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.

When I stumbled across this manga I expected it to be another wild ride filled with violence and people getting their head blown off, my ultimate genre, but a few chapters in a quickly realised the the tale of Train Heartnet was much deeper than I had originally anticipated.

Story [8/10]
When the setting and basic backstory had been established, I was already enthralled; the story of an ex-assassin who turned his back on his dark past to face a brighter future was a pleasant thought and would make for an interesting manga. However, though I enjoyed the basic backstory, when the story found itself at the main antagonist I felt that the story took a rather unrealistic turn. The antagonists fall to madness and his reasoning behind it felt silly, vague and rather unlikely, making me wish that they had given the antagonist a little more thought when playing with his concept.
Despite the rocky antagonist, once you accept it, the events that follow become very interesting, making you forget his unstable backstory and instead allowing you to sit back and enjoy the manga for it's excellent story.

Art [7/10]
The art was very nice, the manga chose to take the anatomically correct, though stilly very animesque, approach which I felt suited it well, giving the characters the dynamic feel required during intense battle scenes, though keeping them simple enough that they might provide comic relief and hyperbolic amusement.
The character design was just as nice, each character having a very unique though still normal appearance (though Train's clothing might have been a little out there, but is to be expected as the main character).

Character [9/10]
The characters were by far the most excellent part about the manga. This manga contained a strong theme of freindship which I enjoyed immensely, the story of Saya and Train and how Train slowly but surely gains freinds and allies in his work, a new though valuable experience to him.
As for the backstory, each character of interest (save for the antagonist) had a notable and interesting backstory to back their characters and their responses to one another.
The charactes were very thought through in this serialisation.

Enjoyment [8/10]
Though this manga did find itself slowing down at times, the battle scenes were always intense and the flashback always interesting as well as the times the gang spent together, it is this which kept the manga moving, even when it slowed, it never stopped.

Overall [8/10]
This manga was always fun and the characters were perfect, I'd definitely reccommend it to to pass some time.

It may contain very small spoilers that will not affect your experience.
Well Black Cat is a very entertaining manga that made me laugh and think that a person's freedom is one of the most valuable things a person should have. I read 5 times the story and from my point of view I do not think it is "cliché", as many have criticized on the contrary is a rather funny story that built their world, powers and conflicts.

[History] Score: 8 / Very Good

The story centers on hunting rewards that work day-to-day to get some money. The first episode I still remember. Sven and Train had to give a boy the opportunity to see his family before going to jail, but another bounty hunter eliminates him and Train gets angry and releases the essence of a murderer. In this fight we know the first data of the protagonist and that its nickname is "Black Cat" a member that worked 2 years for Cronos. Mainly that is the first chapter. Throughout the history new characters are introduced, that are developed and each of them will have different motivations. In the end it depends if you like this type of characters.

[Art] Score: 9 / Great
The illustration was one of the strengths of the manga. The character designs are good this art is different from the more modern manga. Art is best presented when it comes to action. It really feels like an epic confrontation that is taking place when the characters are struggling.


Personally I liked the story and I hope you enjoy this manga too :)

I will not ruin the manga for anyone. It's not my way of reviewing a story. I have a lot of respect for this kind of work.
In the end this is a manga that is worth reading.
I highly recommend this story to anyone
Thanks for reading this review.

Black Cat is a typical shounen manga. While it's never very original, the care-free attitude of the main character results in a loose and enjoying atmosphere thats being kept though most of the story.

Story: The initial setup of the story is very standard: a sharpshooting hero with his weapon-inventing sidekick travel the world to catch criminals and save the innocent. A third team member and a bunch of super villains make the picture complete.
Besides from this typical and predictable storyline, the plot unfolds at a nice easygoing pace and keeps things interesting. The fun makes up for lots.
At the final showdown in the last few volumes however, the generic shounen fights with predictable outcome make up for a unsatisfying ending without any surprises and some unfinished plot lines.

Art: Im no expert in this, but the art is definitly a plus. Great looking characters, clear drawings.

Character: All characters are enjoyable and especially the interactions between them are entertaining. The three main characters make a great team personality-wise. The witty humor fits them well.
Only the emotional depth and background is cliché and doesnt impact the reader.

Enjoyment: I especially liked the daily dealings between the characters and found the story to be promising. In the end however, the outcome was below my expectations and the moral lessons (everyone can better his life) were used too much. Also, the fights were a bit repetitive sometimes.
But I still liked the lightness of most of the volumes.

Overall: Dont expect big plot twist or dramatic emotional buildups. Black Cat's best cards are the laid back, witty characters. Its a joy to see them interact, grow and take care of the obstacles in their way.

Wow! Let me tell you, I absolutely adored this anime! From the plot to the villains, to Kyoko killing people by kissing them and making their insides melt from extreme heat!

Some reviews here talk about "seen it all before" or "so and so had an idiot son" or something. Don't take those reviews to heart.

If you love action, suspense, horror (a little at times), psychological thrillers (it's a bit at some points), cool fights, and neat superpowered people, this manga is definitely something for you!

A shonen manga that has the style of a shoujo manga, that's how I would describe it. Bounty hunters with little money because bounty hunting is a tough life when other people nab up the big guys before you even get a chance to look at who's wanted.

It's easy for some people to complain about some of the characters.

