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

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.

I’m gonna be straight here – Black Cat is one of the most disappointing anime I’ve ever watched. It’s been two years since I watched this anime and I’m still a little bitter at how much potential remained unrealized at its end.

Black Cat is about this assassin named Train Heartnet (hey, at least he escaped whoever named all the characters in Geass). Or wait, it’s about this secret bio-weapon disguised as a loli named Eve. Actually no, it’s about this bounty hunter dude named Sven. Oh, wait, never mind, I remember, it’s actually about the villain, Creed, who has a hard-on for Train. No hang ... on, it might’ve been about the organization that Train worked for, Chronos…

See, I’m writing all of this as if the abundance of disparate elements in the plot is a bad thing, but the thing is, the story started out with a ton of potential. The first four or five episodes do a great job of tying all these characters together in a sensible and, dare I say, a captivating manner. Seriously, the beginning of this show is excellent. It’s exciting and a bit dark without getting too edgy or angsty, the characters all have good synergy and play off of each other very well, and the pacing is near-perfect.

And then the timeskip happens.

I’ll try to be brief and not spoil anything here, but suffice it to say that a certain main character’s personality does a complete 180 after the timeskip, and virtually zero explanation for the change is given to the viewer, outside of occasional scattered hints that refer to certain events that happened pre-timeskip. This is unfortunately only the beginning, as the rest of the anime devolves into a giant mess of hastily-introduced and poorly-fleshed-out characters, a distinct lack of focus on core plot points that the initial episodes tried to establish, and a ridiculous number of plot contrivances that attempt to reconcile this lack of focus, to no avail. The pacing is haphazard at best and has all the grace of a one-legged donkey at worst. The only relatively consistent character throughout the show is Sven; everyone else undergoes obscenely rushed character “development”, which is really just most of the characters overreacting to major events and, much like aforementioned main character, completely flipping the script on their personalities and becoming the exact opposite of who they originally were. This isn’t even mentioning the staggering number of characters this show introduces. There are like 10 new villains that arrived on the scene halfway through the show, plus all the Chronos assassins and executives, plus the guys who were in charge of those 10 or so new villains I just mentioned…the list just keeps growing and growing, and almost none of them get any kind of proper characterization, let alone development. It’s as if Naruto or One Piece were to condense themselves into 25 or so episodes, and cram their entire casts and plot into that timeframe. It’s insane.

All that being said, the anime does have its good qualities. As I said before, the first part of the anime is very well done, and it constructs a reasonably compelling narrative while introducing a pretty solid cast of characters to drive it forward. The art and animation are also good, although the color palette was a little weird and off-putting at times. The soundtrack is fairly strong as well, and I am particularly fond of the opening theme.

Ultimately, the overwhelming number of flaws prevent this anime from being anything more than way below-average at best. In truth, the last three-quarters or so of this anime are straight up terrible in terms of execution. Still, though…I can only imagine how much more enjoyable this anime could’ve been if they had just stuck to the format the first few episodes had established. It’s a damn shame.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Ka-boom! Ka-boom! Ka-boom!

A plethora of evocative, vibrant fireworks erupt in the gloomy skies of a particularly somber city. In the streets of said city, two forces empathetically collide together and immediately disconnect again and again, like two pendulums swinging in different directions, as brilliant, multicolored sparks soar all over the place. The conflict is one between two fighters that appear to be engaged in a fierce duel to the death, the animosity for each other intoxicating. One fighter possesses the look of a weathered wanderer with his tattered black jacket in tow, and he holds a gun in his hand while the other fighter, donning ... a polished white jacket, grips a glowing sword, akin to a lightsaber. While slabs of concrete are torn to shreds, while entire houses are reduced to smithereens, the movements of these two alleyway brawlers are effortless, elegant, and expeditious, more a resemblance of Baryshnikov than Andre the Giant. As the showdown reaches its climax, the weapons of the two fighters, the gun and the lightsaber-like sword, are pressed against one another, the sparks frenziedly bouncing off them. The man in the white jacket bellows at his opponent, “Your eyes! That woman! She’s got you! You’re under that witch’s spell!” A cutaway to a woman’s body, horrifically pale and bloodied, occurs before he raises his sword in preparation for a lethal downward strike. We then witness the aftereffect of his attack; we see his opponent, the fighter in the black jacket, howling in pain, spiraling to the ground in defeat.

