Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu | |
File:Junji Ito’s Cat Diary Yon & Mu.jpg The cover of Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu, featuring, clockwise from left, Yon, A-ko, Mu, and J-kun. | |
伊藤潤二の猫日記 よん&むー (Itō Junji no Neko Nikki Yon & Mū) | |
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Genre | Semi-autobiography, Comedy[1] |
Manga | |
Written by | Junji Ito |
Published by | Kodansha |
English publisher | |
Magazine | Monthly Magazine Z |
Demographic | Seinen |
Published | 13 March 2009 |
Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu (Japanese: 伊藤潤二の猫日記 よん&むー, Hepburn: Itō Junji no Neko Nikki Yon & Mū) is a single-volume Japanese semi-autobiographical comedy manga by horror author Junji Ito.
Plot
editThe story follows J-kun (J君) (based on Junji Ito) and his fiancée/wife A-ko (A子) (based on Ito’s wife, Ayako Ishiguro) as they adopt first the friendly, long-haired Norwegian Forest cat Mu (むー, Mū) and then Yon (よん), a cat with an ominous skull marking on its back. Over time, J-kun, who considers himself a dog person, starts to warm up to the two cats.
Chapters
edit- "Mu Appears" (むー登場, Mū Tōjō)
- "Yon Attacks" (よん襲来, Yon Shūrai)
- "Battle of the Cat Wand!!" (激闘!! 猫じゃらし, Gekitō!! Neko Jarashi)
- "The Events of One Late Night" (ある夜の出来事, Aru Yoru no Dekigoto)
- "Yon is a Weird Cat" (よんはやっぱり変な猫, Yon wa Yappari Hen'na Neko)
- "Yon's Great Escape" (よん大脱走, Yon ō Dassō)
- "King Yon" (王者よん, Ōja Yon)
- "Mu's Castration" (むー去勢, Mū Kyosei)
- "Unidentified Creature" (未確認生物, Mikakunin Seibutsu)
- "Tread not on Poop, Snot, or Cat" (ウンコ踏まず 鼻水踏まず 猫踏まず)
Background and conception
editThe series was written during an eight-year break Ito took from writing horror manga; his last published horror work was Shin Yami no Koe Kaidan in 2006, and his next would be Fragments of Horror in 2014.[2][3] Ito has described the period as an "empty" time where he worked on "illustrations and manga about cats or about society".[2][4]
Publication
editIto serialized the manga in Kodansha's now-defunct seinen manga magazine Monthly Magazine Z between the January 2008 and February 2009 issues.[5][6] Kodansha published the chapters as a single volume on 13 March 2009 (ISBN 978-4-06-337664-7).[5]
Kodansha Comics USA announced their license to the manga at their Anime Boston panel on 4 April 2015,[1] and published it on 27 October 2015 (ISBN 978-1-63236-197-4).[7]
Reception
editThe book reached fourth place on the New York Times Manga Best Sellers list.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b "Kodansha Adds Ninja Slayer Kills, Cat Diary: Yon & Mu, 3 Persona/SMT Manga". Anime News Network. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ a b Ito, Junji (16 June 2015). "Afterword". Fragments of Horror. Viz Media. p. 222. ISBN 978-1-4215-8079-1.
{{cite book}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ "Viz Media Adds Junji Ito's Fragments of Horror Manga". Anime News Network. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ^ Ito, Junji (27 October 2015). "Question for You, J-Sensei!". Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu. Kodansha Comics USA. pp. 23–24, 45–46, 89–90, & 111. ISBN 978-4-06-337664-7.
{{cite book}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ a b 伊藤潤二の猫日記 よん&むー [Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu]. Kodansha (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "Magazine Z, Comi Di Gi+ Manga Mags Ending in Japan". Anime News Network. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon & Mu". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "Best Sellers - Manga". The New York Times. 15 November 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
External links
edit- Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu at Kodansha Comics USA
- G S Palmer/Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia