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I decided to give the Aincard manga a read after finishing the two light novel volumes that made up this arc. While for the light novels I'd give this arc a 6/10 (Have yet to read Progressive), the manga adaptation on the other hand is brought down by the horrendous art.

The story itself there's not much for me to say, it's an adaptation of Vol. 1 of the light novels with a side story from Vol. 2 (Yui's chapter) as well. This is why characters like Lisbeth and Silca don't appear, Sachi's backstory isn't expanded upon, nor do we see any of the other floors ... expanded upon before floor 74. Not much for me to say here as that would turn this review into a review of the arc itself which is not what I want to focus on.

The art is the main problem here. It feels very amateur and doesn't fit the tone at all. Kirito and Asuna look like they came out a 'How to Draw Shoujo Manga" book and other characters range from ok (Heathcliff and Agil) to horrible (Klein and Yui), backgrounds are meh, and the action scenes are 'ok?' I guess, but could be way better. The quality of the art when compared to the LN's art is a huge downgrade and make it really hard to enjoy this manga. In fact, when compared to the art of the later arcs' manga adaptations, the poor quality of the art here really stands out.

In conclusion, the art is the main problem here. Story-wise it adapts Vol. 1 accurately, but the art makes it a hard read, if you wanted my opinion I'd say go read the novels or watch the anime (Though the quality of the anime I have no opinion of as of yet since I have yet to watch it).

Inu Catalog is a modern classic masterpiece. Not ever have I've seen such a work that has such deep complex story that rivals that of Evangelion and Utena with its symbolic imagery, complex three-dimensional characters with so many layers to them that each reading can give the reader a different interpretation, and such intriguing themes of love and jealousy that would make Shakespeare shed a tear.

The plot is deeper than what MAL describes as every character gets their time to shine and are completely memorable like Teacher-uke-dude and Student-that-Models-seme. Throughout the six chapters we see their struggles, their happy moments, their most intimate moments as ... well as a side story couple that gets introduced last chapter and the extra chapter but gets developed so well it might as well have been its own story too with how rich the characters were (Somebody-seme and Someone-uke.) that they'll be remembered for generations down the line.

The art is rivaling that of the great DaVinci or to be more modern, Miyazaki with how so much attention to detail the author puts in the anatomy and facial expressions. Each characters looks vastly different from each other and they're drawn so well that you could cut out random pages and hang them from a museum ceiling and watch the onlookers stare in awe at its beauty.

All in all, Inu Catalog is a modern-day avant alternative masterpiece that should be read by everyone. Truly, it deserves it place in TVTropes 'So Bad, Its Horrible' Anime & Manga page 😏.