Title: Nukozuke Vol. 1
Author: Yugi Iro
Publisher: One Peace Books
Language: English
Format: Digital
Pages: 164
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Comedy
Publication Date: September 24, 2024
The Story
Cats have evolved into tiny chibis with human-like features called Nuko. One day, a boy named Yuya is walking home from one of his many part-time jobs and sees a box with two Nukos on the side of the road. Marveled by the sight of them, he learns that they were tossed out when the pet shop that they were in closed due to economic hardship. When it starts to rain, Yuya can’t just leave them be and take them home. What begins is a look into the daily life of a brand-new Nuko owner!
Outside of the introduction, there really isn’t much of a “story” to be had with this series. Each chapter is episodic; however, it does form a cohesive theme over time. Most of the chapters deal with the daily lives of Yuya and the two cats, Kei and Sasame, as he always wonders what food to make for them, how he worries about them when he leaves them alone when it’s time to work, etc. All the while, Yuya can’t get enough of them and continuously snaps pictures whenever he can.
Characters
With a series that doesn’t truly have an overarching story, it must rely on its characters to keep the entertainment coming and there are a handful of them to start us off here in the first volume.
First is Yuya. Just from his facial expressions, he doesn’t seem to be a lively fellow. He seems rather droll and monotone; however, he seems to slog through life even though he’s a hard worker. I think it’s because he works so many different part-time jobs that he’s always tired and lethargic-looking so that could play a factor into his at-home attitude… or so you would think. There was a part-time job where he had to shovel some snow in the winter and was busy falling asleep face-first on the ground. Despite looking like a slothful creature, he’s actually pretty active. One of the running gags is that he always tries to sleep in when he can but the Nukos demand attention… and food… mostly food.
As for the Nukos, we have Kei up first. He is a calico cat in the ears only. He’s depicted with pink hair and green eyes which gives him a feminine appeal; however, his attitude is pretty brash and straightforward. He doesn’t shy away from dropping a swear every now and then, too. He’s always scolding Yuya for being lazy or for not giving them the food and attention when they ask for it but it still kind enough to help out around the house with chores like dusting, washing dishes, etc. Kei’s just a feisty kitten.
Sasame, on the other hand, is more gentle and forgiving. She’s appreciative of Yuya taking them in and is more than happy to help out with chores around the house. She also serves as Kei’s voice of reason and is always trying to get him to calm down and be more polite… futile efforts but at least she tries. She seems to adore Yuya more than Kei does.
Then, we are introduced to Yuya’s next-door neighbor Yamato. He’s a second school nurse and was away overseas for training. When he comes back, Yuya refers to him as a disaster although he seems like he has his life in order way more than Yuya does. Soon, we learn just what he means by disaster as every dish he cooks somehow explodes and creates a censored mess. He takes to the Nukos, too, and agrees to let them come over and hang out once in a while.
Final Thoughts
Nukozuke, in short, is just a dose of cuteness whenever you want it. There is no real story here as each chapter is episodic. There are some chapters that branch into each other, such as when Yuya allows the cats to start roaming free outside or when Yuya takes them shopping. The rest of the time, to be honest, there isn’t much variety here in the activities that they do. The manga does try to mix things up by introducing Yamato; however, for the first half of the inaugural volume, it’s a mixture of feeding the cats, sleeping, cleaning the house, and, well, that’s about it. Even when Yamato is introduced, they spend a day with him and it’s all about feeding the cats, again.
Cats sure are hungry, aren’t they?
Despite the lack of variety (at least until the end of the volume), you have to sit back and take in what this series is trying to accomplish and that is just a momentary escape from reality where you can sit back, relax, and read some chapters about some cute chibi humanoid cats enjoying their life with their new owner and all of the hijinks that come along with it.
In that sense, this manga accomplishes that really well and if just a cute and calm series is what you’re craving, Nukozuke will deliver that to you in spades!
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This item was provided for review by One Peace Books