This, my friend, is the first thirty-five seconds of Black Cat.

If there’s one thing that this series can accomplish, it’s the ability to hook you into its framework, to really galvanize the audience into discovering what it’s all about. Black Cat’s theme song, Yorico’s “Daia no Hana”, does a fantastic job at this. This opening unveils a story centered on the black-coated wanderer (Train Heartnet) seeking a purpose in life, attempting to escape the psychological stronghold placed on him by the white-coated swordsman (Creed Diskenth) and the organization which once employed both of them (Chronos, the governmental entity comprised entirely of assassins for hire). In a strange twist of fate, Train encounters others that either desire to live freely like him or that want to encourage him in the right direction (Sven Vollfied, Saya Minatsuki, Eve, and Rinslet Walker). The remainder of the theme song is dedicated to presenting the obstacles these characters face as well as the friends (and enemies) they come across along the way. Musically speaking, “Daia no Hana” is a triumph, explosive at times and somber in other moments, a virtuoso of tonal shifts. Really, it’s among the biggest highlights of Black Cat’s soundtrack. Crafted by composer Taku Iwasaki (who would later create the OST for Gurren Lagann), the music in Black Cat is surprisingly sober, a relaxed and low-key combination of folk blues, classical, and piano compositions (The music that appears in the eye catches are particularly smooth). However, the bombasticness, the over-the-top energy, that Taku Iwasaki would later be acclaimed for, shines through in songs like “Accettami” and “Yajuu no Chi” but especially “Kuroki Neko” (Train’s character theme), a memorably grandiose and overpowering orchestral track. In contrast to the mood Iwasaki already established, Black Cat’s first ED, PUPPEYPET’s “Namidaboshi”, is silly, immature, and even infantile at times. However, the second ED (Matsuda Ryouji’s  “Kutsuzure”) is much more fitting; it possesses a soulful, melancholic feel to it.

While the soundtrack applies a sleek yet vibrant atmosphere to the show, Black Cat’s amazing aesthetics provide a stylishly visceral element. Produced by Studio Gonzo, this show’s character designs are mercurial in terms of quality (It’s strikingly obvious when it’s great and when it’s not), and the animation overall is fairly standard for the most part. Sure, the show’s CGI is simply horrifying (a Gonzo trademark) but Black Cat compensates with its beautiful back lighting and enthusiastic color palette. However, it’s the streaks of artistic brilliance that causes Black Cat to visually stand out the most. In one scene, a particularly opulent character showcases an outfit of Unmoving Plaid, a creative move reminiscent of Gankutsuou, an earlier Gonzo project. More than anything else, Black Cat’s fight scenes are where it unleashes the fullest extent of its visual excellence; they’re almost always intense and jaw-droppingly stylish, the embodiment of cinematic creativity. The fights that personally stand out are the ones late in the series, like Eve vs Leon, the final showdown between Train and Creed, and especially Sephiria vs Creed (In that particular fight, there’s an amazing shift between during the battle and after; the showdown’s result is portrayed in black and white while the fight itself is overflowing in color). To be honest, it was Black Cat that first inspired me to value the art of cinematography.

