Ranked #667

Black Cat

Gah~ Ceray's Review Time (procrastination in disguise)! Anyway, this is the review for the anime Black Cat. The anime is about Black Cat, also known as Train Heartnet, who once was an assassin for the organization Chronos. Due to events that happen in the story, Train quits being an assassin to becoming a sweeper/bounty hunter.

Plot: Since I haven't read the manga (yet) I can't compare the plots, I do know, however, that the storyline has changed a bit, however that doesn't really affect the story. The main part of the story consists of Train more or less wanting to confront a ghost from his past and this takes up roughly a little less than half the series. Though it's good that Black Cat had other small subplots, it felt rushed at times, as if they wanted to get straight to the action, which took away from the enjoyment. That aside, the story was wonderful, and kept me anxious for the next episode (which is why I finished so quickly), wanting to know what would happen to Train and company next.
Score: 7/10

Animation: If you want me to express what I though about the animation for Black Cat in one word that word would be "PWETTY." Not pretty, but pwetty. The animation is smooth and does look all.... icky. Yeah. If there's one thing about the animation that I have to point out is that Train looks younger, a few years younger. I mean, he's twenty three in the manga, but in the anime he looks nineteen (age change could be because of the changed time line...). What else should I say? The ending animation for the first twelve episodes is amusing, but only until... episode eight, but honestly I was missing it after a while. But, that's not the point, and the point is that Black Cat's animation nice... No reused animation, as far as I saw.
Score:10/10

Sound: Ah~ The background music, it's music to my ears. The music pretty much matches the mood of the current scene, for example during the dramatic scenes some sort of opera sounding music plays giving you that... ominous (?) feeling. I absolutely adored the piano version of the song Konoyo no Uta, which plays at certain points in the series. The opening theme, Daia no Hana, is amazing as well... However, the first ending theme Namidaboshi sometimes doesn't match the mood of the episode that it's ending...

Now usually, I don't watch subs, this is because I'd rather hear it in English, with Black Cat, I had no choice but to watch it subbed... And how wonderful it was. Takashi Kondo pulls Train off extremely well, sounding one way when serious and totally lighthearted another way. Also Shin'ichiro Miki makes Creed sound absolutely obsessed, which is good... I guess...Cept, I dun like Creed...
Score:9/10

Character: Ah. Do I have to put this? I totally love the characters of Black Cat... Even Creed, who scares me a lot. They aren't all that different than their manga counterparts, which is... good, and you can really tell the difference between then, Train is Train, Tanya is Tanya and Creed.... is obsessed.
Score: 9/10

Enjoyment: ... Must I explain?... Well... I sorta watched the whole series for Train... So... yeah...
Score: 9/10


Overall:

Yay!: Animation is smooth and pwetty. Smooth animation is good on Ceray's glasses ridden eyes.
Nay!: Plot was way too rushed. Pull it out at least ten or so more episoes.
Score: 9/10
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Main
I almost never watched this show because I was told the show sucked....which I guess only goes to show that not matter what people say or how many people say it, it's really up to the individual and that person's preferences. Needless to say my review will probably be taken as a dissenting opinion from the majority who have given this show a medium to low score. Black Cat is not a bad show and it's not really a disappointing show either....only to those who selected this series with the expectation of finding the next Holy Grail of an anime, i.e., Cowboy Bebop or Trigun.

If you decide to pick this series to watch, then judge it on it's own merit and you will enjoy it a lot better. There's a nice mixture of funny and sad moments [expect some characters being killed off], there is some dramatic tension and a decent climax. Again, to me this was not such a horrendous story and I don't see where the big disappointment is. So I guess it would be best to say that this is the type of show you are going to have to watch and then formulate your own opinions about it.

Art Style
At first I thought “Gee, what sucky animation! ....Especially for something that came from Gonzo!!!!” But then I thought it was unfair to “expect things” and not allow room for change or a different form of expression. So I guess I could say that the animation for this show was pretty standard during the non-combat scenes......and “experimental” during the battle scenes. By experimental I mean, that the movements aren't very stylish, fancy, fluid or even detailed for that matter, objects tend to move at a super fast rate and there's a lot of [over] usage of different blurring effects and overlays. Also during these battle scenes a lot of times you won't have any backgrounds just the characters duking it out with their own brand of super powers thru numerous repeated [non-looped] scenes and multi-angled shots. Nothing else really stands out animation-wise, there aren't any beautiful scenery or exotic locales, this show is pretty much character driven so expect most [if not all] scenes to involve these people with powers in various situations.

