If you've ever owned a pet, then you've almost certainly learned that oftentimes, the best way to their heart is, of course, through their stomach. Such is the core of My Kitten is a Picky Eater (henceforth Picky Eater), which follows a new kitten owner—Mano—whose previously-poisoned kitten won't eat store-bought cat food. Mano doesn't know much about either cooking or cats, but he's determined to learn for the sake of his new kitten, who gradually learns to trust and love Mano.

The story of Picky Eater isn't a complicated one, nor does it have to be; it's a cozy story about a well-meaning man who learns the joy of caring for a kitten, and a lonely kitten who learns to trust a human and the food he makes. No huge interpersonal drama, no complex backstory—just a simple tale about a man and a kitten bonding. It doesn't have to be deep, and that makes this volume perfect for some light, fluffy reading that's suitable for cat lovers of all ages.

Similarly, the art is also on the much simpler side of things, but it accomplishes what it needs to. The backgrounds—when they're around—are usually pretty barebones, and the people look okay. But of course, being a manga about cats, how the cats look is probably the most important visual aspect of this manga. And while I've seen better, the cats are still really cute in this manga—easily the best drawn aspect of it. Yuki, in particular, is very expressive, and it only adds to his charm.

I can't begin to tell you how often my heart was aflutter reading this. Easily this manga's greatest asset is its cute-factor, which can go off the charts at times. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to write this review without overusing the words “cute” and “adorable?” There's something so tooth-rottingly sweet about watching a guy who's clueless, but eager to learn about cat ownership, being so kind toward a kitten who's known nothing but hardship. The man is such a thoughtful and wonderful protagonist for all the effort he puts into caring for his new kitten. He very clearly wants to do right by Yuki, despite not knowing anything about cat ownership, and you'll need a bucket for the extent it melts the heart to watch him undergo cat dad-ification.

This manga's biggest shortcoming, however, definitely comes from—well, the name would have you believe this is a food manga, right? And I've seen it categorized as a “food manga” on some sites. But if this is supposed to be a food manga, then it has a fundamental misunderstanding of a key part of the appeal of food manga: the process. Silly as it might sound to people who aren't into food manga, there's a lot of fun to be had in watching the food be planned and prepared, especially if it's a story centered around learning how to prepare it in the first place (which, theoretically, this manga is). And this manga sidesteps this almost completely, despite the fact that Mano doesn't know much about cooking in the first place—meaning things like his learning how to cook could otherwise be playing a much larger role. Instead, while it's not a totally invisible force, it's something we hear about considerably more often than we see in action.

But to be honest, it almost feels like an inevitability that this manga would struggle with the more core appeals of the genre, because another one of its foremost charms is the audience experience of getting to fantasize about how good the food tastes. See example: how often do you see social media posts where people's mouths water over Ghibli movie food? Heck, just thinking about the bacon and eggs from Howl's Moving Castle is enough to make me crave breakfast. And even if Mano is making food that could be eaten by humans, the fact remains that fantasizing about eating what's being branded firmly as cat food is a harder sell. So if this really is a food manga, it feels like it's only one by technicality.

Still, where this manga starves in appeal as a food manga, it makes up for in being a heartwarming, pet-centric manga. If this sounds like something that you'll like, then you probably will. What you see is what you get with this first volume of Picky Eater: if you like cats and stories about people taking care of cats, Picky Eater will be a purr-fect fit for you. Whereas if you don't, this probably isn't a title you'll need to look meow-t for.