“Wow. This sucker sure is heavy,” - Saya Minatsuki (episode 5)

You can possess the world’s most hardboiled soundtrack and dark-colored designs but if the writers of a TV show can’t craft a consistently exciting drama, then everything falls apart. Just look at Deadman Wonderland. Black Cat, on the other hand, is a master of mood execution. What I mean is that when drama is needed, it is established and executed at a high level of quality, like episode ten’s chase scene. When Black Cat desires to frighten the audience, it elevates its Horror Factor to an unprecedented level, like Train’s nightmare in episode 14. Admittedly, this show falters when it involves emotional appeal but Black Cat compensates with scenes like Beluga (a Chronos operative) and his roaring rampage of revenge in episode 15; it’s among Black Cat’s most poignant moments. Sadly, the show’s forays into comedy are even worse. Early on, Black Cat maintained a generally unremarkable yet balanced sense of humor; during serious scenes, the jokes were never repetitive nor underwhelming. Later on, Black Cat’s comedic success devolves into oversaturated mediocrity with a knack for tiresome, unoriginal gags (Remember The Looney Tunes Rule: when you’re in the air, don’t look down).

There are quite a few areas in which Black Cat hardly qualifies as perfect but its characterization is where the show is perhaps the most deficient in. Black Cat performs commendably at its usage of recurring side characters, allotting them sufficient screen time, depth, and individuality, like Petra Ghoul, Annette, and Tanya. However, Black Cat’s overall characterization leaves much to be desired. With notable exceptions to three fantastic characters (who I’ll mention later), the members of Black Cat’s cast can be filed into five categories: consistently good-but-not-great (Train and Eve), good-but-not-great characters with shrinking importance (Rinslet, Leon, Sephiria, and Woodney), fairly worthwhile characters with decent amount of depth (Tearju, Dr. Kanzaki, Igor Planter, Tim, and Gyanza), terrible (Mason, Kyoko, 85% of Chronos, and the entire Sweepers Alliance)....and River Zastory.

(I won’t mince words here: River Zastory is unarguably one of the most pointless characters in all of anime. There is not one thing that he contributed to the show that someone else didn’t already contribute at a higher level of quality. Train, Creed, Eve, and Sephiria are stronger. Sven, Woodney, and almost everyone else have a greater sense of humor. Even the show’s pet mascot is more important than him. River Zastory has no chemistry or bond with anyone. He has zero character development and depth. He doesn’t even have personality traits. If there’s one word that can be used to describe River Zastory, it’s “expendable”).

While River Zastory (and the show’s characters in general) represent Black Cat at its worst, there are three members of the cast that allot a sense of respectability to the group as a whole, and one of them as Saya Minatsuki (voiced by Caitlin Glass). She’s an experienced bounty hunter (or “Sweeper” as this is what they are known by in Black Cat) whose relaxed nature belies her frightening accuracy with  her handgun. A free spirit more than anything else, Saya influences Train to embrace his individuality and to not be concerned with how others (namely Creed) wish for him to live. The show was only graced with her presence for six episodes but Saya became a fan favorite due to her witty observations, her likability, her competitive spirit, and her silliness.

Sven Vollfied is another of Black Cat’s finest characters, and my personal favorite of the bunch. A cross between Trigun’s Nicholas D. Wolfwood (his sarcasm and snarky brilliance) and Cowboy Bebop’s Jet Black (his fashion sense and traditionalist values), Sven is a chain-smoking ex-cop with unbelievable bad luck, chain to an occupation he once referred to as being a glorified nomad. Brandon Potter, in his role as Sven, delivers a raspy, worn-out baritone that’s perfect for Black Cat’s green-haired sweeper; it’s as if Potter was born for this role. In a show where characters are defined almost entirely by how physically imposing they are, Sven gets by with his gadget-filled suitcase, his superb quick thinking, and a nifty ability to glimpse into the future. Ultimately, Sven Vollfied is a paragon of natural charm, the embodiment of smooth, and a richly developed character…. but he doesn’t come close to Creed Diskenth.

