Black Cat (manga)

Black Cat
ブラックキャット (Burakku Kyatto)
Demographic	Shōnen
Genre	Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Comedy
Manga
Author	Kentaro Yabuki
Publisher	Shueisha
Other publishers: Chuang Yi Shonen Jump VIZ Media Glénat Star Comics Carlsen Comics
Serialized in	Weekly Shōnen Jump
Original run	2000 – 2004
Volumes	20[1]
TV anime
Director	Shin Itagaki
Studio	Gonzo
Licensor	Funimation MVM Films Madman Entertainment
Network	Animax, TBS
Other networks: Animax FUNimation Channel Adult Swim
Original run	6 October 2005 – 30 March 2006
Episodes	24[2]
Light novel: Black Cat: Hoshi no Zanshou
Author	Tomohito Ōsaki
Publisher	Shueisha
Published	October 2005
Volumes	1

Black Cat (ブラックキャット, Burakku Kyatto^?) is a manga and anime series by mangaka Kentaro Yabuki. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump. The series has concluded in Japan at 20 volumes. It was also licensed for North American distribution by VIZ Media, and the English release started on March 7 2006 and is currently up to volume 11. It was also adapted into an anime television series, directed by Shin Itagaki, which aired in Japan on the anime satellite television network Animax and the terrestrial TBS network beginning on October 6 2005 and ending on March 30 2006. It consists of 24 episodes and is produced by GONZO. The anime series was licensed for distribution in the United States by Funimation. The DVDs are being released in the UK by MVM. Whereas only 23 episodes of the series were aired on TBS's airing of the series, the series actually consists of 24 episodes, with the 15th episode of the series, Tōzakaru Neko ( 遠ざかる猫, Tōzakaru Neko^? A Runaway Cat), not airing on the terrestrial TBS network and instead airing exclusively in Japan on the CS network Animax. This episode was also included in the original Japanese DVDs for the series. Animax also aired this episode and all 24 episodes of the series in each of its other international networks worldwide (including dubbing and translating the series for broadcast across its English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia).^[2]

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Main characters 3 Glossary 3.1 Sweepers 3.2 Chronos 3.3 The Apostles of The Stars 3.4 The Taoshi War 3.5 Nanomachines, Eve, Dr. Tearju, and Dr. Kanzaki 3.6 The Zero Numbers and Eden 4 Media 4.1 Tankōbon 4.2 Music 4.3 Opening themes 4.4 Ending themes 4.5 Light novel 4.6 Drama CDs 4.7 Original Soundtrack 4.8 Video games 4.9 Video game appearances 5 References 6 External links

Synopsis

Main articles: List of Black Cat volumes and List of Black Cat episodes

The story centers on a man named Train Heartnet who withdrew from an elite group of assassins called the Toki no Bannin (時の番人; the Chronos Numbers) to become a Sweeper (a bounty hunter). In Train's world, there is a secret organization, Chronos, that rules one third of the world's economy through underground control of almost every kind of business. To maintain the balance of the world, Chronos is essential, and therefore, there is the need to have people to protect Chronos. Besides all normal erasers, there are special elite assassins with Orihalcon-made weapons called the Chrono Numbers. Chrono Numbers have their numbers engraved on their body and their weapon. There were twelve total Chrono Numbers, but when Train Heartnet, an unsurpassable shooter, decided to join Chronos in their cause, the number XIII was founded. No one that was targeted by Train Heartnet, also known as Black Cat, for bringing "bad luck", and his extremely quick movements and attacks, ever survived. The name Black Cat was the most feared among assassins. His only objective was "to be the best". In one of his missions, he had to kill a target, but the target's child was at the scene. Train, recalling his childhood trauma, could not kill the target in front of his child, leading to him being shot by the target's bodyguard. Eventually, he met Saya Minatsuki, who was a sweeper. Through his contact with Saya, Train changed drastically, a change that culminated with leaving Chronos. However, a man who admired Train in an obsessive way, Creed Diskenth, did not accept that an elite assassin was being changed that way. Creed then set out to kill Saya, while Train was not there. Train reached the scene too late and tried to fight Creed, but he escaped. Six months later, Train is a Sweeper, traveling with his partners Sven Vollfied and Eve. Their lives as sweepers is about to be changed when the present is invaded by the past: Creed Diskenth, after two years of being away, returns. And he wishes to meet Train, with a proposal to become his partner. A running gag in the anime is usually for a white cat to appear at a time when a character makes a joke but also appears in different places such as in Eve's crystal ball and on one page of Sven's newspaper in episode 13 and 21. The white cat also appears as a shield used by Train whenever Kyoko wants to kiss him.

