Jul 15, 2023
FYI, the first volume is super easy to find online. The rest, not so much. I managed to find most of the second volume translated, in "The Complete Works of Nekojiru", but I don't think the third volume has been translated.
Firstly, it should be said that Nekojiru Udon has a lot of shock humor: in its violence, language, and imagery. You might feel a little uncomfortable at points.
This is honestly one of the coolest things I've seen. Its super disconnected, and mainly about the silly antics of (pretty evil) cats. The humor and dialogue is on point. I'm a huge fan of the art,
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and the cute, round and simple cat designs, which really contrast the edgier humor. Meanwhile there are some random dark, vaguely depressing, and gruesome chapters interspersed in all of it. For as absurd as Nekojiru Udon is as a whole, it sometimes feels like you're looking into Nekojiru's (the author's) mind, seeing pieces of her childhood memories, her darkest fears, and her most mind-boggling dreams (most of which were probably fueled by LSD). There's an uncomfortable and unsettling feeling around everything, and it feels very fever-dreamy, sometimes even more than the short and animations made about it. Knowing Nekojiru's real story makes this an even more enjoyable and immersive experience to read, so I recommend looking into her life.
Volume 2 gets a bit weirder, and a lot more uncomfortable. The world of these cats has some, at times, pretty clear references to real life racism (humans, cats, pigs/livestock). The problem is that it's hard to understand if it's satire and a criticism of racism, or a reflection of the author's actual prejudices. Mainly in the latter half of volume 2, there's a 3 chapter-long story about a mountain god and a jeweler, with heavy antisemitic rhetoric (so much so, that the translator had to dial it down a lot), and it's pretty disgusting to see. There's a little racism in the chapter about India, but in those few racist lines it's very blatant, without any vagueness. I want to say that like the rest of the chapters, this is just more shock humor and a satire on true unapologetic racists, and judging by the clear allegories to how horrible and blatant racism is in their universe, it likely is. Unfortunately, we'll never really know for sure.
Overall, I might recommend just reading volume one: it gives you a perfect sense of Nekojiru's art, mind, and personality, and doesn't have any of the problematic stuff the second volume had. If you're like me, you might get a bit obsessed and want to read literally everything she's ever made, and I don't blame you, it's all super well made. I decided to rate this a 10 anyways, as even with its few weak points, the rest of it makes up for it. If you read with the assumption that the antisemitism and racism is satire, this would actually be perfect.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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