Kitty Reviews: A Look at Some Recent Neko Atsume Books

Recently our friends at VIZ Media released two super cute books based on the game, Where Am I Meow? and Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku. While it has been a while since I have checked in on my virtual kitties, these two books have reinvigorated my love for the game. 

Neko Atsume was one of the most addictive game to hit the app market a few years back. The game had a simple structure, but the adorableness definitely won over its audience and fanbase. I remember logging into the game multiple times a day, eagerly checking to see which new cat had visited my yard. The excitement of seeing that a rare or special cat had visited made the amount of work and time invested worthwhile.

Where Am I Meow? is an activity book that is reminiscent of the “Where’s Waldo” books from childhood. It’s an activity book that starts out by asking you to take kitty stickers found at the end of the book and place them into their respective places. Where Am I Meow? progresses by asking you to find a particular cat, or cats, in a scenario. As the book goes on the activities get progressively harder. The earlier sections ask you to find a specific cat in a random assortment of cats. The latter sections become more difficult as you're asked to find a certain number of a particular cat or to find one special cat among a page of imposters. The last one is the one I had the most trouble with, mainly because you need to know exactly how a cat looks, its markings, and their name in order to rule out the imposters. 

​While Where Am I Meow? encourages interaction and activity, Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku is the opposite. In this book you'll find an assortment of haikus based on certain cats or scenarios. The haikus in this book are categorized into four sections: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Within these categories each of the haikus are broken down further into which months they are meant for. Out of all the haikus, mine would be the ones about Tubbs, but I identify with the winter haikus best. Nothing beats snuggling in bed on a cold winter’s night. 

The artwork in both these books are exactly what you would find in the game, but even better is that there are some new backgrounds that are completely new to these books! In these new backgrounds you can find new cats such as the Alien Kitty, which is in the space area. In Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku you can find cats specially designed for both the haiku and season. Those who loved Neko Atsume specifically for the designs will definitely want to get these books just for the art itself. Everything here is just so adorably cute.

​There are a lot of details in these books that I really enjoyed. Where Am I Meow? had a holographic skin on the cover that really catches the eye while Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku had glossy letterings contrasting a matte cover. Both books had a directory or “cat dictionary” of cats, toys, and food that you are able to find in the game. For those who could not fill out the in-game version or encounter every cat in gameplay, this is perfect as you get to see which ones you are missing and which item to buy in order to attain them. Great for kitty collectors!

What I love about these books is that it’s the perfect for sharing with not only kids, but also your dog or your cat. I was reading the haikus to my cat as he was falling asleep and he was purring happily the whole time. I even brought the activity books to my work (at a school) and the kids absolutely loved them! They especially loved putting the stickers all over the pages. It goes without saying that these books would be perfect for children. The activities and haikus are cute and they're very easy to comprehend. At the same time though these are also great for adults as well. These books are perfect if you're looking for something fun to add to your book collection, or something that could appeal to avid crazy cat people. Of course this applies as long as you're not looking for something extremely in-depth. While I think that the books, just like the game, are targeted more towards adults, I would argue that they serve better for children. The activities are great for mental stimulation and the haikus could definitely help with reading comprehension. 

These books come with an MSRP of $10.99 for Neko Atsume Kitty Collector Haiku and $14.99 for Where Am I Meow? It is not the steepest price I’ve seen regarding these kinds of products, but at the same time it isn't exactly inexpensive. The game was great and I’ve done my time trying to collect all the exclusive cats but personally the price is steep enough that I would second guess picking these up. For those who were totally obsessed with the game, by all means get these books if they are worthy investments in your eyes. Again, I find that these books are great for doting parents or for an avid collector.                  

All in all I found these two books super cute. They were great reads and as a crazy cat lover you can never have too many cute kitties. I loved the art in each book and the activities were a great way to pass the time. Both my dog Hama and kitten FanTuan loved the attention doted on them when I read the haikus to them as they went to sleep.I would like to thank VIZ Media for sending us these books and can’t wait to see what other products they bring to the Neko Atsume catalog. 

-Eunice

For More Info on These Books:
​https://www.viz.com/neko-atsume-kitty-collector

Update: One thing that I do have to note is that these books cannot really be rough housed with. After a couple days of use the pages started to separate from the glue and began to fall out. Which really sucked...

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Overall Rating: B+

Pros
+Really cute and fun for children and adults alike!
+Lots of great artwork unique to this release.
+A treat for fans of the mobile game.

Cons
-Price might be a little high for some.
-Build quality of the books might not be as good as it could be.

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Note: These items was provided to us by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This fact does not affect the outcome of the review in any way.