Black Cat

I think this may be one of the sleeper hits that many people may not be aware of, but Black Cat is definitely one of the most entertaining series I've read. The story is pretty straight forward, since it pretty much follows a story of a rouge Sweeper named Train Heartnet, who left an organization called Cronos. Train was the strongest assassin in the Cronos organization, but he decided to leave that lifestyle in pursuit of a free lifestyle. Although there are more things that will occur along the story, so I don't want to go any further in the plot.

The artwork is pretty good. The characters are very distinguishable, and the overall penmanship is very clean and easy to follow.

The characters aren't the most complex, nor original, but each one is enjoyable in their own way. My favorite are the characters Train, Sven, and Kyoko but the Character Eve does get development along the journey, and he backstory is fairly interesting.

Overall if you want a pretty short series to read with a lot of action and comedy, then this is great series to pick up.

Personally, I love this manga. With former bad guy assassin turned good guy story lines being done to death in various other manga, it's nice to break away from the format every now and then. The manga focuses on the aforementioned reformed character: Train Heartnet. The former Chronos number XIII, ruthless assassin turned sweeper - or plain old bounty hunter. He's partnered up with Sven Vollfied, a former IBI (International Bureau of Investigation) turned sweeper. And of course Rinslet Walker, the famous thief for hire. Later they are joined by a young girl named Eve, who happens to be a genetically engineered bio-weapon who is infused with nano technology which enables her to transform various parts of her body into objects such as hammers, swords etc. In one volume she was able to grow angel wings onto her back. In the opening volumes of the manga, Eve is rescued by Sven and Train from her creator and goes on to be a sweeper with them. Sven treats Eve almost like a daughter to him, although there is a slight rivalry between Train and Eve (not so much on Train's part) for Sven's attention. It's all very cute, and has plenty of comic relief moments.

The story of why Train became a sweeper is more detailed in the manga than in the Anime. With the manga taking place 2 years after Train was "killed" and therefore, was no longer a part of Chronos. Some of the chapters feature lengthy flashbacks, taking the reader back to when Train was a number and when he met Saya, who was a sweeper and lived her life to the full. Train partly left Cronos to persue the person who killed Saya - Creed Diskenth who was once a candidate for the Chronos numbers but was rejected due to his unstable state of mind. In actual fact, Train took Creed's spot as the 13th member of Chronos. Creed then went on to become the leader of the Apostles of the Stars, a group of people who use Tao to create unique powers. A battle ensues between both Chronos and the Apostles, with Train and the others stuck firmly in the middle. As the story progresses, more of the Chronos numbers are introduced such as Chronos number I Sephiria Arks, and the ever enigmatic number VII Jenos Hazard.

It's a well constructed story line, although I must admit that it can be slightly repetitive in some places. The manga itself contain some well defined characters and a flowing art style, although not as graphic as some others that I have read. Still, it's enjoyable enough to read. The plot itself is pretty much easy to follow, and the intermittent comedy moments are an added bonus.

Although it is somewhat lacking in originality, Black Cat is a great manga that is definitely worth reading at least once. The storyline and characters are not extremely creative and often remind of other works, but are still well done and make for an enjoyable manga. Black Cat is a typical shounen manga full of great action and a fair amount of humor that is sure to keep readers waiting for the next chapter.

Black Cat was an amazing anime/ manga. I thought the character Creed had a lot of hidden pain and sadness in him, which clearly explained him becoming the antagonist. The main protagonist, Train, was full of comic releif, as well as fighting spirit and warm-hearted attitude.
The art of the manga was miraculous. I tried to draw the pictures that were within the pages, but sadly failed. Currently, I have improved my skills and have read the series over-and-over again. Black Cat truly is worth reading and watching.

I think I read up to the first 5 volumes. I had seen the Black Cat anime, and really liked it, so I decided to give the manga a go. I was disappointed. The artwork was static, and difficult to see. Some of the storylines felt cheesy. By the time I stopped following the manga, there was still practically no backstory on the main character (unlike the anime, with begins with the backstory), so it was difficult to connect with him. Overall, I felt reading it was a waste of time.

Black cat is an good manga, first we will speak of the positives aspect :

1.- The series beyond being a shounen, tells the story of a young man who was in a bad way and was not happy with his previous life, later he meets a girl who makes him reflect and change to be a free person , As well as valuing people.
2.- The characters are good and they are changing for the better in history, for example Train starts as a killer who works for chronos but who always dislikes that lifestyle, advances the time and becomes a good character with ideals of being Free, despite his life in the past.
Eve (my favorite character) starts as a girl without feelings and without knowledge of the outside world, over time matured her way of thinking and becomes more competitive, confident, strong and understands the feelings of her friends.
Sven did not change much but has an interesting story and is important for Eve's growth, between these 2 there is a father relationship and that I find it as a good detail for Eve's growth and in the final battle I helped to defeat several characters.
3.- The art is very good, especially the designs of the characters, have a style and identifiable another aspect that I liked were the battles was not only who destroys more, also develop a strategy to win the opponent and that for me It was entertaining.
4._ The comedy is good, but sometimes the characters may be in a moment of tension and go on to say a joke, but nothing that can be considered annoying.
Negative aspect
The villains, I know that many may like the villains, but I think it could improve the characterization and that these were deeper in personality, with motivations beyond "I will be a god and I will change the world" despite that I do not consider That that is something so bad in history, but they could improve that small aspect
 
In conclusion, it is an entertaining and fun manga, I know it is not better manga but I consider it a good story, I give a 9/10 to the manga as a critic, as a fan 10
Thanks for reading this review, I hope you like this story.

