Hamster Club

Hamster Club tells a story of adopting and raising three dwarf hamsters through a 4 panel comic strip style. The main element of Hamster Club is it’s cuteness. One volume of the book is usually around 130 pages and it has 6 volumes so it’s not a long read.

The story is quite limited with the 4 panel format. There is no coherent story to follow most of the time. It’s just small individual stories. But the point of Hamster Club isn’t to tell a grandiose story, but instead a cute one. And it does deliver on that. Hamster Club made me smile more times than I would like to admit.

Alongside the story, the artstyle brings a cuteness factor. There are artists who make better panels and such, but Hamster Club has to be one of the cutest manga I have seen. The designs of the three hamsters and their expressions just melt my heart. They could be a little more realistic ofcourse, but I feel as if realism wasn’t a priority.

Speaking of the hamsters, there are three of them. Their names are: Shigecchi, Endoo and Pooh. They all have a great personality. Shigecchi is stubborn, Endoo is hysterical and Pooh is lazy. The design enforces these characteristics. Also there is the writer’s self insert as the main human character who owns the three hamsters. I like how every character is executed. There of course could be more depth, but as I already mentioned that isn’t the point.

I enjoyed reading this wholeheartedly. The story isn’t anything special but that’s what makes Hamster Club special. It’s a comfort manga for me. Something I can read and turn myself off.