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Train Heartnet, known as the Black Cat, is an efficient, conscienceless
assassin. He's very good at what he does and what he does
is kill people. When he meets Saya Minatsuki he starts to
question his destiny, enough to give up the life of a killer
to become a bounty hunter...
Black
Cat: Volume 1 - The Cat out of the Bag contains the first
four episodes of this twenty-four episode show. It will be
interesting to see how many of the shows actually turn up
in the series as outside of Japan only twenty-three of the
episodes have been previously available. Directed by Shin
Itaggaki for the Gonzo Studio (Afro Samurai) it was
an adaptation of the Manga by the mangaka Kentaro Yabuki.
In
episode one, The Solitary Cat, we are introduced to
two of the main protagonists... sort of. Although the Black
Cat appears at times, he still remains an enigmatic figure.
Most of the show is seen through the eyes of Sven Vollfied,
a sweeper who captures bad guys for money. The two first meet
when they are both sent after Mr Tyrant. Train gets the kill,
but not before Sven learns about his competitor.
Episode
two, The Hesitant Cat, and both Train and Sven get
new jobs. Sven saves a girl, Elana, who turns out to be rich
and needs her sister rescuing. Train, meanwhile, meets an
attractive and friendly woman whose persistence starts to
break through his emotional armour. She is Saya and she is
also a sweeper.
Episode
three, The Cat in the Dark, and Sven and Train are
once more on a collision course as they are both after the
same target, Eve, who unbeknownst to both of them is a genetically
engineered bio-weapon. After an abortive rescue Rinslet, a
professional thief, admits that Eve is not her sister and
tells Sven the truth about Eve's past and how Torneo created
her.
The
last episode, The Grinning Cat, and both Sven and Train
go after Eve again - Train to kill her as an bio-weapon and
Sven because all he can see is a little girl in trouble. But
who will get to her first? Is Eve looking at elimination or
emancipation?
In
truth there is not much in the way of extras, save for the
textless opening and closing sequence plus a trailer. Audio
is limited in its selection to English 5.1 or Japanese stereo
with subtitles. The animation is sharp and crisp and the discs
have a flawless print.
The
show uses a nice balance of humour and pathos to tell the
story, most of the humour is reserved for Sven. The show is
very slow to get going, I don't mean in action (which is on
the screen from the get go) but over the course of the four
episodes there is little background information given on the
characters. There is a lot of sporadic interaction between
the main protagonists, but as yet few of the relationships
have started to gel. That said, the premise is sufficiently
interesting to make you want to know how the whole thing works
out.
Charles
Packer
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