I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: CHI’S SWEET HOME (new) end credits (2010).

I have yet to watch the anime of Chi’s Sweet Home, so I don’t know how new this is (r frankly even if it is new–of course why would this poster lie).  My kids will love it but it’s only available subtitled so I’m not sure how much they would enjoy that.

This song was a surprise to me because the voice is deep, at least until the ending Meow Meow Meows come in.

Regardless, it’s catchy and I prefer it to the opening theme.

[READ: July 2012] Chi’s Sweet Home 6-8

Ah, this series has been magnificent so far.  And we have now caught up to what is available in the U.S. and almost to what is available in Japan.

If you missed the first post, Chi is a kitten and these are her adventures.  As with the first 5 books, the action in these three takes place over a very short period of time (weeks, maybe).  So Chi remains an irrepressible kitten during these stories.  And that’s just what we like.

Each of the stories is 8 pages long (Book 8 ends with story #146).  Each one follows a short arc with a few of the stories continued in the next story.  In these books, Chi encounters her first pigeon, she sees the neighbor’s dog buring a bone and she wears a collar (very briefly).  She also gets locked out, falls asleep in a park and gets rained on.

Most of these books concern Chi exploring the outside world.  She is well settled in to her new surroundings and she is preparing to explore the world around her house.  She meets a little kitten called Cocchi who is a streetwise kitten and at first wants nothing to do with Chi.  But Chi s so innocent that she tags along, usually bringing out the playful kitten in Cocchi (even as he gets mad that she does so).  When they both get in trouble by sneaking into a garden shed and knockig thngs over, Cocchi even expreses concern about Chi.  Even though she loves her human family, she is starting to make cat friends.

Some other new occurnces are the Yamata’s big flat screen TV (Chi likes watching the fish), the actual fish that daddy brings home and Chi’s (surprise) enjoyment of the vacuum clearner.  And of course, Chi’s exploration of various foods–like the Yamata’s first fondue night or, (yuck) some rotten meat on the ground.

There’s also the wonderful sequences where Chi explore her kitten-ness–hating water (yet the family keeps giving her baths!–learning to jump and be bouncy and, most interestingly of all, realizing that she is actually a cat.  Kanata’s drawings really capture Chi’s expressions–her anger at every perceived slight (and at having to wear a cone when she gets sick) and her delight when anything new comes along “Whassat?”

These stores are sweet and very funny.  I love the descriptions fof Chi walking (tap tap) and the wonderufl looks of excitment (and her feet) when she wants to play.  The story is touching and cute and my 7 year old loves it (almost as much as I do).

Book 9 (which is the last book published in Japanese as far as I can tell) will be coming out in English in August. It’s surprsing how hard it is to find information about this seris online.  I assume it it still being written, but who knows how much more of t he series there will be (could be years if we’re lucky).