Ushirosugata no Natsu no Neko Featured Hot

I think that the art is the best thing about this oneshot by far; I really enjoy that style of art, and I think it really lends itself to the characters.

Regarding the actual story, however, I feel like it could've been cute, but somehow just missed the mark. The characters needed a bit more fleshing out, since, in my opinion, it was a story heavily driven by the characters instead of any sort of actual outside circumstances.

Some elements of the story didn't make sense to me (such as, what purpose they actually served in the story), and there was the one part where I had confused the events of the story so that any sort of romance was lost on me and I was more repulsed/bewildered. Thankfully what I had imagined to be the plot wasn't actually the case, but I feel like the writing wasn't clear enough to make this mistake unavoidable.

This oneshot isn't anything spectacular (I can't even say memorable, really), but it is an enjoyable enough read.

With manga the hook, what grabs the readers' attention and keeps them turning the pages, comes from the art, the character and to a lesser extent background design. As intriguing as the cover page was--and who here doesn't love almond-eyed boys with cats?--it was the first color page, all in mint green, featuring a man with a sour expression and a business suit walking down a narrow road that really captured me. It's something about the simplicity of the artwork, precise lines and realistic expressions that started and completed this oneshot for me. It's the sort of manga you can appreciate for it's minimalistic approach to character design that still manages to exaggerate reality. Then again, art really is a matter of opinion and what do I know about art other than I really just like pretty pictures?

The plot... well there really isn't much to say about the plot, other than it's straight forward and heart warming. I wouldn't describe it as a pick-me-up or anything of the sort, just something interesting, a little refreshing and very, very bright. A Japanese summer sort of story. The sort of thing someone might enjoy after several days of rain.

If you like pretty pictures, straight forward characters and cats this might just be the sort of story that would interest you, you might even enjoy it.