I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a very relaxed and thoughtful science fantasy. It was a very cozy adventure. I adored the worldbuilding. The way the local government and the people adapted to flow (ex. notes for school or work) was really well thought out. The way thoughts and emotions impacted Flow was really creative. The main characters worked very well together and had really nice personalities. I look forward to reading more books in this series.

When a Cat Faces West breathed some fresh air into the science fiction genre for me. Flow, a scientific concept in a similar world to our own, can be affected by people’s strong emotions, which then turn into strange events that alter landscape and people. We follow two people working to stop flow events by different means, often by learning the story of the person who created the flow event.

Not only is this an interesting concept that targets empathy, it brings a sense of magical surrealism to the table that charms and surprises. For each event I couldn’t predict what was truly going on until the characters dove deeper into it. I am interested in seeing where this goes, if it climbs into stronger topics/plotlines, or if it keeps it simple. I also was charmed by the art. It fit the story in a way I can’t explain, just overall delightful! Check this one out if you’re looking to find something new in manga.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the ARC.

From the mangaka of Mushishi comes When a Cat Faces West.
Flow is a phenomenon that messes with the reality of the world. Extra streets can appear, mirrors into different universes, etc. That's why there's Flow Disposal workers who work to figure out the source of the Flow. (With some help from cats!)
This was really charming! I hadn't realized that the two series had the same mangaka before starting to read. It quickly became apparent from the art style and the general vibe. If you enjoyed Mushishi, you should definitely give this a try. I would also extend this recommendation to fans of Natsume Yuujinchou. It's low stakes and easy going.

When a Cat Faces West is surely interesting and no wonder, since it's series from Yuki Urushibara! I love her philosophic and thoughtful approach and how she takes her time with stories. The story is set around flow, which is a time and space bending happening that occurs because of intense feelings and or not. Sometimes there's no reason. Chima Kondo is stuck in a kid's body due to it and ends up working for Hirota Flow Inc. with Hirota and a cat called Shacho. Cats can feel the flow. Hirota is a bit eccentric, but very good at what he does. He predicts how long a flow lasts, such as buildings changing forms and whatnot. In a sense this is slice of life with a fantastical twist. We meet people, who have different kinds of flow problems, and we see those problems dissolve eventually. The most I enjoyed was the pondering our main characters do as well as the analysis.

The art looks old fashioned in a good way. It's round and cute even with heavy content. Everything feels lazy, but it's not. I enjoy the contradiction there. The series is only three books long, which is nice, since otherwise this could feel like a repetition. Now the story with its peculiarities feels refreshing and oddly suffocating at the same time. That's the core of the entertainment value!

This week I took some time to sit down and binge a bunch of manga since it has been a while. Out of the ten volumes I read, I think When a Cat Faces West Volume 1 is my favorite. It's unique, offering a fresh perspective on the supernatural/paranormal.

Flow is a (natural?) phenomenon that the city has been forced to deal with for years. Where it appears everything can change, oddities arise, people disappear, and the rules of physics alter. That's where the Flow Disposal department comes into play. It's their job to find the Flow source and help resolve it when possible.

Chima Kondo is the newest Flow Disposal recruit. She knows firsthand how much Flow can change a person – after all, she's a thirty-five-year-old woman currently residing in the body of a twelve-year-old.

Wow. When a Cat Faces West Volume 1 was an utterly enchanting story! I'll admit that it took me a while to get into the flow of things (sorry, not sorry). But once I did, I was hooked. I will have to look up the rest of this series and read it because I have to know more.

There are three main characters in this series, Chima, Hirota, and Shacho. While I love them all, Shacho (the Flow sensing cat) is my favorite. No surprise there, right?

When a Cat Faces West Volume 1 is similar to a freak of the week story, where it's a series of different events revolving around Flow. I enjoyed these adventures and cannot wait to read more.

In this story, we are dealing with a concept called flow. It is related to people's feelings, and they they are overwhelmed or lost, the world around them changes, effecting everyone around them. Our two characters come and help them figure out what is out of balance, and set things right.
This one is good, but not great for me. I think there are other series out there with a similar feel and format that are doing it a bit better. I had a good time, but it's not quite for me.

[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.

If it wasn’t already advertised as being written by the creator or <I>Mushishi</I>, it’s pretty obvious within a couple of stories, just from the style and content. It’s been a few years since I read any of that series, but this one is a bit more modern and a bit less mystical.

