Tags: Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, Isekai

Sub-Tags: Otome, Cute, Heartwarming

Amy’s Tournament Troubles!

A review that’s better late than never. My latest takes me back, reviewing a sequel to one of the first-ever reviews I did on my blog, I’d Rather Have a Cat Than a Harem!

The sequel to the fluffy cat series sees Amy settle herself as a veterinarian, helping heal pets and animals of nobles and locals alike. With her abilities now in high demand, she’s asked to help out at a fighting tournament where both her brother and her friends will be participating.

At the same time, Amy and her friends’ relationships are changing. Love is in the air for all in the tight nit group. However, as more otome game characters make their appearance, will everything be plain sailing?

All Routes Lead to the Tournament

Cats over Harem’s second volume continues the fluffy and cute atmosphere encompassing the series. There’s plenty of fluffy action as Amy’s love for animals, especially her cat Tigger, gives way to a flurry of fine scenes.

Her role as a veterinarian is also coming along nicely, allowing Amy to gain the trust of the royal family by investigating the troubles of their newest foal.

Driving the central plot of the volume, however, is the tournament arc and its build-up. It’s here that all the series’ developing elements are brought together in a nice little package. For starters, the tournament gives Amy a chance to flex her healing abilities for those injured during the matches. As a result, she gains the recognition of the Queen for her actions.

The tournament also affords Ed, Alec and Howard an opportunity to showcase how far their fighting abilities have developed. A rather intense battle plays out between the three resulting in Ed and Alec’s loss. Not that either of them minded as the battle finally moved along their hopes of romance.

A Romance Fit for Three Couples

Much more apparent than in the previous volume, the second instalment really sets the romance gears in motion.

Ed and Amy get the majority of the scenes considering they’re the series’ main couple. Amy has come along nicely in her thinking about romance. Putting the anxiety over the otome game out of her mind has allowed her to become closer to Ed throughout the volume. There are several heartwarming scenes to be had, but the two highlights include a comforting on the carriage ride home and the eventual confession scene.

The second volume also has love on the cards for Alec and Rosalind. The more interesting romance in this volume, their relationship reminds me of the romantic understandings in Yashiro-Kun and the importance of independence and the will to achieve what you want. The only problem I have is that there isn’t more focus on them. I would’ve loved an extra short story or something of that nature to show the lengths to which Alec went to secure their engagement.

The final victims of cupid’s arrow are only at the beginning of their long romantic journey. Harold and Yasmine are adventurers together and things have started to blossom. Though that’s not the most intriguing characteristic of their relationship, certainly not for Yasmine, as she turns out to be the game’s heroine.

Anxiety of an Unseen Hand

Throughout the past two volumes, Amy has always had anxiety about the otome game starting up and the game’s unseen hand moving plot devices to where they are in the game.

These feelings are exacerbated by the appearance of Yasmine at the tournament. Luckily there’s no reason for her to be worried as Yasmine is a sweet and kind girl and has no sway in moving any type of otome plot forward. In fact, Yasmine and Amy share quite a lot in common, both being reincarnated and being from the same era of Japan.

With the otome anxiety lifted, the volume has a certain finality, or at the very least, a thorough conclusion to its first arc. At this point in the story, a lot of the major plotlines have reached a happy ending and if the story was to finish here, it would be satisfying, short and sweet.

Overall, Cats over Harems’ second instalment continues the fluffy and warm atmosphere we’ve all come to know from the first volume. This series’ sequel is ultimately satisfying, managing to tie together the major plotlines that had been developing most, culminating in sweet conclusions and a happy future for all.