Being an animal lover its always a pleasure to read manga related to love for animals and the lovely stories about pets like A Man & His Cat. One such latest manga by Kodansha, titled Yuzu the Pet Vet is also focused on pet which I will be discussing in this article.
The story is focused on Yuzu who is 11 years old and is going to be living with her uncle Akihito when her mother is admitted to the hospital. Akihito is a vet and owns a clinic which is exactly what every animal lover wants but Yuzu fears animals. While she is already anxious about her mother’s health, she has to endure her fear while assisting in the clinic. Will she able to free herself from the animal fears while she is surrounded by animas and their owners.
Yuzu the Pet Vet Volume 1 consist of four different stories. In one story Yuzu encounters Yuuki, a boy who is a victim of bully. Although he his pet dog Leon who is always there to protect him and scares away of all the bullies when he is around. Yuzu realizes that Leon is pretending to be brave.
Leon is older than Yuuki and had been pet his family before he was even before. He is 10 years old and is getting tired because of his old age. As Leone has always been by Yuuki’s side to provide all his protection but Yuuki has not yet realized the truth as for him, Leone is a brave and strong dog who is always there for him no matter what. It’s hard for him to understand that he is going to be by his side for longer. Yuzu needs to make Yuuki understand the reality before it actually happens.
Out of rest of three, two chapters are also about dogs, while the other chapter is focused on kitten. Although all four chapters are different stories that involves different pets but they all are some heart touching and intense stories which involves the owners of those pets dealing with the health of their pets or themselves as pet owners.
The chapters that I found the best was about Leone and the one with the Kitten, Chibi. Chibi’s owner Kanae is having hard time accepting another cat as her pet after the demise of her previous cat. This is something every pet owner can understand who ever had more multiple pets one way or another.
The best part about Yuzu the Pet Vet is that it doesn’t just explores the different severe problems related to pet and their owners but has some hilarious moments as well. These moments are not just with the visitor’s pets but the pet dog of Yuzu’s uncle, Sora who keeps teasing Yuzu (as he thinks she is cuter than him) which offers some funny moments to laugh out loud. It’s not a very depressing pet manga but it doesn’t also depicts the only nice and sweet side of petting animals.
The only thing that bothers me about this manga is that I would like to see more animal other than usual cat and dogs. It would be nice if the next volume include other animals like hamster, turtles, rabbits, guinea pigs or some birds that Yuzu will encounter.
The manga Yuzu The Pet Vet is written and illustrated by mangaka Mingo. The art style is somewhat like shojo manga and only adds to the cuteness with all the adorable animals who look a little realistic. The visuals of animals and humans are very expressive and clear to understand the thoughts of the characters.
He manga series has been collaborated with Nippon Columbia for 3DS game Wan Nyan Doubutsu Byouin: Suteki na Jyuui-san ni Narou!. But manga is independent other than the same clinic and the resemblance of the characters.
Kodansha Comics has brought Yuzu the Pet Vet to the Wester market and is available in English, translated by Julie Goniwich. The translation seems flawless with no errors. This edition also contains some colored pages in the beginning which seems cool. The next volume will be released by Kodansha on 28th July while in Japan the manga is still in continuation with 7 volumes being released so far.
All in all, Yuzu the Pet Vet is a nice manga with some touching stories about life of animals and their owners. We get to learn a lot through out the manga while the protagonist overcome her fears of animals while solving the problems and meeting new pet and their owners. It is for shojo demographics but can be enjoyed by the audience of all ages.