Our leads are an amiable pairing. Chima’s got a great head on her shoulders, despite being stuck in a very young body and she contrasts well with Hirota’s lazy, more childish vibe, even though he’s ostensibly the adult. It’s not the most clever contrast ever, but it does really work.

And their cases are interesting. I appreciated the variety here - Flow is more a force of nature than it is anything malicious, but that means that literally anything can happen and this gives free reign to the mangaka’s creativity.

Sometimes the events are benign - a cherry tree shows up from the past - but the people involved make them worse. Sometimes the company saves the day, other times they simply aren’t able to. Sometimes Flow is dangerous, other times it’s downright whimsical.

The best story is probably the one about the mirror, which starts off as a bit of a creepy little thing that could have gone rather far down that route, but actually gets downright goofy towards the end. While it seems pretty foolhardy, the way Hirota solves this one is great.

And it would be remiss of me to not mention Shacho, the cat who appears to live with Hirota, but might belong to the entire neighborhood. Cats are especially sensitive to Flow and that’s as good an excuse as any for some really dopey cat antics (in the best way).

As a weird little slice-of-weird-life and a bunch of varied tidbits, this is pretty fun. Little bits of continuity pop up here and there, but you could read most of these out of order and not notice much difference. If there is a more driving narrative it is remaining resolutely invisible for now.

It’s not the most gripping thing ever - stakes seem to be set firmly in the ‘this is very annoying’ camp rather than world-threatening calamity. Even Chima seems pretty chill about her predicament. So, the lackadaisical pace won’t be for everybody; this can be positively sedate at times.

4 stars - a strong book and I do love little mini-narratives here a problem shows up and vanishes now and then, so I suspect I’ll add this to my regular reads because it was quite enjoyable.

I felt this was a nice slice of life style manga, filled with adventure. I will say that when it came to dispelling the “flow” I wish it wasn’t so quick, it’d be nice to see our dynamic duo.p have to work harder to save the day. I also wish there was more in-depth explanation as to what “flow” is and how it came to be, perhaps in future volumes? Overall this was a nice read and I’d definitely recommend it if a change of pace or smile is needed.

This is a great series from a talented mangaka. I love the concept and execution. I wish it were in print so I could share it with my students! Please consider this for print release. The first chapter alone has great SEL connections that can facilitate conversations with high school students.

If this reminds anyone of Mushishi, you're not alone; it's the same author! While this series has a similar episodic feel to the previous series, I like the more modern approach in this one. Flow is a very interesting concept and I'm curious to see where this will go.

The beautiful art and the unique premise made me want to continue reading. I look forward to the next volume!

Thank you Kodansha and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

It's was a delightful first volume. Loved the magical realism feel of the story. I'm very interested in learning more about both characters and it seems to be a slice of life story.

A science fiction manga which involves a cute (and lazy!) cat? Sign me up!

I really enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. I wasn't sure whether the pacing (which was fairly medium-paced as opposed to some fast-paced manga I am used to) would put me off but I think the storyline, characters and context work really well. The art is really good too.

I am going to continue this series, there's some interesting concepts brewing and I genuinely think this could turn out to be a good series to keep an eye out on.

<i>Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for the ARC of this volume in exchange for an honest review. My review was not impacted by this</i>

There's a fine line between science fiction and fantasy, and Yuki Urushibara knows how to delicately straddle it. <i>When a Cat Faces West</i> is a fascinating story about what happens when "flow" - the emotional detritus of the universe - backs up and warps the world around it. Hirota and his feline sidekick Shacho work as flow professionals, helping to fix problems or at least give an estimate of when it will right itself. There's an equal use of spiritual and scientific elements within the story, and with the detailed backgrounds and plainer characters moving through them, a sense of intriguing unreality to the who thing. Even if I wasn't predisposed to a story with a cat in it this would be a good one in its blend of what is real and what we simply believe to be.

This lovely sort of slice-of-life mixed with soft fantasy was a quiet, captivating read. When a Cat Faces West follows Chima Kondo, a 35-year-old stuck in a 12-year-old body due to a natural phenomenon called Flow. Sometimes acting on its own, sometimes reflecting the worries of people on earth, Flow is a natural occurrence that changes the world in response to things being out of balance. Sometimes delightful, sometimes distressing, Flow has led to the formation of Flow cleanup squads. Chima joins Flow investigators Hirota and Shacho to check out Flow events and try to solve them.