• This Is the plot for the Anime series, the Manga Plot begins two years after Train has left Chronos with slightly different events on how Train comes to meet Sven and Eve.

Main characters

Main article: List of Black Cat characters

Train Heartnet

Voiced by: Takashi Kondo (Japanese), Jason Liebrecht (English)

Also known as Black Cat and the main protagonist in the story, he starts as a ruthless assassin but learns compassion from Saya Minatsuki. After his change of heart (after he met Saya) , he works as a sweeper alongside Sven and Eve. He always wears a bell around his neck (Given to him by eve that came from a stuffed black cat.)to remind him of what he once was and could once more become. He has a gun made just for him by Chronos, called Hades. He also has a soft spot for women and children, especially when tears are shed.

Sven Vollfied

Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese), Brandon Potter (English)

A sweeper and Train's partner, he befriends Eve and treats her like a person instead of a weapon. He, Eve, and Train work together. He has an eye that can see into the future(which he got from a friend who sacrificed himself to save Sven), but it either puts a strain on him or drains all his energy.

Eve

Voiced by: Misato Fukuen (Japanese), Brina Palencia (English)

A genetically engineered bio-weapon, she uses nanotechnology to transform her body. Raised like a lab rat, Sven treats her like a real person and opens up her world. She tends to follow Sven, and since she and Train are so close, treats him as her rival as a Sweeper (although more so for Sven's attention).

Rinslet Walker

Voiced by: Yukana (Japanese), Jamie Marchi (English)

A world class thief also known as Rins who she works for everyone, from the government to mob bosses. She claims she can steal anything and manipulate any man. She sometimes works alongside Train and Sven. She always comes out with money in her pockets, regardless of how it might have gotten there.

Saya Minatsuki

Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Caitlin Glass (English)

Before her death Saya was an accomplished sweeper, whose fun loving spirit and easy likability made her Train Heartnet's first real friend. Her involvement with him lead to his more human outlook on life and his departure of the Chrono numbers.

Due to how close Train and Saya were, Creed grew jealous of the "Witch", saying that she was clouding Train's mind. Creed murdered Saya with the use of his sword, the Kotetsu. She died in Train's arms during a fireworks show, the thing she was most looking forward to see. While she was alive she wore a yukata, just because she thought she looked cute in it.

Glossary

Sweepers

In the world of Black Cat, Sweeper is a profession that specializes in capturing criminals for rewards. Sweepers are not unlike bounty hunters, they are licensed by the government and free to move about as they please, however, unlike real-life bounty hunters sweepers are internationally accepted and endorsed by the governments of the world and respected for their contribution to maintaining justice. The pamphlets with information on criminals are spread throughout the world in public places like bars, where Sweepers hang out. Sweepers vary in their appearance and style of fighting, and many times conflicts erupt among themselves when two or more sweepers go after the same target. The criminals that sweepers have to capture are classified in levels, which range from F to SS, F being the least dangerous and SS the most dangerous. Legendary criminals who may never be captured are considered SS, the most violent and dangerous kind of criminal. An example of the SS is Creed Diskenth, leader and the most powerful member of the Apostles of the Stars.

Chronos

Chronos is the secret organization that rules one third of the world through underground business in various areas. Though despite being a shadow society most characters who spent at least some of their time digging into the underworld know that they exist. Incidentally almost all speaking characters in the series seem to know of Chronos and the Numbers. Most of the Chronos members occupy high positions, such as mayors, politicians, among others. To protect Chronos, there are assassins in the command of the three wise men in charge of Chrono, the highest of them being Willzark. Willzark commands a secret force of the best assassins in the world, sworn to protect Chrono, called the Chrono Numbers, which range from No. I to No. XIII (More information on the Characters Section). Lower in the hierarchy are the Chronos Erasers, which are assassins in service of Chrono. An example is Creed Diskenth. Other members of Chronos play important roles in the story in the manga, such as Carl Walken, which is the mayor of a town that raised Train and asks him personally to take out a Taoshi who has been causing considerable damage in his city, Gyanza Rujike. In the anime, the Zero Numbers send a swarm of nano-machine beasts to destroy the Chronos Headquarters while the Numbers were away on Clarken Island, killing the three wisemen. Financial support from practically all sources is cut, but Sephiria, No. I, and the remaining numbers decide to continue in Chronos, although they will have to raise it from its ashes.

