Chi's Sweet Home

Originally a (Seinen!) manga series written by Konami Kanata, Chi's Sweet Home is the story of a lost kitten who tries to return home to her mother and littermates, only to be adopted by a couple (the Yamadas) and their young son. However, the apartment complex in which the family lives doesn't allow pets, so a lot of time is spent preventing the landlady and the other tenants from seeing Chi.

The anime is produced by Madhouse, and each episode is three minutes long. The episodes correspond to one chapter from the manga. Chi is voiced by Satomi Koorogi, better known as Menchi of Excel Saga and Umagon/Ponygon from Zatch Bell.

The manga is currently licensed by Vertical, with its first volume released July 2010.

Tropes used in Chi's Sweet Home include:

All Just a Dream: "Cat, Taken Away"
Animal Reaction Shot
Animals Hate Him: Yohei's friend (and the pet store clerk's brother!) Ryu, but he gets better once he gets Chi down from a tree.
Baby Talk: 'Chi-go' ("Chi language"), which is kept in the English manga.
Battle Aura: Kurono, when his territory is intruded on.
Bland-Name Product: "Nams" cat food for "Iams".
Butt Monkey: Mr. Yamada.
Cats Are Mean: Definitely subverted, since Chi's annoyances are presented from her point of view.
Cat Smile: From Chi, naturally.
Cat Stereotype: Chi fits the "hyperactive" and "friendly" tabby stereotypes, but Kuroino/Blackie doesn't really fit the "black cat" ones. His are more of a cross between the "orange" and "gray" stereotypes.
- Also, Cocchi is very much a black-and-white cat stereotype.
Cheerful Child: Chi and Youhei.
Chekhov's Gunman: In New Address, Tama sometimes reflected on her little sister, who was separated from her. Chi runs into said sister, Hana, in episode 97 when she's trying to find a way back home. She's living with a couple and is a mother now.
Cool Big Sis: Tama
Cute Little Fangs: Chi has a prominent pair.
Dogs Are Dumb: Eventually subverted with David.
Festival Arc: Episodes 70 to 72 of New Address
Fun Size: Huge eyes on a tiny kitten. Almost creepy when she's excited, as the pupils dilate.
Good Parents: Yohei's parents.
I'm Taking Her Home with Me: The pet store clerk towards Chi constantly, even after she learns she has an owner.
Kawaiiko: Chi. She's a kitten.
Kindly Vet
Meaningful Echo: Chi's statement of "I can't see him, but he's there!" is repeated towards the end of New Address. The particulars of the quote change, due to Chi saying them to someone else rather than to herself, but the effect is the same.
Never Work with Children or Animals: Chi and Youhei (the Yamadas' son) provide most of the humor.
No Name Given: The pet store clerk.
- A number of the neighborhood cats also remain nameless, despite apparently becoming good friends with Chi.
Potty Emergency: Chi doesn't get that her litter box is, well, her litter box. Also, a few instances with Youhei.
- It's interesting to note that the events surrounding this trope is the reason for Chi's name.
- The "litter training" arc is a little odd, as kittens old enough to eat solid food usually have at least a basic understanding of the litter box. It's probably just a case of Rule of Funny.
  - She knows what to do, she just didn't think of that box as her litter box. She showed that by scolding Yohei and saying he had to cover his shorts with sand.
Potty Failure: Yohei around the same time Chi's being litter-trained.
Put on a Bus: Kuroino/"Blackie". He comes back for a short time as of Episode 100 of New Address.
Ridiculously Cute Critter: The driving focus of the series.
Scary Shiny Glasses: The landlady, when referring to the "bear cat" (see ep. 87)
Shout-Out: One of the dolls to camouflage Chi was that of Blossom.
Small Name, Big Ego Cocchi, the black-and-white kitten from the manga and OVA.
Sweet Dreams Fuel: Little episode length, big time cute.
Talking Animal: Similar to Garfield in that the cats' mouths don't actually move, except for typical cat noises.
Tall, Dark and Snarky: Kuroino/"Blacky", who is this in stray tomcat form.
Team Mom Mike
The Ojou: Alice
The Obi-Wan Kuroino/"Blacky".
- Tama's friends think this of Fuji-san, but he's very much retired.
Tsundere: Alice seems like a dignified show cat, but loves chasing after things all the same.
Urine Trouble: Goes with Potty Emergency above.
Zany Scheme: What Chi's owners have to go through to keep her in their apartment. However, before they finally decided to keep her, they put out advertisements in the newspaper for a kitten. They don't succeed, though.