Chima Kondo’s life changed when Flow changed her from a 35-year-old woman to a physically pre-teen version of herself. Work was her life, and since no one took her seriously anymore, she’s been lost ever since she was forced to leave her job. Now that Chima is interviewing for a job in Flow Disposal, she’s hoping to figure out how to reverse its effects on herself, but now she’s learning there’s an entirely new and interesting world out there. Who knew Flow could be so interesting and complex?

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting into when I picked this up, but the author had me hooked within a few pages. Flow is such an interesting concept, especially because it’s often related to people’s feelings. I had a lot of fun learning about this world and the sci-fi/fantasy aspects of it. It’s really carried by Chima, her boss, and his cat. There’s characters that come in and out, but there’s one character who is her boss’s rival of sorts that’s really interesting. I hope we get to see more of him as the series progresses.

All in all, this is a great book. There’s excellent characters and storylines on top of amazing artwork. I’m interested in learning about Flow and what it means to this world and its characters, but also seeing how the characters continue to develop. Plus, it’s hilarious to see what the cat gets up to! I loved when we got to see the cat paradise of sorts seemingly created by the cats through Flow. It’s a great balance between sci-fi and fantasy with a touch of the supernatural.

I have read this book volume twice this year (I swear I reviewed it when I read it in May but no bringing it back now) and enjoyed it thoroughly both times.

Flow is such an interesting concept, especially since in the world Urushibara has created it is both explained to some extent by science and also is still a lot of complete unknowns to it.
Does it scientifically actually make sense? Nah. But it's still cool!

Overall this book gives me the similar vibes to Mushishi... Which on further knowledge checks out since Urushibara Yuki also wrote Mushishi.

There are no less then 11 depictions of cat balls.

I was unsure, if I would want to continue this series when I finished it initially because I could see how this could become stale and worried about it. But now knowing that this is only a 3 volume Series (18 chapters), I think I will definitely read the rest.

This is one of the most interesting plotline I have come across, a cat it the main character of this manga. The cat is not an ordinary one but a special and unique one as many things depends of the way this cat acts and reacts.
And to maintain the peace between the reality and the cat's reaction, two people are taking care of it so that they can identify the difference or for how long the difference will exist, etc.
The plotline is very much interesting and as this is the first volume in the series, it takes time to read and understand the scenario in the book and once you get into it, it's a wonderful world building in it.

Summary/thoughts as reading
- ‘flow’ disturbs the way of the world causing anomalies - e.g. a three way intersection becomes a seven way out of nowhere. Flow incidents can occur naturally - e.g. your own thoughts could trigger something - fascinating concept!

- Cats can identify the person who caused the incident!
- Time travel too?!
- Female MC has been affected by the flow and is hoping that by having this job she will be able to go back to normal (not being 35 trapped in the body of a 12 year old)

- While this was a fun concept, it became very repetitive so I don’t know that I will read future volumes although I'd be intrigued to see if the female MC finally gets back to normal.

I was excited about this Manga, but unfortunately it was kind of not an easy read. The narrative was just so weird and I couldn't figure out what was going on. The volume ended to early for me to feel interested in continuing on with the series. I felt like it needed to be a little bit longer.
Overall, this was an okay read and a very interesting concept.
I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Kodansha and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Flow occurs when matter becomes unbalanced and changes form. Which is basically permission for it to do just about anything. Chima has experienced this firsthand and, now working with Hirota and one very popular cat, she’s going to learn how messy and odd this whole business can be.

It's very heartwarming with a few fantastical elements and I look forward to reading more.

From the author of Mushishi, When a Cat Faces West is something of a liminal fantasy taking place in a familiar world but one where in the phenomenon of "flow" results in significant changes to people and the environments around them. One person affected is Chima Kondo, a 35-year old former officer worker now stuck in her 12-year old body. She soon joins Hirota Flow Inc. where she and her boss Hirota try to help people solve the problems flow has created in their lives and work to hopefully get to the bottom of this mysterious phenomenon.

This was interesting! I'm a sucker for liminal fantasy and I enjoyed the episodic structure of this volume. I'm especially clicked into seeing how things work out for Chima so I'll definitely be following this series, especially knowing that it's just three volumes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Coming from the mangaka of Mushishi, this does not disappoint at all and I love it! Its very heartwarmimg with a bit of fantastical elements and i aniticpated for the series to continue so looking forward to more.

Thank you Netgalley/Kodansha for this review copy.
I actually read this about 2 months ago, but some RL stuff happened, and I didn’t get round to writing up the review. I
Flow—the phenomenon that occurs when matter falls out of balance and changes form.
For Chima her inaction with flow turned her 35-year-old back into a 12-year-old. She left her old job to work in the Flow Disposal in the hope that maybe it will shed some light and at some point, she can return to her old self.
This is a good first volume, the story is paced well, and I like the characters.

A really cool concept and lives up to the creator's previous work. The art is phenomenal and expressive, with simple but effective character design. The pacing works well to lead the reader through the twists and turns as the volume progresses and leaves me interested in where it will go next!