At first glance, Creed (brought to life by a scenery-chewing, show-stopping performance from Chris Patton) doesn’t look like much, just another maniacal villain aiming to take over the world. Yet, there’s more to Creed than that. Throughout the course of Black Cat, we witness a broken human being mistreated and dismissed by those above him. We witness a man who seeks to change the world for the better but devolves into one of the monsters he despised in the first place (Creed’s ambition is pure yet his intentions are not). We witness a man, who wasn’t too mentally stable to begin with, spiral further and further into the very depths of madness. We witness a charismatic leader establish a tight-knit circle of followers and we observe his utter disdain for virtually all of them. We witness a man’s overly obsessive pursuit for the approval and praise of another, and we observe the man’s realization of his pursuit being a pointless one. Finally, we witness a man’s journey towards redemption; it is a rather hasty journey but a journey nonetheless. Compared to Black Cat’s other characters, Creed Diskenth is a diamond in the rough, the proverbial needle in the haystack, a ray of light in a cave of darkness.

Though there is much to criticize Black Cat’s cast for, what I appreciate most about them is the show’s ability to frame the characters in representing the various ideologies that are established in the plot. Zagine (Train’s mentor) and Creed passionately advocate for Social Darwinism while Sephiria pontificates on the societal effects of a corrupt government. Eve introduces an unconventional outlook on pets (that these animals are forced into a new and unfamiliar environment against their will) while the Sweepers Alliance criticizes the government’s nonchalant treatment of them. All of this (and more) are woven together to collectively enhance the central storyline of revenge and redemption.

However, it was this speciality, the gift for presenting an array of ideologies, that gradually dissolved into nothingness as Black Cat’s runtime increased, along with many of the series’ other noteworthy attributes. While the show was never one without flaws, Black Cat, at its absolute apex (from episodes 1 to 12, specifically episodes 8 to 12), achieved in magnifying its greatest features and minimizing its shortcomings to the best of its abilities. It is immediately after Train’s second big showdown against Creed in episode 12 (they would have one more before the series concluded) that Black Cat devolves from a gritty, multilayered action-noir epic into a half-hearted, by-the-numbers beat-em-up comedy. After episode 12, Black Cat possesses a few glimmers of brilliance, like the transcendent episode 14 and Charden’s character arc, but ultimately it’s not enough to overcome the phenomenal deprivation of everything that made this show special.

To deploy a term invented by MyAnimeList user CodeBlazeFate, Black Cat is a poster boy victim of “Second Half Syndrome”.

Just when you think that Black Cat’s latter portion can’t become more of a disgrace (after the pointless filler episode, the useless Tao monsters, River Zastory’s entire existence, and episode 20’s uber-convenient deus ex machina), the Eden Project Arc commences. This is what Black Cat’s last four episodes are dedicated to; this is something that the show has been anticipating since the very beginning but you can’t resist wishing it were better executed. The Eden Project Arc is centered on Eve’s desires to be understood and to find somewhere she belongs yet she’s utilized as a plot device, a placeholder if you will, instead of a character with real emotions. The Eden Project Arc bombards its runtime with an overflow of unnecessary archetypes instead of simply selecting a handful of important characters and providing them with their own individual reasons for destroying the evil operation. The Eden Project Arc possesses an abundance of Biblical references (mostly involving the Book of Genesis) but it devotes its runtime to “making the weapon of destruction look really cool and do really cool things” instead of allotting substance and nuance to the references. The utterly irredeemable cop-out near the end serves as the embodiment of everything the Eden Project Arc did wrong, the cherry on top of a perfect disaster.

Black Cat, in a medium where action shows are a dime a dozen, has become a forgotten relic of the mid-2000s, ruthlessly criticized on the rare occasion in which its name pops up. The majority of those that viewed Black Cat immediately dismissed it as a Cowboy Bebop knockoff (kind of true) instead of appreciating it for what it is. As a result, Black Cat is wandering aimlessly outside of MAL’s Top 1000, its fans few and far between. As one of the only advocates for this hidden gem, I’d argue that Black Cat, despite its shortcomings, is wildly underrated; it’s much more creative, intense, and complex than people give it credit for. Black Cat exists as an interesting revision of the Cowboy Bebop formula, as a brilliant representation of Gonzo at the height of its aesthetic glory, and as one of the greatest shonen epics you’ll ever encounter. With that, I encourage you to not allow the opinions of others to prevent you from giving this show a chance. Black Cat is not a kitty that will bite you.

