Anime: Black Cat

Critic's Log - Earthdate: July 21, 2012. Review #13: Black Cat



The reason I do these intros to my reviews is because I felt like
putting intros in my reviews. I like Anime because I enjoy animation. I
also like to critique these animes because almost every anime has it's
strengths and weaknesses. I am an unofficial critic and my reviews are
strictly opinion. I also review these animes like a proper gentleman and
not some stark, raving fanboy. I am not picky when it comes to
reviewing anime. Anyway, enough with the intro and let's dash right in
to... BLACK CAT











Train Heartnet is a member of the secret society known as Chronos and
he is known as the Black Cat because of his quick reactions to attacks
and his title is Number Thirteen and has a tattoo with the roman numeral
of the number 13. He is an unstoppable master gunman, a cold and
unfeeling killer until he meets a young woman named Saya who happens to
be a bounty hunter or "Sweeper". She teaches him the value of human life
and how to live in order to repent for one's mistakes rather than die
because of them. Through her, Train learns to love and care for other
people as he later becomes a Sweeper and travels with some companions.







To be technical, this is a Studio Gonzo production and... I am not
going to bash the living hell out of Gonzo on this show because to be
honest, Black Cat is not one of the bad eggs that Gonzo has made. I have
heard that Gonzo has some bad shows before and since and I know that
there are some okay animes they made as well and this is one of them.
The animation isn't at all terrible but I can say is that it could have
looked better at some places but I got to commend Studio Gonzo on a
couple of notes.



1. They actually put effort into making the show entertaining and
they really put in some cool visual styles, some use of these visual
styles are slightly hit and miss, but it has some nice trick animation
from time to time.

2. They also used little 3D computer animation on this anime which Gonzo is infamously known for.









As much as the entertainment value Black Cat has. There are other
issues Black Cat has that do need to be addressed. One of them is the
number of characters that you'll see in this show, there are about 6 to 7
litters of characters shown in Black Cat. You got Train, Sven, Rinslet,
and Eve being the main cast, you got the Chronos numbers, then there's
the Apostles of the Star, Townspeople, so on and so on. There are a lot
of characters. This show has way too many characters. This is somewhat
part of the entertainment value for Black Cat, but the problem with this
number of characters is that some of them aren't developed that well.
But what about the main cast? Well, Sven is a delight to watch! He acts
suave because he likes to act like a gentleman. Sven is also great comic
relief for Black Cat. Rinslet Walker is alright to begin with and
pretty much stays that way till the end. Eve is an interesting
character, but the one character that seems to get some criticism is the
main lead Train Heartnet. At first, Train was this mysterious, quiet
gunman. He also was a bit of a boring lead at times to start off with.
That is until he becomes a Sweeper... This also leads to another flaw
with Black Cat. at the Time he was a Chronos, he was quiet and
mysterious. After he left Chronos and after Saya dies, he became more of
a chatterbox, and he was a bit cocky and energetic and there was no
transition to these behaviors. If this was Gonzo's attempt from trying
to avoid making Train look one-dimensional, this was not the best way to
do it, because as hard as they tried... Train is a bit one-dimensional.
But the supporting main cast really saved the show's ass. Shin Itagaki
(The director of Black Cat) still deserves some credit for making sure
that Black Cat had some entertainment value. I will admit that they do
use some cliché tropes but nothing to get people dropping this show. For
example, Creed's goal is to take over the world





Of course, with Train at his side...







The music by Taku Iwasaki is not bad but this might not be his best
but he probably has better recognition before and since, he composed the
Rurouni Kenshin prequel OVA's before Black Cat and he composed the
animes such as Gurren Lagann and Soul Eater since Black Cat. So... is
the music for Black Cat any good? Well, it's not bad and there are some
mixtures of genres and it fits in pretty well.