The Apostles of The Stars

Sometimes simply referred to by the characters in Black Cat as "The Apostles", they are revolutionary group led by Creed Diskenth. Their aim is to "clean the world of filth", that is to say, kill people who cannot achieve the Power of Tao. Naturally, every member of the Apostles of The Stars has a power of Taoshi origin, which are awakened through the Shinkitou, a drink only concocted by Master Taoshis, such as Shiki. Another member of the Apostles, Maro, is also from the forbidden Continent, and together with Shiki, they bear the most traditional Tao power, such as controlling and summoning bugs (Shiki), using ink marks (Shiki) and controlling gravity (Maro). Other members of the Apostles rely on more "deviant" powers, such as Creed's "Imagine Blade" in the manga, which is a sword that can expand for miles depending on Creed's mental power, even though in the anime Creed's power is just the materialization of a small invisible sword, in replacement for his old Kotetsu, broken by Train. Other Tao powers include Kyoko's "Fire Breath", Charden's "Blood", Durham's "Magic Shot" or Echidna's "Gate". The Apostles do not just wish to bring about a world revolution, but they seek revenge against Chronos. Creed due to his expulsion after killing Saya, and Shiki and Maro due to the war that happened between the Taoshi and Chronos long ago, which decimated the Taoshi from the Secret Continent. Although Tao has been the primary source of the Apostles' power, Creed also relies on Doctor's investigations on Nanomachines to grant him eternal power and elevate him to a god.

The Taoshi War

Many decades in the past, there was a war between the Taoshi and Chronos. Chronos eventually won, even though not all Taoshi were killed. In the current Chronos, the only Number that witnessed this War was Mason, which himself became a Taoshi, granted with the Sacred Technique. However, he had kept this from everybody in Chronos, planning the Eden project for a long time (More information below). The survivors among the Taoshi that make an appearance in Black Cat are no more no less than Shiki and Maro, which upon meeting Creed grant him the power of Tao in exchange for an alliance which objective was to destroy Chronos and bring about a revolution to this planet, which would choose the Taoshi among the people, and rid everyone else.

Nanomachines, Eve, Dr. Tearju, and Dr. Kanzaki

The nanomachine investigation by Dr. Tearju Lunatique allowed her to achieve the knowledge that might allow her to create a prototype of a human that could transform and eventually become the ultimate weapon. In the manga, Creed Diskenth financed the research of Dr. Tearju, hired by Torneo Ludman, to create Eve, which would be the perfect weapon for him to use, while in exchange Torneo promised to have Dr. Tearju research nanomachines in the areas that were of Creed's interest, such as the legendary immortality nanomachines. Eventually, Dr. Tearju realized she couldn't do that and quit, for the world's safety, but due to blackmail from her former assistant, one of the Apostles, Doctor, or Dr. Kanzaki, she passed him the nanomachine research documents, which allowed Doctor to perfect them in order to make Creed a god. Worth noting is that in the Anime, Dr. Tearju didn't pass the documents on to Doctor, which stole them instead. In the anime, he also used them to produce the Eden machine that would work when combined with Eve.

The Zero Numbers and Eden

The Zero Numbers are the Chrono Numbers gathered by Mason to aid him in the Eden project, which he planned since Eve was created by Dr. Tearju. The Eden project consisted of bringing "World Peace", which would actually consist of turning every single person on the Earth into creatures without mind of their own, only capable of obeying the Zero Numbers. The Zero numbers were also implanted with nanomachines that allowed them to be immortal within Eden's energy field, created by Doctor. For Eden to work, however, it was needed that Eve entered it, in order to combine with the program inside Eden, Adam, to put into motion the giant creature, which was Eden combined with Eve. Mason had gathered people from Chronos, from the Apostles of The Stars, in order to aid him when the time to retrieve Eve came. That is because Eve needed to be raised well in order to be "perfected", and since the day she met Sven and considered him the ideal "father", Mason decided it would be of best interest to the Zero Numbers that Sven and Train raised Eve, and they would retrieve her, like happened in the story.