I am a huge fan of soft, low-stakes fantasy, and if you are too this is sure to delight you. The stories are reflective and thought-provoking, and if this makes any sense, it's the perfect manga to read next to an open window. At times I didn't enjoy the art style, as despite being in a 12-year-old's body Chima often looked just looked like a very short older woman. I think her character design could have been different to reflect that. But otherwise, I really enjoyed the slow-moving plot and little stories, and this is sure to delight anyone who adored Mushishi.

*This manga ARC was graciously provided by NetGalley. That being said, all thoughts and opinions are my own!*

Ranges between 3-4 stars. This was such an interesting manga! It has fantastical and sci-fi elements. The manga centres on a team of people who bring a disordered reality (a phenomenon called flow) back to normal. These distortions come in all shapes and sizes, from time travel to alternate dimensions.

This volume is an introduction to the characters plus a compilation of various "flow-related"
disasters. Each of the three main characters, Chima, Hirota, and Shacho have really distinctive personalities. I enjoyed the cat especially, who would wander of and was deemed the best best flow specialist. I loved the story, I loved the art style, and the cat was 11/10. I also found it interesting that I enjoyed the art style as the mangaka mentioned they wanted to spend most of their time designing the backgrounds.

Sometimes though, I found the story or dialogue a little confusing and I wasn't always a fan of the two main characters as they were very static and stuck to their stereotypes. One is extremely rigid and Type A, the other is Type B. I understand why they were done like that, but I would like to see more depth with them. I do, however, look forward to the next volume to see how the story develops!

A slice of life manga in a world that has a mysterious occurrences called "the flow" where houses disappear and becomes a forest, or a three way intersection becomes a seven-way! The way society and people within this world evolved to deal with the flow phenomena makes the stories really interesting. The main characters are two people who diagnose an instance of the flow and either solve it or give information about how long it might last. Along the way you meet their rivals, and the people in their community. If you like Mushishi, Urushibara's earlier work, you'll probably like this one too. The vibes are pretty similar, but the world feels a little less menacing and kinder, where the stories for the most part work out without too much angst or fuss.

Hirota operates a flow disposal service with Shachou the cat. Flow is when matter becomes distorted or disrupted due to a variety of reasons such as strong emotions or reverting back to a previous state. Chima is a new hire and her life has been deeply affected by flow. She is a 35 year old woman in the body of her 12 year old self!

Hirota and Chima’s adventures have an episodic, slice-of-life, paranormal investigation quality that I thoroughly enjoyed. The art is wonderful, especially the highly detailed and “lived in” background scenery. I was disappointed to find out that there are only 3 volumes in this series. This is from the creator of Mushishi, and if you are a fan of that series, I’m sure you will enjoy this one.

This manga follows two characters who work for a Flow disposal company, In this world, Flow causes strange things to happen and Chima, Hirota, and the cat Shacho have to work to bring things back to normal when these oddities happen,

This was a fun manga! I enjoyed the different personalities of Chima and Hirota, and I’m always a fan of a good cat character. This manga has several cases of different things that happen due to Flow, and it was really interesting seeing all of the different things that happened and how problems because of Flow can sometimes be solved and sometimes just have to be waited out,

I look forward to reading more Flow adventures in the future, and seeing what might happen with Chima’s Flow problem.

rating:
4/5 stars

This is a cool sci-fi manga with a very original premise. It takes place in a world like ours where a phenomenon called flow can alter reality. Flow comes and goes but when it accumulates in one location it can cause changes to the physical world. In the story we see some examples of flow disturbances, one type is when flow interacts with humans and adapts the area around them based on their fears or worries. Other examples are when flow creates a wormhole or path into an alternate reality or when flow causes a time warp, sometimes making buildings disappear as a location reverts to the way it looked a number of years ago.

In the story we follow Chima who has been affected by flow that changed her 35-year old body into that of a 12-year old. After this causes problems for her at work she gets a new job working with Hirota who is a flow specialist. When flow causes problems people call him to come and try to get things to go back to normal. Helping him is his not-so-faithful sidekick Shacho the cat. Chima is an organised and structured person whereas Hirota works mostly based on gut feeling out of his cluttered office, which causes some frustration between them at times, but they generally get along well.

Each chapter in the manga covers one flow incident that Hirota and Chima are called to solve. The cases are not connected and there is no real overarching plot other than Hirota and Chima getting to know each other and Chima learning about flow. I enjoyed reading about this fantastical world, but I would have liked a stronger main plotline in order to really connect with the story. I enjoyed reading it and will probably continue when the next volume comes out.