Sound
I can't remember there being much music in this show. My favourite song has to be the OP, not for any particular reason except for that I like the part where Saya spins at ½ speed in her star-printed yukata, and the sound of the singers voice at that part. The first ED song I don't remember....I just like all the cat-faced people running and jumping around, the second ED song was also very nice, but I didn't think it should have been part of this anime's soundtrack.....also again I did like the little filmstrip flashback with Saya at the very end.

Story
Eventho I read some reviews on a couple of sites, I don't think the story was such a total mess. Yes! I DO think the ending was a little abrupt, it could have used a little cleaning up and with the series overall, a little tightening up here and there could have been done.....but it was still a fairly decent and entertaining story! But really I think just because this series started with that type of dramatic opening scenes with the shady characters jumping around on rooftops and a couple assassinations, people thought “YES! Guns, assassins, gangsters...Gungrave, Bebop, Trigun!!!” and then was put off by the shows apparent goofiness. The thing is the show was always goofy and was intended to be that way from the get-go. Now whether or not the manga was originally as goofy I don't know and honestly part of the reasons I used to not read mangas much was because I knew I would have issues with animes that didn't do a good job with the adaptation and I wouldn't be able to wholly enjoy the show. Black Cat I did enjoy because I watched it without trying to attach it to something else or try to compare it to anything else whether it be the original manga or other anime shows and it was a fun show.

So in other words, this was hardly a compelling drama or nail-bitingly suspenseful series it's just a superficially entertaining show where you'll laugh at the funny parts and be moved by the more touching parts, it's nothing you'll want to write a college thesis about.

Characters
You can definitely expect lots and lots of characters! I don't particularly go for shows with an infinite array of characters because it's too easy to lose focus of the actual plot and get all engrossed with “favourite” characters! Besides seeing too many faces and hearing a lot of names, gives me headache. This show does try it's best to keep it all around the five or so central figures, so this isn't as bad....and Sven does try to keep things light and funny which I could appreciate.


Worth it or not?
I liked it, I thought it was a good show and they kept it light and funny, except for a few poignant scenes. I would recommend this show to people...but not without making sure they're going to be really objective about it, otherwise they just be wasting their time to wind up as another disappointed viewer. read more

First of all, to be honest with you all. I did not enjoy this series as much as i thought i would like it mainly because of the plot and how it got fairly rushed in the end.

Story - The beginning part of the story i thought was very well made, it was very dark, mysterious but not scary at all for those who dislike scary storylines. But after a while the plot just seem dull and unoriginal. Typical protagonist trying to save the world, trying to protect his friends and trying to get revenge, all these types of storylines has been overused, if Black Cat had a better storyline, i believe it would have been better.

Art - I liked the design of the characters, especially Train during the beginning of the series. So i have nothing to complain about the art category.

Sound- Not much to review about sound, but i have to admit the gunshots were pretty real. Also, the voice actors fitted the role very well, especially Eve and Sven. The OP was quite nice, fitted into the anime quite nice.. Forgot how the ED goes so i can't review that.

Character- One of the things that makes Black Cat enjoyable are the wide variety of characters. It is quite amusing watching Jenos and Rins yell at each other. So if your looking for some humorous characters, Black Cat has that for you. The one thing that i thought lacked in the character section was the sudden change of Train Heartnet. Although it says half a year has passed, I'm pretty sure people other then me wants to watch the process of him from a deadly assassin to a overly energetic young man. Another reason i suggest Black Cat was rushed.

Enjoyment- Black Cat is actually quite enjoyable if you do not care about the unoriginal storyline seeing that the characters are greatly designed and there are many great fight scenes.

Overall- Overall i would say Black Cat is a fair made anime that fails to achieve better due to the lack of storyline and how it is quite rushed. Although i say this, i still enjoyed Black Cat to it's full potential. read more

The purpose of this review is to express my disappointment as someone who read the manga first and enjoyed it a lot, and I will actually put my conclusion as an introduction so that at least some people will not summarily dismiss this (although I do not know how effective that will be; people tend to rate based on if the scores agree with them).