Media

Tankōbon

The ISBN below refers to the Japanese edition.

Volume 1 - ISBN 4088730658

• Release date: January 11, 2001

Volume 2 - ISBN 4088730917

• Release date: March 7, 2001

Volume 3 - ISBN 408873114X

• Release date: May 6, 2001

Volume 4 - ISBN 4088731484

• Release date: August 8, 2001

Volume 5 - ISBN 4088731727

• Release date: October 9, 2001

Volume 6 - ISBN 4088732170

• Release date: December 29, 2001

Volume 7 - ISBN 4088732332

• Release date: March 9, 2002

Volume 8 - ISBN 4088732715

• Release date: June 9, 2002

Volume 9 - ISBN 4088732995

• Release date: August 7, 2002

Volume 10 - ISBN 4088733290

• Release date: October 9, 2002

Volume 11 - ISBN 4088733495

• Release date: December 9, 2002

Volume 12 - ISBN 4088733959

• Release date: March 9, 2003

Volume 13 - ISBN 4088734211

• Release date: May 6, 2003

Volume 14 - ISBN 4088734947

• Release date: August 9, 2003

Volume 15 - ISBN 408873517X

• Release date: October 8, 2003

Volume 16 - ISBN 4088735358

• Release date: December 9, 2003

Volume 17 - ISBN 4088735749

• Release date: April 9, 2004

Volume 18 - ISBN 408873596X

• Release date: May 9, 2004

Volume 19 - ISBN 4088736400

• Release date: August 9, 2004

Volume 20 - ISBN 4088736621

• Release date: October 9, 2004

Music

Additional musical scores for anime sequences were composed by Taku Iwasaki. Opening themes
Title	Transcription/Translation	Artist	Episodes
ダイアの花	Daia no Hana/Diamond Flower	Yoriko	1-24
Ending themes
Title	Transcription/Translation	Artist	Episodes
ナミダボシ	Namidaboshi	PUPPYPET	1-12
くつずれ	Kutsuzure/Blisters	Matsuda Ryouji	13-24

Light novel

With the permission from the author, Kentaro Yabuki, Tomohito Ōsaki wrote a light novel. Black Cat: Hoshi no Zanshou (ISBN 4087031608)

• Release date: October, 2005

Drama CDs

There was three drama CD released in 2005, although now one of them is now out of print.^[3] Black Cat Drama CD Series 1

• Release date: February 28, 2005

Black Cat Drama CD Series 2

• Release date: July 1, 2005

Black Cat Drama CD Series 3

• Release date: October 14, 2005

The cast for the voice actors in the drama CD is the same as the anime.

Original Soundtrack

There was an original soundtrack CD released in 2006, entitled Black Cat Original Soundtrack Nikukyu. It contains 24 tracks, including 1 TV-sized opening theme and 2 TV-sized ending themes and numerous background music.

• Release date: March 15, 2006

Video games

There were 2 video games released in Japan. BLACK CAT ～Kikai Shikake no Tenshi～ - Playstation 2

• Release date: March 30, 2006

BLACK CAT ～Kuro Neko no Concerto(Kyousou Kyoku)～ - Nintendo DS

• Release date: June 21, 2007

Video game appearances

Black Cat characters appeared in Jump Super Stars, with Eve as a playable character, while Train and others are support or help. Train and Eve are also battle characters in the sequel, Jump Ultimate Stars.

References

External links

• Black Cat official site (Japanese)
• TBS's Black Cat anime official site
• FUNimation's Official Black Cat site
• Black Cat (manga) (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Black Cat (manga) (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia

Black Cat
Characters: Train Heartnet • Sven Vollfield • Eve • Rinslet Walker • Saya Minatsuki • Chrono Numbers • Apostles of the Stars • Sweeper Alliance
Other: List of Black Cat volumes • List of Black Cat episodes