TL;DR: Watch it until episode 6-7 and drop it after.


The story starts very cliche but well done and interesting with a lot of potential and the MC is badass, the art and animation is nice for the time the anime was made and sound is decent as well, everything looked promising until the time skip happened where our MC turns from badass to generic annoying boring wimp sounding like MC, the plot goes from mysterious and interesting to boring save the world, friendship power, killing is bad etc.

This anime had a lot of potential but it got ruined thanks to the incompentence of the ... director/writer of this series, it felt almost like he changed his mind from cool badass to "I'm scared it won't sell so I need to make it as generic and boring as possible and do 180* on MC". Trully disgusting.

Also the different POV changes to Sven, Eve and the others characters instead of focusing solely on MC point of view felt really out of place and destroyed a lot of enjoyment.
People watch this for Train, if they would have committed to follow only his POV and focus on his badass counterpart solely rather than destroying his character and giving too much POV to others, it would have been a very solid anime.



Rating:

7/10 episode 1-6
1/10 epiosode 7+

Ok, so before I have told you that I’m not crazy about girls and guns genre, but I guess this could be considered guys and guns. Now in this, it’s a bit different except the concept was the same, guy gets into a organization as pretty much a hired gun and goes around assassinating who the organization doesn’t like. The thing I like about this show is that it doesn’t start there, and most of that is actually back story. This is about him getting out of the group and learning what he himself wanted. The character that actually helps him figure this out is ... ‘new’ code was Saya but it really annoyed me they killed her off so quickly.

Now I do wonder a lot about why Saya is a big part of Train’s life and why he goes out for revenge. He only knows her for about 2 or three days so why does he go crazy when she dies? Is it because she is the only person he cared about that died in front of him? I don’t think that’s the case because they show he has seen others he cares about dieing before then so why? Give us a bit more to work on with her please. I liked the show but I hate that they add Saya only to kill her off in the first 2 to 3 episodes. It’s just not fair to both Train and the watcher. Once I got into her character, then I’m hurt by how she is no longer there. Though there flash backs, we don’t see much of how she affects Train much. It somewhat makes me feel that the first five episodes were wasted on the so called relationship between Train and Saya that had no real reason for being because it wasn’t much of a relationship.

The fighting was rather interesting though sometimes it bothered me that we only got flashes of the fight and not a whole fight. It did get better after a while though. I am also don’t really like the sudden change in Train’s character that seems to mess with me. He all of a sudden is so childish in front of strangers. It’s a complete turn around from how he was in the first few episode without any space in between for growth.

Some of the animation feels much like an opening to a James Bond opening though it has a bit of the same flare as a new-vole in the beginning. And then it cuts that and goes into comic fest with jokes and funny site gags. It has a nice way of taking you into the story line for the drama, then hitting you over the head with a bat continually until it again goes back into Drama mode. But every battle works well with the next, someone studied well when it came to camera angles. Gonzo isn’t known for great animation but this one is pretty nicely done.

The music has many different feels for each scene from the hunting chant whenever Greed (aka Seductive obsessed freak!) to the playful sounds of walking down the street that you normally get for comical affect. Most of them work well with the characters but once in a while… we get something that sounds rather bad or not fitting the area.

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

Well, I could have been a great anime but because of some things, it lessen some good points.

The story is not that unique but still manageable. You will still enjoy the twist and turns of how the plot was played. But I am totally disappointed on how "fast" the stories were. It's like it was rushed. It could have been better if they would have at least 40 or more episodes just to stretch out the details. It's like I just watched a long movie, not a series.