The voice acting for both English and Japanese are listenable. The
original Japanese version is graciously over the top and that is not bad
for Black Cat because that is what the show sort of needs with the
material that Gonzo produced, Keiji Fujiwara (The Seiyuu of Sven
Vollfied) is an example. I got nothing bad to say about Fujiwara-san,
he's an awesome Seiyuu. The English Dubbed version makes the characters
sound normal. This is also dubbed by Funimation and they are known for
their consistency for good quality dubs. This is from one of their early
days which the quality was just a bit low. This is not a terrible dub,
but it is not outstanding to say the least. There are a couple of
standout performances in the dub, one is Brandon Potter (The English
voice of Sven), and Chris Patton (the English voice of Creed), and Mr.
Patton sure sounds like he had way too much fun voicing Creed, I could
say the same thing to Shinichiro Miki with his performance as Creed.
Miki-san sounds like he had too much fun as well voicing Creed. The
English dub is listenable. I could say that this just leads up to
preference. There's not much to compare when it comes to picking a
language track. Tyler Walker would get recognition later on as an ADR
director, but he did pretty good on Black Cat.





The biggest flaw would probably be its story, Black Cat's story is a
bit of a mixed bag of catnip. I think the explanation of the story
earlier was enough to explain. The action element really saved Black
Cat's Tail... Even though the direction by Shin Itagaki is a little
flawed, it's not absolutely terrible in the long run but there is one
thing that makes me wonder about Black Cat. I wonder if Black Cat was
inspired by Cowboy Bebop in the long run, think about it... Bounty
Hunters, Syndicates, Some of the main cast being unfortunate bounty
hunters, and Train's past catching up to him (sort of).



Also, the Biblical references that are used in Black Cat are kind of a nice touch.



Black Cat is available from Funimation, the manga by Kentaro Yabuki
is also available by Viz Media. A Light Novel called "Black Cat: The
Star's Afterglow" has not made it overseas. The Black Cat videogames
"The Mechanical Angel", and "The Black Cat's Concerto" also never made
it overseas.



With that said, Black Cat is a rare treat by a studio that has had
its share of criticism from some people. The story isn't perfect, but
the action scenes and some characters really gave the show some value
for entertainment. This anime was not a waste of my time and this anime
might not be for everyone. Animes like this is what I would like to call
"Popcorn Anime", because this anime can have a bit of mindless fun.



I give Black Cat a 7 out of 10, It is GOOD!



Feel free to comment below and get yourself a glass or bottle of milk

In a world of assassins and bounties, a world of an imprecise timeline where the old meets the new and where gigantic organizations control the fates of all, secrets are left to be unfold as the world is recreated for us, the viewers. Believable it may not be, but interesting it most certainly is…as long as you don’t take into consideration one small, yet important detail:

This is a Gonzo anime...

Not wanting to sound like I never gave this anime a fighting chance, I actually sat down to watch it with great hopes in mind and even the idea that this may be that second Gonzo masterpiece, alongside Last Exile, since the anime had been recommended to me. And for the first few episodes…it was good, I was pleased with what I was seeing.
The world of the anime is a wonderful joining between old fighting techniques and rituals and modern industry and technologies. I admit I always had an affinity for such worlds and this came up my alley quite nicely.

And thus, I gained hope for the anime, especially since the characters were so fine at the beginning (not original I assure you, but they were great). But all good things come to an early end, especially when we talk about this WONDERFUL studio named Gonzo. What seemed at the beginning to be a reinvention of the studio’s tried and, more often than not, missed formula managed to be nothing more than a shining example of that decaying formula. Nothing that was to be interesting managed to survive, nothing that was good about the characters remained, not even the production values weren’t even as high as I usually expect from these people…the anime is a cliché action series with little substance...unexpected, no?


The animation for starters seemed quite nice. And I do mean “seemed”.
Although the action scenes flow nicely, although the character models are nice and although the backgrounds are quite impressive at times…it’s not good.

Why’s that?

Because the color scheme used is little be said…AWFUL. It manages to ruin about everything nice in the anime’s presentation by the simple use of colors that are not what I could call pleasant to the eye. It’s an attempt at offering some style to the anime but it’s done so impossibly bad that it’s painful to watch as the play of shadow and light is desirable in any and all aspects.

And the animation kinda drags as it moves on…if the action scenes at the beginning are nice, as it moves on, they get to be uninteresting and boring, predictable and impossible (heh, not an argument really…who wants realism in anime?).


The sound on the other hand has been a treat from start to end…

The upbeat opening is what I couldn’t stomach…but the choral music from the anime was extremely sweet. Rarely was there bad music in a Gonzo show and this one is no exception to the rule.

