The Star of Cottonland

Chibi-Neko is a young kitten who has been abandoned. She doesn’t know she has been abandoned, and doesn’t know the difference between cats and humans. Indeed, she imagines herself as a human girl and believes she will become human someday. She is found and rescued by a boy named Tokio, who has just graduated from high school. However, he flunked the entrance exams and now is not sure of his future or what he will do. Chibi-Neko soon begins to love Tokio and wants to become a human and marry him someday. But then she sees Tokio with another girl in the park, and sees that he is in love with this girl. She also keeps getting visited by Raphael, a mysterious male cat who tries to tell her that cats cannot become human, they are always cats. What will Chibi-Neko do?

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• Won the 3rd Kodansha Manga Award for Shojo in 1979