Nyankees – Manga First Impression

I love the cover of this book! Also “Nyankees” is a great title!

Ok so on a whim a few months ago I decided to just buy a bunch of volume 1 manga that I didn’t know anything about and figured if I found something I liked I would continue it. This has backfired horribly. Not only did I like most of the series I started but I absolutely loved receiving a box in the mail full of manga to discover and going through them one at the time in the evenings. It was like a different adventure every day!

And then, I did it again… This is not a cheap hobby by any means! I should just read digital versions. I really really should. And to kind of slightly justify it in my mind, I want to at least share my experience with you guys! Let’s dive in to a slightly older manga, here’s Nyankees!

Why I Picked up Nyankees

To be honest, this was entirely an impulse buy. I had to go into the office, something that has happened like 2 times n the past year and there’s a huge Indigo bookstore nearby. So I decided to go take a look on my lunch hour and got swept up in the idea of buying something. The cover of Nyankees kind of jumped out at me and I got it. That’s all.

Official Summary

Protecting your turf, keeping other guys from pawing at your girl, showing everyone who’s boss…it’s all in a day’s work when you’re a street thug-er, a street cat!

That’s actually it for the official summary so I’ll add a bit to it. Ryuusei is the new though guy in town. He’s itching for a fight and always ready to go and he is about to turn Nekonaki on it’s head when he defeats the local boss. However, he’s not just here for fun. Ryuusei is on a mission. To find a male calico with a scar of his eye. Oh did I mentione Ryuusei is a kitty cat? A street kitty to be precise. One that lives free as the wind and wild as the night. But what exactly is he going to do once he finds his prey?

My First Impression

Oh, this is like Cats, the musical and also like West Side Story, the musical… Only not musical.

What I liked

I think the entire premise is good. It’s funny and fits quite well. There’s really not that much of a stretch to seeing street cats as thugs.

The first volume has a tiny bit of mystery and a nice clear goal for the main character. Find this calico cat for unknown reasons. The fact that a lot of the details aren’t yet revealed gives it that little extra interest but the motivations and aim of the characters are immediately clear and very easy to follow. It’s a well-constructed plot and an introduction with a lot of potential.

It doesn,t take itself seriously but remains kind of earnest in the story it’s trying to tell.

Any drawbacks?

It’s fairly surface level. In the entire first volume, there was little to no character development and most of the characters we did meet are standard archetypes.

A bit like The Way of the Househusband, once you know the joke it gets pretty repetitive. And sadly Nyankees is really not as funny. Not even close. Still, it is cute to see everyone in their kitty forms (something that happens a lot) and even though it’s repetitive I did find it pretty fun.

Because of the nature of the story, I’m not finding myself thinking that I need to read the next volume. It’s more like I’ll probably get to it eventually. For what it’s worth, I do think this story would make for a wonderful adaptation and I would be excited to watch an anime of Nyankees.

If you like cats, this is a fun little manga. It really plays up the mannerisms and quirks most cats have and incorporates them neatly into a gang war story. It’s also complete in 6 volumes which is pretty good. On the other hand, it’s not a manga you have to get.