The voices weren’t really something to remember; although the VAs tried their best to offer a thrilling experience…the end result is generic to say the least.


Ah, and the wonderful story that flops in each and every way imaginable.

Ok, as most Gonzo anime start out, we’re introduced into a world that is impressively built, ALWAYS after a change in that world’s structure, a change that affects the course of the anime’s story later on. Nothing bad thus far, it’s a cliché from the studio but I’m not one to mind such a thing, if done well. Superpowers and artifacts are introduced, a bit of feeling, some jokes, a few stereotypes and a bit of story…and this are as far as the first 5 or so episodes are concerned.

After a pretty good start, I actually found some hope for this anime…it was enjoyable the way it began and the story’s subtleties left little to be desired. A complex world was forming and the plot seemed to try and escalate.

Well, it screwed it up. After the introductions are over, the anime starts to drag on it’s already few jokes and bland action. The story and characters go from unique to villain hunting, time and time again, boring. More and more characters come in the lime light, only to leave just the same, leaving the viewer with the clear sensation of “What the fuck was that?!” Whilst I do appreciate large casts of characters, I do feel that the more the viewer can get attached to them, the better. But this is not the case in BC, simply because things come and go quite fast and there’s little on which to hang on and enjoy, taken even Train’s shifty moods.

The anime practically transforms itself into a chase series that’s pretty much predictable in the turns it’s about to take. Although the story does have a few shifts and turns, none of them come across as being quite unexpected, just attempts at breaking the monotony that affects the entire series. The ending is, for more than it deserves, predictable and stupid.

One element that stuck out like a sore thumb was the fact that a large chunk of the story’s drive was built on a character that is introduced out of the blue and the events that happen to said character trigger most of the main character’s emotional outburst and quite a bit of the series’ catalyst.
Still with me through this convoluted way of saying things? Good…
Well, what I found upsetting in the above was the fact that the whole thing was constructed very artificially for the plot’s sake but without the said character to have any noticeable role in the plot. There was no time for an emotional connection to be formed as to trigger such a development in the main character. It was, I repeat, artificial.

All in all, the story could have been good…it really could have been. But Gonzo’s cookie cutter ways of dealing with a plot development (almost never concentrating on some important elements but on meager things or fillers) killed it in its crib. Had the rest of the series been as dynamic and as engaging as the first 5 episodes, I really believe this series could have shined through.


As I’ve stated somewhere above, the characters undergo a transformation extremely stupid after the first five episodes. As the band of characters gets formed up, development ends and clichés take over.
Allow me to take Train for example. In the first episodes he is a cold blooded killer with some affection for cats and great assassin skills. After the first episodes he become an angsty teen much too talkative compared to how he was and extremely predictable in his actions. Such a transformation in just a short period of time made me believe I was watching a different anime than the one I began.

Sadly, no other characters are treated any differently. Very shallow evolutions and more often than not, very cliché personalities…I felt most of the times as if the producers were actually trying to destroy their characters in any ways imaginable (and I’m not referring to the action part of the anime). IF a character showed promise, it would be swept off the scene in just a matter of episodes; IF a character showed something interesting, his fate would’ve become as generic as possible.

Merry bands of merry characters in a merry little world, everybody fighting everybody else…that’s how I’d summarize the whole cast of characters from the anime.

Something I’ve found terribly amusing unfortunately and I’m still trying to understand why:
When one character switched sides…from bad to good (‘cause here bad and good are not blurred, they’re as clear as daylight), no matter how strong they were, they became losers of the highest caliber (take Train for just one example) and the very other way around. The more evil the character, the stronger he was and that’s simply retarded…too bad I’d say.


Gonzo pulled it out once again....another mediocre action-adventure anime based only on clichés and recycled ideas. It’s always a pity to feel that you’ve wasted 10 hours of your life on something so unrewarding in the end…
Oh well…on with the show…

This is my very first review, but this anime is definitely not the first one I've watched. I've been a big fan of the manga version and it's one of my favorite manga that I treasured the most. So I think I may have a very high expectation on the anime. Overall I would say that it's one of those anime that I would put in the category of "I've seen the worst." I feel that it's one of those manga-based anime that have ruined the originality of the manga. Which is why I gave such a low score. My review might be for those who've read and enjoyed the manga before the anime was made.

