The Complete Chi’s Sweet Home Part 2 manga collects together the fourth, fifth, and sixth volumes of the Chi’s Sweet Home manga into one larger trim size volume.

The Complete Chi’s Sweet Home Part 2
Written by: Konami Kanata
Publisher: Kodansha, Ltd.
English Publisher: Vertical Comics
Release Date: January 26, 2016

Just like the original printings of Chi’s Sweet Home, this omnibus release is a full-color manga, and the orientation is “flipped” (so it reads like an American book instead of a traditional Japanese manga).

At the beginning of this omnibus release, the Yamada family is packing up so they can move to a new apartment that will allow them to own a pet. During the first third of this volume, we see Chi being confused by the move (both the packing up at the old apartment and by the new place she is now expected to call home). She spends a lot of this section exploring her new living space and becoming accustomed to it. In a lot of respects, Chi is depicted the same way a young child would react to moving into a new home, and this helps this section of the omnibus to feel realistic.

The Yamadas and Chi also meet their new neighbors and the pets that they own. One neighbor has a bird named Lucky, one has a bunny named Mee, one has a cat named Alice, and one has a dog named David. Throughout this omnibus, we get to see Chi interacting with the other pets to some extent, although in this volume, we see David and Alice the most. At this point, though, Chi doesn’t seem to have bonded to any of these animals in the same way she bonded with Blackie back in The Complete Chi’s Sweet Home Part 1.

In the second part of this omnibus, Chi finally learns how to use the cat door that’s on the Yamadas front door and can let herself outside. With this newfound freedom, Chi begins to explore the neighborhood. As this section of the omnibus progresses, Chi begins wandering farther and farther away from the apartment complex.

While out on one of her adventures, Chi is seen by a calico cat named Cali, who recognizes Chi from the time before she was separated from her mother. Cali tries to arrange a reunion between mother and daughter, but Chi doesn’t understand what’s going on and ends up leaving before seeing her mother. But this excursion isn’t a complete disappointment, though, because Chi has an unexpected reunion with Blackie. It turns out that Blackie’s family has moved into a home that’s not far away from the new apartment that the Yamadas live in.

In the final third of The Complete Chi’s Sweet Home Part 2, Chi acts rather mischievously. She’s not causing problems on purpose, but her innate curiosity causes her to get into one situation after another. In this section we see Chi gets muddy pawprints all over the floor, she thinks her family is hoarding things but they’re really trying to protect Chi from danger, she gets into Yohei’s birthday present and birthday cake before Yohei can get to them, and she causes objects belonging to Yohei’s dad to roll down the stairs because Chi wants to see them move.

This section of the omnibus also sees Chi exploring the nearby park more, and she meets another small cat. The little cat tries to act tough and really doesn’t want to play with Chi, but our protagonist manages to get the other cat to indirectly play with her. And after the Yamadas get Chi a collar with a bell attached, she manages to get out of the apartment one night and runs into Blackie. Together, they go to the park, and Chi experiences and discovers what goes on outside at night that she didn’t know were going on because she was asleep.

The Complete Chi’s Sweet Home Part 2 also includes some bonus material at the back. I recognized some of the content (such as the announcements for the Chi’s Sweet Home anime and the character details of the new pets and their owners) from the original printings of the Chi’s Sweet Home manga. There’s also a crossover between Chi’s Sweet Home and Risa Ito’s Oy, Pi-tan, which I don’t remember from the original printings but is done in the same style as the other bonuses from the original printings. It may have been published before, but it obviously didn’t leave much of an impression on me. And since I’m not familiar with the manga that’s being crossed over, this bonus didn’t appeal to me very much. Two more short short stories from FukuFuku, another cat manga by Kanata, is also included here. I found these to be more enjoyable than the crossover.

Chi’s Sweet Home continues to be a quick and easy read, even with three volumes included in these omnibus editions. Readers who have read and enjoyed the previous Chi’s Sweet Home omnibus should continue to enjoy following Chi and her story.

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