The art and sounds are good enough.

When it comes to character, since the story, in my opinion, ... was rushed, they weren't able to give the characters depth on why they were like that.
Everything was compressed in an episode and all willing to do everything after meeting them once. The shifting of black cat's character was not smoothly shifted as well. It's like he turned 180 degrees after just a few conversation.

But still, like what I said earlier, nonetheless, this is still a good anime to enjoy. I would still recommended it, esp to those doesn't like much talks but more on to action. You will not regret watching this.

well lets see...its about an infamous assassin
from the underworld called Chronos.
then he changed...to the better(thats good)

i liked it because i was fun while serious.
but sometimes is was too much of the good,
^^ but one of my fav.
if you like this kind of stories you can try it^.^

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!!

Black Cat has really good music, character designs, and has a good artistic style. Unfortunately there is more style than substance. The poor pacing, inconsistent animation, and uninteresting plot make the series painfully average. The music really elevates what it accompanies and makes scenes feel much more impactful. The characters are all unique and it is a shame that their backgrounds and motivations are not explored further. The animation is extremely inconsistent, there are some scenes where it was obvious where the budget went, and others that are lacking. The pacing is also a huge detriment especially later in the ... series where there are large exposition dumps overshadowing the rest of the episode. The main narrative is rather boring and messy especially at the end of the series. Black Cat is cool to look at but that's about it.

Black Cat! What an awesome synopsis with a great story! These were my first thoughts on the series. In the beginning, I was very impressed. The first few episodes were great, entertaining. Unfortunately, it all just fell apart into a giant mush of boring side stories, awful character morals, and poorly designed villains.

I like to start my reviews off with the good aspects of a series, so let's go over a few. The opening song wasn't too bad. ... The animation was average. I did find myself enjoying a few of the characters. Sven had excellent voice acting. Saiya and Kyouko were enjoyable characters. There was so much potential!

Let's skip the point... I just, wow. I was enjoying Black Cat a lot, but it was just written so poorly. It was about cool assassins and bounty hunters, then they became morally illogical, neighborhood watch style of characters.
"We have the power to kill this terrible murderous rapist with super powers, but let's turn him over to the police so he can break of jail for the 6th time."
Of course, this is just an example, not a spoiler, but you understand how frustrating it became. Not only that, but the story just kept flipping to awful side stories and introducing useless characters with no relevance whatsoever. Most of the villains had ridiculous logic, or lack thereof. Not to mention, this series actually has 24 episodes. Mal probably didn't include the 24th episode because it was downright terrible. You could hardly tell what was going on at all.

All and all, I will not be watching this series again, and I'm not even that proud to have finished it. It's too violent for kids, too illogical for adults.. it's just a flop. If you enjoy far-fetched, wild adventures, with ministories that don't add to the main story, you might enjoy Black Cat, but it definitely wasn't for me.

3/10 Sweepers. Hopefully enough to sweep it under the rug :') !

Black Cat has everything a good anime has to offer:

Angst fueled stylish haired gun waving smart ass, a lifeless lady of massive destruction, assassins, goofy support character, an insane villain and a few happy go lucky ladies.

Despite the line up it doesn't quite come together right. I liked the premise of the story, a man fighting his dark past is something that is released in Japan about as often as a new Rihanna song in the pop industry but hey I find that a unoriginal story is not a death sentence and can be made into something truly unique with character development & plot ... twists.

Black Cat started out great with action and humor and had Trains fancy gun skills to boot, it felt like it was going to become a great anime. Then episode 8 happens, the anime takes a turn for the worse and feels like I am watching all filler which I was quite curious about due to Black Cat only having one season. Once the anime finally stops showing the viewer how to capture Reptar and helping the next Hercule out of the mess he had created, it picks up from where it left of and tries to make up for lost time which it does quite well despite the last arc being incredibly rushed.

