Black Cat, Vol. 1

by Kentaro Yabuki

Book Overview

Two years ago, Train, a high-level assassin known as Number XIII in Chronos, left the secret society to live by his own rules. Since then, Train has been a sweeper, a bounty hunter, catching criminals... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 142150605X
• ISBN13: 9781421506050
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Viz Media
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

One of my favorites!

Black Cat is filled with unique characters, the artwork style is beautiful and detailed, and the plot is engaging. The story centers around: Train Heartnet a seriously "kick-butt" dark (anti?) hero, his partner Sven the "gentleman", the beautiful master thief Rinslet, and the mysterious weapon-girl Eve. The villain (Creed) of the story is very intense and is totally obsessed with Train. Creed is one of the most interesting and fascinating villains I have ever seen. His allies are also all very interesting and different. Shiki (the masked bug man is especially creepy and cool.) Call me dark but to me the villain is one of the most important aspects that drive the story and Creed definitely drives this one. Black Cat is perhaps my favorite manga so far. I love the characters and their interactions with each other. Train is incredibly powerful and it never gets old watching him tear a place up. Creed is totally obsessive and deranged. The story is filled with action, mystery, intrigue, humor, and complications. This story is colorful and fresh. I love it and highly recommend it to all the other manga fans out there!

New Story, Old Feel

This is a great series. Kinda Cowboy Bebop-ish, with a few interesting twists. The characters seem familiar, but not too much... The comedy is well done, and Train Heartnet is unique. I loved it, can't wait to collect the whole series.

Funny yet cool

This was great. I enjoyed it a lot. It has The main character Train/Black Cat who is now a sweeper/bounty hunter after quitting and organization. He is comical and acts silly, but he is really smart and thinks a lot on the inside. His partner is funny too. This book covers a lot but leaves you on the edge of your seat. My only advice would be buy it. Unless you dont like the suspense than wait til volume 2 comes out may 2 and buy both. Reccomended to young adults not kids.

Not the newest of themes, but glorious nonetheless

I first heard about Black Cat in the pages of Shonen Jump magazine; simply a one-page "Manga from Japan!" preview sort of thing. Then a couple months later, the same magazine printed the first chapter as a preview with the promise that the graphic novels would be released beginning in March of 2006. Well, it came out early, so I snagged a copy as soon as I heard about it, and I was NOT disappointed! The story is not that original; it's a bit like Cowboy Bebop meets Trigun. Quite a bit like Cowboy Bebop character-wise, mildly like Trigun setting-wise and in the fact that the main character is an untouchable, carefree gunslinger. That doesn't deter from the fact that it is still a great and interesting story; a very successful re-hash of old ideas. Train, with the not exactly secret identity of Black Cat, has become a Sweeper (bounty hunter who hunts lesser criminals) in order to leave his past life working for the enigmatic orginization Chronos behind. Of course, what good is a shady past if it doesn't haunt you? Various people from Chronos come after Train, and they either want him to come back or to die. Train's partner Sven (my favorite character thus far) is an ex-cop who wears an eyepatch over his right eye and smokes more cigarettes than I had thought humanly possible. He's very skilled with a gun, though his true forte is tact. Being a former cop, he is much more wise about the situation every time than Train seems to be. Rinslett is introduced about halfway through the first volume; a sexy thief who always works in disguise (VERY much like Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop...though Faye didn't wear too many disguises if memory serves). She forms an alliance with Train and Sven in order to kill an underworld crime boss who has been funding research and development for bio-engineering humans into weapons of war. His greatest success thus far is Eve; a little girl who can transform at will, though only one arm at a time (she's not fully developed at this point in the story). Exactly why Rinslett wants the crime boss dead is a bit uncertain; she's not exactly open about everything with her partners. Overall, this manga is great, at least in my opinion. It features one of my favorite art styles, an enjoyable, deep story that's still followable, characters that are easy to like, and action sequences that are comprehendable (unlike Dragon Knights, for instance). I'm definently going to be faithfully buying this series, and I hope that it becomes one of your favorites too!

Shonen with a twist

You know the story of Black Cat if you are a diehard manga/anime fan, becuase it is--in every sense--Cowboy Bebop. The characters even have the same roles as the characters in Cowboy Bebop. Train is an ex-assasin(ish), just like Spike. Sven is an ex-cop, just like Jet. Rinslet is a thief with (almost) no morals, just like Faye. Eve is a bio-enigneered weird girl, just like Ed(minus the bio-engineered part). Even Train's ex-partner (can't remeber his name 0_o)is playing out the same role as Vicious--the sort-of evil dude that wants his ex-partner back on his team. And all of these people are bounty hunters who are, basically, broke. They more then sometimes skip out on restaurant bills. And yet... it all works, somehow. Every character in this story is likeable in their own way, especially our hero, Train, the Black Cat. Train's the kind of guy who'd steal a girl's a heart and agonize over it after he dumped her. He'd let a criminal say any regrets he had, and maybe--just maybe--not even kill him, but turn him in. In short, he's the boy next door that never actually lived next door--moody, like a cat. Sven is a cool guy, much suited to his work, and Rinslet--well, love her or hate her, you can't deny that without her, not too many boys would be reading this story. I am a girl, so maybe my opinion is different from most guys (well duh. It would be.), but I can truthfully say that I prefer stories like Black Cat to the typical "kick-ass action story that's made for boys--girl's STAY AWAY" that is usually brought over here before sweet stories (with emotions)like this one. Black Cat is on my list of favorites, right up there with my all time favorite(part time obsession) Full Metal Alchemist. Yay Yabuki-san! Keep the great books comin'!