OMG the best Shonen I've read. Contains gore, but not Higurashi. Contains romance (tiny bit), but not Dengeki Daisy. Contains logic, but not Death Note. Contains a LOT of action, and the storyline is VERY good. Best Manga I have ever read yet. The characters are very strong, good at martial arts, smart, smexy (LOL) etc. so if you like weak people as protagonists this isn't for you. The characters are sooo cool. The art isn't the best, but it can look really cool at some times, but sometimes you can tell the artist's being lazy. Involves violence, stunts and GUNS! LOTS OF GUNS! I think the manga is much better than the anime since the plot is changed a lot, however both are good. If you find it boring at the beginning or you can't understand anything (like I did) then search it up on wiki, and however bored you are just KEEP READING! YOU'LL LOVE IT!

MANGA SHOULD BE WAY MORE POPULAR! BETTER THAN ONE PIECE, BLEACH AND NARUTO. GO GUNS!!!

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Black Cat, a manga I read in my novice otaku days and have reread many times since....

STORY: 8

Okay, while the beginning starts off seemingly random without an explanation of any kind, I think that, given the fast-paced and upbeat nature of the manga, it was the perfect way to start it off. It's early on, and you kind of just want to jump in to the character's life right away, no drawling backstory. Train's past is revealed in small parts which is good for not giving things away too early. He starts as an easygoing, likeable character, but when it starts unveiling some of Train's actions in the past, you start to wonder how much of the Chronos Black Cat is left in him still. While the basic idea is overused, it isn't that much of a big deal when you think about the stuff it's paired with; science and tao in one story? HUH?! I haven't seen that before. Couple that with a crazy former-partner, a shape shifting little girl and a gigantic re-animated dinosaur and you're in for a fun ride. I realize, as many people have pointed out, that the characters especially bear a remarkable resemblance to those of Cowboy Beebop, but hey, it was a good manga, who can blame the author? I could do WITHOUT the slutty thief, but more on that later.

ART: 8

Okay, point one, THE COVERS! Wow, super eye-catching, and the color scheme is a crazy Looney-Toons type thing with colors that stand out and sometimes clash against each other with a retro-ghetto sort of feel I personally love. In terms of the manga art, I have to say it's a LITTLE static and the fight scenes are kind of bland at times, but even though the characters have the same generic face shape, the drastic difference in clothing, posture and expression makes every single character unique in appearance. One last thing, Sven's hat. Does it remind anyone else of Reborn?

CHARACTERS: 6

Like I said before, a lot of the characters resemble those of Cowboy Beebop. Not a huge deal if it weren't for the fact it was the two main characters. Train, obviously based off of Spike. Easygoing bounter-hunter man who's always the good guy, beating the shit outta the nasty villains and of course, awesome at gunplay. Rinslet, slutty thief who I wish so desperately didn't exist. Would Train have fallen off a roof if she didn't exist? NOPE. Although, she does play a role in the rescuing of Eve, so cudos to her for that.

ENJOYMENT: 8

Despite obvious flaws, Black Cat had it's role-on-the-floor humour and its cry-till-you-have-no-more-tears sadness, but it makes for an enjoyable light read, and memorable for it's crazy villains and tao power twist!

OVERALL: 7

Black Cat had a lot of potential for improvement (and don't ever watch the anime after reading the book. You'll think it's some BAAAAD shit), and I really wish the author could have gone the extra little mile to make it a stunning manga, but still worth your time by all means!

I really enjoyed this manga series, despite it not being exactly full of creativity. It leaves me with a sense of deep enjoyment. I read this manga series a couple of years ago and it seems that every time I look back on it I get immense feeling of nostalgia for anime/manga in the early 2000's.

To me it seems that black Cat has a little bit of a bad rap for being bland, I just don't agree. The main cast is consistently putting a smile on my face, even if Black Cat is "Unoriginal" it doesn't mean that it's bad or even average.

This series would have been better if I didn't feel like I'd "seen it all before." The idea of a "bounty hunter" character who often ends up broke and refuses to kill reminds me of Trigun. Each of the characters within the story reminded me of some character in another story. And every single person in this manga had some kind of tragic past that made them who they were. This wouldn't have bothered me nearly so much if I didn't feel like everything was just glossed over...only mentioned because the writer felt they needed to explain everything. The mangaka really leads readers around by the hand, explaining everything and leaving not a whole lot to the imagination. Often, details are repeated, drilled into the head of the reader. Sometimes, important things are left unmentioned until convenient (such as Train's "black cross" technique going completely unused til nearly the end of the series). Events seemed very trivial. It was clear who would win and who would "die". Sadly, there are very few original ideas in this story.

That being said, the art is enjoyable. The sarcasm and wit of the characters, their beliefs and their evolutions make this series worth reading. The action is well done and the plot is easy to follow. The look of the characters, generally, were interesting and unique. I didn't confuse people in the series for other characters and (with the exception of a few characters like River, who really looked like a super saiyan that stole some moves from Street Fighter) they were an interesting mix.