A Thousand Miles

Cat Barista

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I Am A Cat Barista (Wagahai wa Neko de Aru, Shokugyou wa Barista) is a Josei slice of life manga by Hiro Maijima. It’s based on the Otsukaresama dake ga Tadori Tsukeru Maboroshi no Neko Café Web Comic the artist posted on their twitter in 2018 and 2019. It was published by Seven Seas Entertainment in November 2021.

Cover Appeal

A Purrfect Brew – Our cover is a lovely cowboy shot of our barista, Hachiware. It’s practically a POV shot of being served at the cafe, apt for invoking the spirit of the work overall. My favorite aspect of this, though has to be the overall coloring of Hachi. The watercolor-esque gradient work gives the whole thing a soft, warm feeling.

The Gist

Life is tough. It grates on you and, sometimes, you just need a place to unwind. Those weary souls, worn out by the daily grind, may just happen upon a certain cafe – Cafe Hachiware. This isn’t just any cafe, though. It’s one run by its very own cat barista, Hachware himself! So, step into Cafe Hachiware and let your local cat barista whip up something to take your mind off of your troubles.

The Cast

Hachiware – The barista of the eponymous cafe. A cheerful cat barista that makes different drinks and treats to cheer up his patrons. Catchphrase is “Cats stay by their people”.

Arikawa Kaori – College student. Having trouble striking up a conversation with a boy she likes.

Mitsubachi Kanae – Office worker a bit overwhelmed by her coworkers and business get togethers.

Kouyou Nagi – High Schooler doing his damndest to prepare for entrance exams.

Ashio Miyako – Owner of a new kitten that has run away.

Aiuchi Kayo – A popular, well adjusted business woman….afraid to admit she’s a tokusatsu otaku.

Kouda Noboru – A laidback guy that’s trying his best to deal with his bad luck.

Kurusu – Hachi’s best friend. Runs a more conventional cat cafe that also seeks adopters for it’s kittens, much like an american cat cafe.

The Rub

I can’t help but draw comparisons between this and Nightmare Inspector. In Nightmare Inspector, Hiruko enters people’s dreams to help them deal with emotional and mental hangups. Hachi, our beloved Cat Barista provides a somewhat similar service to his customers as well, though to a much more mundane degree. Hiruko magically jumps into people’s dreams and Cafe Hachiware magically appears to weary people.

Cat Barista is, at its core, a feel good story and I’m all for it. Especially because of HOW it approaches trying to achieve this. There’s an old stranglykatie comic called Counting Stars. The protagonist of said comic is obviously lonely, but states at its conclusion that “I don’t want to run from my problems and I don’t want a white knight to rescue me. All I ever wished for….was a friend” and I can’t think of a more apt way to describe Hachi’s approach to helping his patrons. Cafe Hachiware has no menus. Instead, Hachi intuits what’s bothering his patrons and makes something for them accordingly. Mitsubachi Kanae, the stressed office worker, gets a honey milk drink to help her sleep. Kouyou Nagi, the high schooler preparing for entrance exams, gets a beach inspired ice cream float to give him a small taste of the beach trip he’s forgoing to study.

That’s to say, Hachi doesn’t offer an escape from or a magical panacea to his patrons’ problems but, rather, encouragement and a shoulder to lean on while they continue to navigate their problems through their own strength – in other words, a friend. That isn’t to say that Hachi doesn’t enact actionable steps or that warm feels are ALL he offers. Hachi calms Ashio Miyako down while he enlists the help of the alley cats to find her lost kitten. Both of the drinks he offers Mitsubatchi are to help her physically recover from her rough work day and he gets Aiuchi Kayo to gush about her Tokusatsu hobby. I’m a little ashamed to admit that it took me a little too long to recognize that Hachi’s loyalty card (a book he literally stamps with his hand) was really a friendly excuse to get her to come back regularly. Her main stressor is her job – a near daily thing she’ll likely need a near daily way of decompressing from.

In Conclusion

I Am A Cat Barista is a bowl of your favorite comfort food after a long day. It doesn’t make the problems you’re having disappear, nor does it radically rearrange your world, but then again, it doesn’t have to. It warms you inside and makes you forget about the stresses of your life for a little while – and that’s priceless. Sometimes, all you need is a friend…..who’s also a big cat man….who’s also the barista of their own cafe

Continue?: Definitely!!