The Star of Cottonland

The Star of Cottonland
Cover of volume 1 of the bunkoban edition
綿の国星 (Wata no Kuni Hoshi)
Genre	Fantasy, Romance
Manga
Written by	Yumiko Ōshima
Published by	Hakusensha
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	LaLa
Original run	1978 – 1987
Volumes	7
Anime film
Directed by	Shinichi Tsuji
Written by	Masaki Tsuji Yumiko Ōshima
Music by	Richard Clayderman
Studio	Mushi Production
Released	February 11, 1984
Runtime	92 minutes

The Star of Cottonland (綿の国星^?, Wata no Kuni Hoshi) is a shōjo manga by Yumiko Ōshima. It was serialized by Hakusensha in LaLa magazine from 1978 to 1987 and collected in seven tankōbon volumes. The story is about an abandoned kitten called Chibi-neko (drawn as a small girl with cat ears and tail) who is adopted by a young man named Tokio who grows up believing that she is human. The Star of Cottonland received the 1978 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo manga. It is credited with popularizing the kemonomimi (catgirl) character type.

The series was adapted as an anime movie directed by Shinichi Tsuji released in theaters on 11 February 1984.

A two-month-old kitten, Chibi-nekko (チビ猫^?), was abandoned by her owners. An 18-year-old young man named Tokio finds Chibi-nekko and brings her home. Although his mother is allergic to cats and fears them, she agrees to let him keep the kitten for company because she is afraid that he has become too withdrawn after having failed his university entrance exams. Soon, Chibi-nekko falls in love with Tokio.

In her own mind, Chibi-nekko is a young human who speaks the human language even though people only seem to hear her cat meows. She believes that all humans were once kittens like her. When she realizes that Tokio is in love with a human girl, Chibi-nekko wishes to grow up quickly into a young woman. A tomcat, Raphael, tells Chibi-nekko that it would be impossible for her to do so, shattering her dream. Raphael proceeds to tell Chibi-nekko of a paradise called Cottonland, where dreams can come true.