None of this is to say that the anime is not worth watching if you have not read the manga, or even if you have, everyone is different and you might wildly enjoy it. It has a genuine plot that has a clear goal and approaches it with a fairly consistent pace; it is rather all the little details which detract from this anime for me. The manga's art is more enjoyable since it is not poorly animated, its plot is executed more grandiosely, which is the main difference besides art that bothers me, and the manga allows you to imagine how the characters act a little more, and while sometimes an anime exceeds my imagination, as I am not very creative, it did not in this instance.

I think the easiest place to start is the art. If you have watched a lot of Gonzo, then you probably have found that although maybe not always superb, they have had a hand in such creations as Gankutsuou or Last Exile with superb animation that moves very naturally (except in the terrible mech scene), and even in less refined instances like Full Metal Panic! or Gantz is still quite acceptable typically. In this anime it moves very awkwardly and left me rendered uncomfortable the entire anime. It is not the worst art ever, and I am giving it a three not so much for the actual drawing style, which is probably around fairly typical, but for the emphatically terrible way in which movement occurs.

The voice acting is stellar. In regard to music, I usually try to rate it this way: if it does not detract from the anime, then I am not upset (if it detracts I will rate it a 1 or 2 by default). In this case, it is certainly no Cowboy Bebop or anything, but it never terribly detracts, distracts, or annoys.

I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that the plot changes they made were for the amount of time they had allotted to do with the amount of episodes, but I found almost every plot change to be for the worse, which is why I penalized the story so highly. It is much more exciting and constantly 'epic' in the manga. I will not spoil them here, but if you have read and not watched or vice versa, then you will easily notice them. read more

Black Cat appeals to viewers who enjoy action and adventure animes with a touch of humour and humanity. It gives you the pleasure of a good laugh at its gags, moderately suspenseful as the story unfolds and with certain scenes, maybe a tear or two may shed. I found this thoroughly enjoyable.

The story revolves around Train Heartnet, a.k.a Black Cat. Chained down as a professional assassin, Black Cat is expected to adhere strictly to the orders of Chronos Organization. Betrayal to the groups ideals is unforgivable and leads only to death. Train lived his life, killing professionally without a second thought until he meets a 'Sweeper', Minatsuki Saya.
Being completely free and independent Saya believes strongly in choice, whether in taking charge of ones own life or choosing to take others'. With this contradiction, Train begins to doubt his methods and slowly yearns to search for more than cold murder.
Black Cat portrays different meanings of justice, honour and life as Train escapes from the clutches of indomitable Chronos and obsessive ex-partner to a "mercenarious" life of a sweeper. read more

At first I didn’t like it, but it grew on me after a while. I didn’t like it at first probably because it was a bit serious, and its first impression on me wasn’t that good. The storyline for the first few episodes didn’t grab me, and I found myself always distracted by something else.

The storyline was promising, but I felt like the creators tried to fit as much as they can in only 26 episodes. Only the last three episodes were dedicated to Eve’s true nature, which was almost forgotten.

Character design was average. The Numbers and the other villains who had the power of the Tao looked impressive (Specially Leon), but Sven was just weird, Eve had a big head (although she was adorable when she became a bit human) and Rins tried to pull of some fan service but it didn’t work too well for her. I have to say the characters were poorly managed – there were just too many of them and in the end, not everyone was able to get a good amount of screen time. I don’t even know the names of most of the sweepers from the sweeper alliance. A lot of them were unnecessary too. Although I still find myself liking Train. He was so cool and mysterious at first but in the end he became so wacky and funny and just adorable.

Drawing style was so – so. I felt like it was almost there, but still quite lacking. Train was well drawn, but there were times when the drawing style would change and his face would morph. Speaking of morph, I noticed that the colors were inconsistent, specially when it came to hair colors. Towards the end I noticed that Sven’s hair was a darker green, and Eve’s hair was a paler yellow, and Rins’ hair was also a lighter purple. The colors were just sub par. I would also like to note the use of CG, which complimented the animation.

The voice acting was okay. At first I thought Train’s voice didn’t match him, because he looked too young and his voice was too low. When he became more cheerful and friendly, his voice changed and became more suited to his personality. I was also happy to find out that Number X’s (Shaolee?) seiyu was the same seiyu for Kohsaka from Genshiken, Wolfram from Kyo Kara Maoh!, Junior from R.O.D the TV and Robert Haydn from Law of Ueki. I love all of those series and I thought the seiyu for all those characters did well too, so it was definitely a plus to have her be a seiyu for Black Cat as well, even if it’s just a supporting role.