The art work for Train in the first few episodes were beautiful, I don't blame Creed for wanting to see the killer look it was quite captivating. The fight scenes were done well not the best I have seen but nothing really to complain about. The backgrounds buildings were done well and set the tone of the anime without drawing away from the characters.

Soundtrack for Black Cat, I loved the opening song but the rest of the soundtrack... I didn't really notice it, I guess that can be classed as a good thing it wasn't so bad to mute or be distracting but when it comes to creating suspense and enhancing action scenes it's not really doing it's job.

Ugh. This is where my problem with the anime lies Train Heartnet's character development, when I got to episode 8 I had to pause the anime to check I hadn't missed any episodes I looked on Wikipedia I apparently was on the correct one and six months had passed. From assassin to goon in an opening sequence and becoming surprisingly chatty whoever his therapist was they should set up a shop in Apostles of the Stars and all the problems would be solved. For those saying "well six months have passed" I hardly believe that a lifetime of murder and Cloud Strife syndrome is overcome in that short amount of time. I would of felt better about the transformation if it was gradual and was included in the anime.

I enjoyed the series up until episode 8 and the anime became preoccupied with looking at the scenery. Though it did rescue itself from good ol' filler pie and continue on with the story and I found the end product satisfying.

Overall I would say it's probably unworthy of the 7 I have given it. Don't get me wrong the anime had some great ideas it just fell at the last hurdle, Black Cat was held up by it's supporting characters, interesting story and great art style.The anime feels like an advert for the manga "here is a poorly executed anime, would you like to buy our manga?" No, no I don't. An anime should be able to stand on it's own and not be held up by it's better manga counterpart. With only 24 episodes to work with it spent too much time on dillydallying and parts became rushed and parts seemed unnecessary. If you are looking for comedy with action then this is for you, if you are looking for a dark story with character developments then you're in the wrong place.

Black Cat is a typical anime whereby the protagonist is usually someone who starts off being part of an organization, is the best at what he is or does and usually is a loner partly because childhood experiences helped to shape the nature of his character and what drives his goals and ambitions. The anime comprises of twenty three (23) episodes and it was not particularly a striking anime. In the opening episode, the anime displayed lots of promise and potential but as the series progressed, it started to fall apart based on storyline, plot and the development of the characters in the series.


STORY ... 7/10

The story focuses on the life of Train Hartnett, a former assassin of Chronos and the manner in which he transforms from a cold blooded assassin into someone living with a purpose. The story was not bad, just needed a few loose ends clearly up sometimes and some characters needed a bit more depth in them especially some of the supporting characters. Characters were thrown in and out of the story and there was no one with whom one can truly identify with. Also, the quick progression of the story saw characters changing sides from one episode to the next. Nevertheless, it made for some entertaining watching.


ART 7/10

The artwork and setting reflected the mood of the anime since most of the action took place at night. This was due in part possibly to the name of the anime so the animation reflected this. The characters were well drawn and Train features did contain cat-like features.


SOUND 9/10

The music was excellent. The opening song was mellow yet spirited and the ending song was cute. The musical numbers in the anime were reflective of the mood at any one particular moment in time and even Saya’s song was melodic and peaceful.


CHARACTER 7/10

The characters had some unique qualities and the way they were drawn as well as their attire also reflected such. Train’s character went through changes in the anime but there was no other significant development with regard to the other characters in the series.


ENJOYMENT 7/10

Even though there were a few inconsistencies in the story at times, I did enjoy the series since the characters, although not anything especially special, were quite entertaining and there were times when it there was some suspense as to what was going to take place next so it was because of this that I found it quite okay.


OVERALL 7/10


The anime had potential but it was too rushed. The story, although interesting and engaging at times was not developed to a point where there could be justifications for some of the actions of some characters that took place in the anime itself. Otherwise, this series was pretty okay but you need not watch till the last episode although if you do watch, you’ll understand why it was not necessary.