One, for example, is Sven. One of the main characters, Sven wears a three piece suit (I think it's considered 3-piece) with a hat. And no, his hat isn't a trilby (what those "nice guys" and neck-beards wear), it happens to be an actual fedora. He has the appearance of a guy from the 1930's or so with his old-time gangster appearance. He preaches about protecting women and children and people who are unable to defend themselves. He lives by the code of gentlemen --chivalry. This actually isn't all that bad. I know, what comes to mind with this type of character is a frightening neck-beard roaming 4chan or something. But Sven Vollfied is certainly not one of those kinds of people.

Sven happens to be a very intelligent inventor who creates all the weapons he uses, unleashing them from his briefcase. If you want to know what's up with the eye-patch you'll have to read the manga!

Train has a typical tortured backstory (which was depicted horribly in the anime, mind you --but handled fairly well in the manga). But that doesn't stop him from being a lovable protagonist. All he wants is food, and he can eat through your credit for a place serving food.

Eve is a precious cinnamon roll, not free of sin though.

In all, I absolutely recommend everyone I know to read this manga, and I urge you to give it a shot! You won't be disappointed!

This manga was pretty damn good!
The character development was REALLY well written and the overarching story was pretty great too!
Train's skill was really well illustrated and Sven's gadgets where also cool!
I LOVED the artwork! (except the excessive fan-service in the covers)
I feel like I have nothing bad to say about this manga!

My 2 favourite Character was Eve. If you don't know who those 2 are or have next to no info about them, stop reading here.

Eve's character developed SO MUCH throughout the series! at the beginning she was a killing machine, and at the end she was a mature kind loving adorable character!

One of the weaker points (and really the only weak point) was the ending. If you don't know the ending stop reading here.

The ending was sort of a Deus Ex Machina with Saiya's ghost coming out of no where to help him shoot Creed? it was confusing...

Cliche.

The one word that can completely describe this story. Need I say more?

In the first two chapters, I was actually quite pleased with the story so far until (Dum Dum DA!) a so-called thief lady shows up. As I grudgingly try to get my head back into the manga and away from the obvious lack of imagination that struck the writer as to suddenly, within TWO CHAPTERS already introduce a character, worse more, a woman. A woman, that from my experience of reading stories, loosens the action and introduces a mind-melting (from boredom) romance.

After I compromise to get my head back into the story, not three chapters and another character gets introduces, this time it went too far, it was a kid, not only a kid but a girl, in such circumstances I would have found it funny for this kind of girl to need 'rescuing' but WAIT!

After they rescue her, the main reason they did so was so she gets a normal life; they turn the tables and she comes with them on their violent (or PG violent) journey; more than kind of contradicting the whole damn reason they saved her in the first place.

And suddenly his former partner, now (what a surprise) arch rival wants to strike a (honestly I thought it was a bargain of a) deal but for a reason that should be burnt in hell for eternity (his partner had killed a woman that turned the #1 feared and strongest assassin (the main character) into...

A pillow.

And the main character feels betrayed (why the heck should he) because his partner killed this lousy person which earns him an 8 on the Cliche-As-Ever metre) he says no and a fight ensues.

After the fight, I could already guess what would happen in the rest of the story, it was that cliche.

And so, honestly, if you like no suspense and knowing the story before it even started, I recommend this book to you.

Black Cat at its worst is a typical action manga chock-full of unoriginal characters and plot devices, but at its best an enjoyable series in which those unoriginal characters are endearing, the plot devices are familiar enough to seem almost nostalgic, and the story as a whole flows well (for the most part).

Story: The core story is quite interesting, though it often takes the shonen staples of "I'm gonna fight you just to prove myself" and "I suddenly got so much more powerful" and "I'm the only one that can stop the bad guy." The story is fun and even suspenseful beyond those occasional nuisances.

Art: Black Cat also reminds the audience it's shonen by featuring a lot of guys with spiky hair. Train Heartnet's features are adorably catlike. In case you're not sure who to root for, the good guys look nice and bad guys are usually quite ugly. Nothing about the art itself really jumps out at the reader beyond some of the action sequences, which are nicely drawn. Unlike many other shonen, I actually found myself understanding what had just happened in any given fight.

Character: Characters are not this series' strong point, at least not as far as originality goes. Everyone has seen these characters before at some point, they just looked different and had different names. Train is your heartless assassin-turned all-around nice guy who is also a bounty hunter. Sven is the self-proclaimed gentleman sidekick with some kind of trump card in his fighting ability. Eve is the ridiculously powerful child who's been genetically altered and initially had no emotion. Creed is the guy who has a disturbing obsession with the main character and a vendetta against the world who inevitably decides to rule it over as a god.

That being said, the characters are faithful to their unoriginal archetypes. They rarely do anything unexpected, unless that's their intended personality.

Enjoyment: In spite of the perceived recycled characters and storyline, Black Cat is quite enjoyable. There's plenty of humor interspersed throughout and the characters, to their credit, are diverse enough where a reader could pick one he/she really really likes and cheer them on over the course of the story.

Overall: Black Cat is criticized for not being too original, but that's not really its intention. The idea is to create an interesting story with characters that have been tested and proven to work on an audience before, and besides, if Black Cat were to happen to be the first anime anyone saw, they wouldn't necessarily know the difference. This is, in the end, a worthwhile series for action fans.

I really feel that Black Cat is one of the best mangas I've seen. I don't think the plot is cliched, and even if it is, I really love all the characters in the manga. They're all very well-made and each has a great story to tell. I enjoy every single volume of Black Cat that teaches me a lot of things. It's also interesting because the guy turned from bad to good and the manga shows us about how his renewed mindset and how another person could transform him tremendously.