Free Collars Kingdom, Vol. 1

Free Collars is about a young cat named 'Cyan' who was abandoned by the parents of his master, who fell ill. The mother was unable to keep poor Cyan because looking at him reminded her of happier days, and so she decides to leave him behind in the basement of the apartment building they lived in. Cyan finds himself alone at first, reflecting on what he had done when he was with his master, and decides to stay there in hopes that they'll return to him. While digging through the garbage for food he meets the strays who live in the basement, calling it their home. I really enjoyed the first volume. The art is gorgeous and the story is cute, it's not a serious title. There is information about different cat breeds within, as well as some information about the cities in Japan. I highly recommend this series.

Free Collars Kingdom is a very enjoyable story full of lively characters which honestly left me seeing my own pets in some of the personalities of the characters, from the sweet and kind Scottie, to the hot-headed "Cat-kun" while wondering if this is not how they see the world and see each other at least in part. However, there is a certain amount of disbelief that must be suspended to fully just enjoy this story, where cats can suddenly appear in anthropomorphic sexy, cute forms or as manga, anime, tech or car obsessed otaku, but what anime or manga does not require a suspension of belief to a point. Interestingly as a result of all the cats do there seems to be an entire world under the eyes of the humans, though never mentioned at least in this volume it seems similar too the one in Studio Ghibli's The Cat Returns where cats can buy their manga, meet their favorite authors and be more then the pets they seem. Overall this story has a very original plot and interesting relationships, not to mention the art is beautiful and the characters instantly likable. I don't want to give too much of the story away but it does involve a group of cats calling themselves the "Free Collars", who are trying to defend their territory said to be the home of the legendary "Wild Cat" in their "battles" against "Siam" a female cat who wants the area for her own. That said this is not truly a battle manga and does a lot to develop each character and the relationships between them and their own feelings. Lastly, since it has been mentioned, I will not deny that there are otaku and cat references throughout this story, but either I'm so use to these worlds I don't notice them or reading Genshiken so often all such references seem tame as they were noticed but not overwhelming. Perhaps too the excellent notes Del Rey has to explain all of these "in jokes" helps to make them accessible to all. All of this is why Free Collars Kingdom is a must for anyone looking for a enjoyable cute tale that just feels good to read.