Kamio Youko’s new series called Cat Street started in the August issue of Betsuma. I’m not into Hana yori dango at all so I wasn’t really psyched when they announced Kamio’s new manga would be running in Betsuma. But Cat Street isn’t that bad, actually. In fact, I quite liked the first installment.
Keito, the heroine, is really mysterious at first because she doesn’t say a word and you only see people mentioning rumours about her whenever she appears. But the first chapter also revealed a lot of her past already. Her parents made her a child star who appeared in all sorts of commercials. But all she wanted was being a normal school girl and having friends like everyone else.
The story is pretty emotional in a non-kitschy way. You really feel Keito’s loneliness and understand her desperateness to become friends with the girl she’s sharing her role with in the musical. The girl she taught how to dance and act on stage. The girl who eventually got better than Keito, betrayed their friendship and put an end to Keito’s career.
The end of the chapter set up the storyline for what is to come in the series. Looks like Keito will finally be able to be a normal (? NOT!) schoolgirl. Can’t wait for the second installment!