Afterword

Did you enjoy the second volume of Speak in the Language of Cats?

This time, as befits a sequel, it’s become a natural evolution of the core concept, built on the three pillars of cats, girls’ love comedy, and battle action, each expanded upon directly. I’ve come to realize anew that if even one of these pillars were missing, Here, Cats wouldn’t be the story it is.

Speaking of the trope where defeated opponents become allies, it brings to mind a certain anime like Sympho○gear, which was also a fantastic yuri show. By the way, I’m a Maria x Tsubasa shipper (not that anyone asked).

Now, a question for you all—what do you love about cats? For me, it’s when they’re walking, running, sleeping, eating, playing, looking bored, or even when they’re doing nothing in particular but don’t seem bored at all.

As an author, I often wrestle with how to capture these feline behaviors using only words. For example, the sound of a cat’s footsteps—whether it’s a toko toko or a pote pote—changes the nuance entirely. The former evokes a sense of purposeful speed, striding confidently toward a goal, while the latter paints a picture of a cat sauntering leisurely, perhaps a bit whimsically. I pay a lot of attention to these details.

As it happens, I lived with a cat for a little over ten years. The gestures and behaviors of the cats in this story probably reflect, unconsciously, the things I felt from that cat back then. While writing, I sometimes got the strange sensation that my cat, who is no longer with me, was somehow still alive somewhere in the world.

To me, that cat might have been a “window” connecting to the broader concept of cat. And I suspect it’s the same for any cat lover. Your cat is both utterly unique—the one and only—and at the same time, a window through which you perceive the entirety of what a cat is. It’s a paradox without contradiction. I sometimes feel this when I see the endless stream of cat videos on my Twitter timeline, each one sparking an odd sense of familiarity.

Returning to the second volume, I couldn’t help but think, after finishing it, that Anya in the final scene feels a bit like a dad watching over his wife and daughter. Well, I hope we’ll meet again in the future.

Darkly meow, ceremoniously dragon-rising meow!

References

The New Interpretation of The Subtle Art of the Cat (Soshisha)
Author: Issai Chozan
Translation and Commentary: Takahashi Yuu

With the cat, a story of humans aiming for happiness—here’s the continuation in the sequel. As always, it’s a greedy light novel that defies genre classification, but I hope you’ll enjoy Volume 2 just as much!

Tatsuya Kurashiki.