I’m a big fan of the BGM for this series. I thought the BMG complimented the scenes well, and if not, improved the feel of the scenes. I was a bit indifferent towards the opening and ending themes, specially the first ending theme – I just thought it didn’t match the anime at all, but it grew on me. Same for the second ending theme which was a bit dull and boring, but in the end I got to appreciate its beauty.

It did reach my expectations – it lived up to the name of Gonzo after all. It was a good decision to watch it and I understand why it’s so popular in the Philippines. I can’t say it’s great, specially since the ending under whelmed me (yet again), but it was a good watch for most of the time. read more

Really a lot of peope think this anime is worse than it is. A lot of people also thought Trains personality change was odd. I noticed only the people who rated this about and 8 or up knows why. When its completely obvious why he changed. Also the anime has a plot, then another two plots in one. They did it all how i wanted them too. Maybe they did rush it a little at the end, but it still made sense. The animation was really good. I loved all the characters. To me they are the best part. I really dont remember any characters that didnt contribute anything. Some of the chronos numbers really didnt but thats all. EVERYone did something. The reason this anime sparked in my book, was that it was Shounen yet it wasnt anything like Bleach and all those other ones, that are pure fighting. The characters sparked a lot, and a huge change from the manga in art. Really it irritates me how under rated this anime is. There wasnt much wrong with it.
I would suggest watching it all over the other bounty animes. Like Cowboy Bebop, truelly i dont know why that one is that great. read more

Genre:Superpower, Action
Episodes:23
OP-Hikari
ED-Namidaboshi

Story-6/10-The story maintains a freestyle mood, where there are a lot of miniture conflicts that don't seem to have anything to do with each other. The series seem to really like to jump around with plots, which does keep the series "fast paced", but it also makes the storyline seem annoyingly choppy. The series was intended for 50 episodes, but was cut short at 23, which is really odd considering how series are usually 26. There is a noticeable jump in the series where its obvious that there could of dragged on.

Music-8/10-The OP is pretty good, the happyish ED really gives away the fact that the series is always gonna have happy ending. The soundtrack is very similar to Getbackers, and is almost as good.

Animation-6/10-The fight scenes are okay, but sometimes everything seems like the artist was high, for the colors of the scenes would just be so random. The ART is average, with some average to below average animation, those lame freeze frames.

Character-7/10-Its like a lot getbackers with the fact that the "main" characters are two guys who have different special techniques or abilities, that are trying to stop crime, while trying to earn money. The series introduces a lot of characters and just like getbackers they often meet each other. There is character development, but it usually seems to rushed or calculated.

Enjoyment/Value-7/10-This series is pretty cool, but doesn't seem extremely special or great. You can build up a lot of excitement through some arcs, but the excitement just dies right after every arc.

Overall-7/10 read more

Well, first of all, thank you for reading my review. Let's get on with it, shall we?

Animation:
The animation is okay, but it gets better during the action scenes. But during a few battle scenes, there aren't backgrounds, it just shows the characters brawling it out.

Music:
The music is quite good, it usually fits the mood and all. The opening is pretty awesome if you ask me, it's one of my favorites. The first ending theme is quite funny, and I always find myself thinking "This is pretty funny" and start laughing just a little bit. The second ending took me a little while to get used to, but the scene with all the characters is quite well done, in my opinion.

Story:
I find the story quite interesting. I really like both Sven's and Train's side of the story, and it's also enjoyable to find more on their backgrounds. I was surprised that some of the characters did die, I really thought that it would be a fighting series without actual deaths. Of course, the deaths aren't a bad thing. I found the main characters appealing and a great fit for a Shonen anime. The only thing I don't like is that absolutely none of the episodes are the same as the manga, but it gets the basic story through.

Final Judgement:
Pros- Fine Music, Great Characters, Keeps a similar story
Cons- Differs from the manga, Animation needs improvement read more

about Black Cat, i like it.....
it's all about friendship, comedy, and also it makes me cry in episode 1X......
but overall, i like Black Cat because Train is cool, Cute, and his golden eyes is cute!!
you should watch this anime!! even though in some episodes the artwork is kinda lame, but you still can stick with the manga.....
overall,
it's a worth-watching-anime!!