チーズスイートホーム あたらしいおうち / Chii's Sweet Home: Atarashii o-uchi / Chii’s New Address (+ Chii’s Sweet Home OAD)

Chii’s New Address is very much a continuation of the first Chii’s Sweet Home series.

It picks up right where the first series ended, its format is unchanged and it was seemingly broadcast in the same early morning slot as its predecessor. The only notable difference is the new opening sequence, a silly soft-rock number that sounds like it might have been written by Detroit Metal City’s Tetrapod Melon Tea band which at first I disliked for supplanting the original’s adorable in-character song, but which grew on me for its fun rapid-fire sections that unfailingly make me smile.

And, indeed, there is a new address – after a few episodes. I, for one, spent much of the first season thinking that they ought to just move house, but not to the extent it annoyed me – after all, people get very attached to their homes, and moving house is no simple task. But the Yamadas eventually see the sense in it and move to a pet-friendly building, which means Chii can make new friends and get into a new set of scrapes. It’s more of the same, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and there are few more enjoyable, cutesy things to watch in the world than the misadventures of little kitten Chii.

Unsurprisingly, the climactic few episodes change the mood to give a big final payoff – Chii gets very lost, just happens to meet the right cats where she ends up and, well, if you expect a tragic ending you’re probably not watching the right series. There’s a satisfying conclusion, and now? Well, now fans must wait to see if there’s enough manga for series 3.

But in the interim, a 13-minute special episode came out to accompany a manga release. The ‘OAD’, evidently a new term to replace ‘OAV’ and presumably replacing ‘Video’ with ‘DVD’ (I always assumed ‘video’ just meant the media in general, as opposed to a video cassette), is new material from after the end of the series - though it features Kuro without noting he’s travelled a long way from where he now lives. Chii meets a new kitten very different from her, then her family try to put a collar on her. Even at 13 minutes including opening and credits sequences, there’s not one self-contained story – but this is Chii’s Sweet Home, and that’s not really how things work.

Chii is predictable, repetitive and daft. But surely that’s exactly what it is supposed to be, and it never, ever bores.