The first volume does an amazing job of setting up a mysterious and interesting world. The laws of the world are well-established, and they help to add complexity of the story. Of course, the characters within the story are also just as well thought-out, and are likeable from the very first page! I can't wait to read more of this series to see how the characters develop and what new challenges their mysterious world throws at them!

Mangas are always my favorite. It was an amazing read for me and I enjoyed it a lot. Plot was also smooth. Great work.

This was a very cool atmospheric book. I love the slow nature of the writing and the everyday nature of the stories. The magical elements felt natural and interesting. The artwork was very sketchy, which worked well with the vibe of the story and the nature of flow. As for the plot, it was more episodic, with each chapter having the two main characters help with the magical flow. I enjoyed that way with each new chapter learning slightly more about the main characters. I can see this series evolving with what they reveal about the nature of flow, the interpersonal relationships, and the characters' past. Overall and a nice whimsical start to a series.

The idea is good and the art is very interesting. This flow that changes time and space is such a great concept that i thought this volume would be more interesting, but besides the things that happen nothing much happens besides oh that happens we have to wait or find the person responsible and it becomes so equal and boring that it doesn't captivate to continue reading.

I love the Mushi-shi series, so obviously, I devoured that new series by the author with glee. The gentile fantastical elements of this manga completely seeped in Japanese culture and attention to detail, is a joy.
I love the calm atmosphere, the cute duo, the strange situations, the slow-building into something bigger, but not too big, human-sized - and at the same time bigger. There is a sense of nature and history, a notion that perhaps humans are not such big things in the grand scheme of things, and that we definitely don't control things.
I love this author and the worlds she creates and her imagination and adaptation of folkloric elements.
I highly recommend to people who like mundane fantasy, magical realism, the bizarre, but also the very cosy. There is something contemplative about this manga - do not expect action or conflic, just a gentle ruffling of the feathers like a sudden gust of wind. I will seek out the next volumes and am impatient to continue this journey, even if there is no twists and surprises up ahead.

So here's the deal - underneath reality there's something called flow, and flow is very sensitive to human emotions. Sometimes strong emotions can disrupt flow, which then disrupts reality. This can mean that houses can disappear, or that people disappear, or much stranger things than that.

And there are people whose job it is to find out why the flow has become disrupted, and either sort out what causes it, or at least determine how long the disruption will last. Hirota, a young man, runs such an outlet, called Hirota Flow Inc - think a plumbing repair business but for flow, including a little van. Hirota has a cat, because it turns out cats are exceptionally good at detecting flow and its disturbances (of course they are).

Hirota meets a 12-year-old girl, Chima Kondo, who turns out to be a 35-year-old trapped in the 12-year-old version of herself, by - you guessed it! - problems with the flow.

Well I really liked this. I love weird fiction, and that tends to lean more into dread and horror, but there's none of that here! It's all just really pleasant. Sure, a little girl gets lost in endless copies of our reality by stepping through her mirror, but not worry, Hirota Flow Inc will find her!

And get this: the art is wonderful too! *fist pump* YEAH!

Firstly, I would like to start with a thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book as an eARC.

This manga wasn't my usual read but I did enjoy the twists and turns and getting to know the characters in this world but I didn't feel a real connection but I did really like the art and the pacing in the book was very well done so I may continue on in the series of these manga. The main characters seem well thought out and likeable with a fun combination of fantastical and realistic traits crossing within this world.

I think the main females story about her time slip was intreasting and I liked the progression of that in the story and the way she learned to live with it and accept her issues or things that had happen to her and grow to find her place with these, she was stuck in a dead end job focusing only on money and wasnt happy but now although this may be paying less shes happy and more easily accepted.

This was a fantastic first volume! We follow Chima Kondo who has just got a new job at Flow Disposal. Her boss, Hirota, shows her the ropes surrounding Flow. Flow is the phenomenon that occurs when matter falls out of balance and changes form. Hirota and Kondo along with their office cat, Shacho, go out into the world and try to rebalance the Flow that's out of whack. Along the way, Hirota and Kondo learn about each other and help out the citizens that have been affected by Flow. Overall, this was a great first volume, one of my favorites so far this year. I can't wait to read the next volume!

Thanks to Kodansha for providing access to this.

When a Cat Faces West really pulled me in as I went in with no expectations. I have a friend who always talks about one of the author other series called Mushi-Shi and I enjoyed this so much that I started that as well. This story really takes its time to let you sit and explore the various super natural oddities. With each chapter I was invested in learning about the case they were working on, the cause of it and how it can get resolved. I am eager to get the rest of this series as I want to see how bizarre these Flow incidents go and if Chima will find a solution to her own problem.

If you are into slow paced, supernatural mystery series! Then When a Cat Faces West is one you should check out. Links to my audio/video review down below.

I typically read anything with cat in the title, so this was a must read. Did not know what to gather from the title and honestly it was very different than what I could have expected. Sci-fi happenings in this universe that has a special government employee to tackle them. This story is very slow-paced and slice of life but very interesting and enjoyable.