-changing journey begins. As I said earlier, this was an altogether wonderful manga. Let's start with the art. This has an older feel to it. Although it was only published in 2002, it doesn't have that clean cut drawing that has crept into the manga scene. It reminds me of Rumiko Takahashi in a way, warmer, the eyes not completely clean, everything having a softer tone. Next, the characters. Haru is the ultimate shojo manga heroine. Period. The Baron is dapper, funny, witty, and considerate, like the leading men of the golden age of Hollywood. Muta and Toto, the crow, Share a duel comic relief section, playing off each other and in a slapstick comedy way. The side characters like the King, his son Lune, Yuki, and all the others carry believable back stories, charming and funny lines, and fitting personalities. I highly recommend this to anyone. Then go see the movie in English or Japanese. It doesn't matter which one because they both are great. Anne Hathaway was a great choice for Haru, trust me. And then go see Whisper of the Heart for a love story. See the Baron in a supporting role!
Happy New Year, Everyone!
