Kuroneko no Me ga Yami ni
Black Cat

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"Kuroneko no Me ga Yami ni" is -as far as I am aware- Hideshi Hino's most accessible horror work. Many of Hino's manga from this period have childlike qualities, with their large panels, their being written from the perspective of children or storytellers of sorts, and their straightforward stories. However, this particular outing turns down the graphic violence considerably, without losing what makes this artist's works endearingly unique.

Hino's simple tales generally veer towards the eerie or the bizarre rather than the scary, which fits this collection's premise perfectly. "Kuroneko no Me ga Yami ni" presents 4 short stories through the perspective of a cat ... who is fascinated and puzzled by the humans around him. The stories have no common thread and the cat is never more than an observer -a "horror host"- yet this feels like a cohesive work thanks to the consistent themes of asocial behaviour with a hint of fantasy.

The cat himself is well established in an introductory chapter, which sets the tone for the collection. The human characters are not very deep but work well for the stories being told. Actually, Hino's -sometimes debilitating- lack of character development makes more sense from a cat's perspective. One cannot really explain the plots without spoiling them, but the most unusual premise -for Hino- in this collection is the second one, featuring a quirky horror artist/mangaka. This is one of a few archetypes Hino heavily relies on in his writing but is tweaked just enough to be interesting.

The art is classic Hino throughout, even this early in his career, and is one of the main selling points here. His esthetic and love of outcast characters are reminiscent of Tim Burton's, with less German expressionism influences and a more limited range in the writing. Still, this is a very enjoyable "gateway horror" collection and a short easy read. The only thing missing is the narration of Vincent Price.