Animation: I find the animation quite awkward and confusing at time. The style is unique and quite artistic, I must admit, but this uniqueness can turn into a total disaster or a great success. In this case, they have done a decent job, but not that great because the scene kept on swishing between the past and the present...and even the future. It is quite unique but it can get confusing at times. The action scenes are decent although it's not as cool as I think(I'm a type that likes to see actual actions and blood), but it's bearable . So 7/10 for animation (I hope I'm not too harsh on it).

Sound: This is probably the best thing that this anime have, in my opinion. The background music was great and fits the mood of each scenes quite well. The seiyuus did a great job and fit well with the character. But personally, I feel like Train's voice sometimes doesn't match with his cute, young face.

Story: It seems that the anime have taken a very different approach from the manga, which is quite common with many other manga-adapted anime, and I have already expected that since the beginning. I was actually looking forward to how well they'll approach the story differently from the manga, since the story is quite simple in itself already. But, to my disappointment, they've not done well at all. There are some unnecessary episodes, and not related to the story whatsoever. What made me more disappointed is that those unncessary episodes and jokes are filled with cliche, and too much cliche can be annoying for some viewers.

Character: They have completely changed the character's personality from the manga. Personally, I really loved the characterization in the manga but the anime have changed it completely. Sven, who is originally a very sensible, talented and reserved gentleman (retired cop) was turned into a complete fool in the anime!! Train is supposed to be a very playful, happy and cheerful person was turned into a man who is not committed to any kind of relationship with anyone. *Spoiler Warning*(The manga actually takes place 2 years after Saya's death)*End spoiler* They even made up some new characters, but they're all terrible and not cool.

Value: I've watched it once, and I don't really planned to watch it again. The reason to it is that I can't stand cliche jokes and the terrible characterization implemented in the anime. I loved the manga too much to love the terribly altered story in the anime.

Enjoyment: Well, there are some elements of excitement to it. Which is usually when I'm expecting how good they'll approach the story differently (but it was a disappointing attempt), so I watched the entire series with hope. Spoiler warningI was so excited about Chibi Train part and can't wait for the next episode because I thought it would be like that for few episodes and that he would fight with two of the chrono numbers like in the manga, but then...oh well it wasn't like that, tough luck for me..End spoiler I guess I hope too much but I won't forget the excitement of my expectation, so I gave a 7/10 for this.

If you've read the manga and loved it, you could try the anime out...but you might not liked it as much.

Before breaking it down, I want to say that I'm addicted to this show. As soon as I start watching the newest episode, my eyes don't come off the computer screen until the ending song starts, then I actually let it continue to play so I get a preview for next week, which I don't do for many shows. Black Cat is high on action, plot, and drama. And there are a few of those pesky questions lingering in the background... What is Train's curse? Is he actually a cat?

Animation: Fantastic. The backgrounds are detailed and the characters are diverse. There are lots of bright colors and sharp lines. The animation switches perspectives between various characters and the audience, so we get an omnicient pov.

Sound: The voice actors are also great. The voices fit the characters, and the acting is quite good. The OP is addictive, and I haven't noticed any out of place background music.

Story/Characters: The plot and character development started off very strong in the first two episodes. We learn about Chronos, Train, Sven, and others. Train undergoes great changes (Ooo, a DYNAMIC character) within the first few episodes, influenced by a pretty lady, of course. We don't know a lot about Sven, except that he's an awesome character. And just wait until you meet Eve. Eve rocks. At this point, the show is pretty much character-driven. The plot is developing, but there are still things that don't make sense yet at episode 10.

There is a small amount of added fluff that doesn't contribute to plot development, which is probably okay for a 50+ episode series. Any fluff generally contributes to comedic lightening of the show. I suggest latching on to the breaks from angst. This isn't to say that the angst is overdone, because it isn't. Black Cat is a very balanced show with a plethora of humerous interactions between characters as well as its few heart breaking moments.

Value: I've already tested the show's rewatch value with the first two episodes, and I loved rewatching them. I noticed many things that I hadn't the first time around, and I was just as entranced.

Enjoyment: I love this show and plan to watch the entire series. I think it should be enjoyable for most anime fans. There are some fantasy elements, but I'm not sure its enough to put the show in the fantasy genre.